Rob

Call a cab for him every 5 minutes and yell stuff like "FRIENDS DONT LET FRIENDS DRINK AND DRIVE" and "BUZZED DRIVING IS DRUNK DRIVING" Not exactly subtle. But fun.

I'd be pretty surprised if we try to move Samardzija back into the rotation. He's never had much success as a SP, and his stuff plays way up in the pen.

I've been having this problem lately here too. It's not all the time... but the board seems to go through phases where it takes 10 seconds or so after I click each link before it does anything. Other times it's completely fine.

Another HR for Vitters. This time a 2 run shot. 2 HR, 5 RBI so far in the opener. Keith Law is ripping Vitters because both HR came on first pitch fastballs, but I think the time to complain about his approach is probably when he's making weak contact or striking out... not when he's mashing.

No boxscore. Just some sparse info on twitter.

MLB run environments have a lot more to do with sabermetric-friendly front offices eschewing the moneyball-era trend towards lumbering sluggers and instead finding value in defense-oriented players. "Roid withdrawal" likely has very little to do with yearly variations at this point, as long as it's been since the testing began. I'd imagine most of that effect was felt in the first 1-2 seasons. That said, very interesting link. Thanks.

Vitters with a 3 run HR already. I'm already dreaming of what a monster AFL could do for his prospect status.

Kinda surprised nobody has linked to this article on fangraphs. The article seems to suggest that we might be best served to take the money that would otherwise be spent on Theo and instead spread it around to the top GM candidates and assistants in the game. What the article fails to account for though is how many of those top guys came from the Red Sox system. So I'm inclined to believe that Epstein has an eye for talent even in his front office. Friedman is still my top guy... but Epstein has a proven track record of success, has dealt with a large budget in a large market before, and has a good relationship with the best manager on the job market right now (assuming Earl Weaver doesn't decide to stop fishing). I'd be extremely happy to see him come in provided we aren't giving up irreplaceable pieces like Castro and Garza. If it takes a Marlon Byrd or a Darwin Barney, so be it.

Bowden? There's no way they take him over Colletti. Crap, I just threw up in my mouth I'd honestly be happy with either Bowden or Colletti. I'm anticipating Bill Bavasi.

I'm a big encarnacion fanboy. For some reason, I've always thought his defense was thought to be really good, but no idea where I think I heard that. I actually might have heard the opposite and have just been lying to myself to protect my delusions. He used to be projected to have the tools to be a very good 3B. But now his nickname is E5.

If Aramis leaves and ends up signing with the Angels (probably the most likely suitor based on past interest and a need for offense), I wouldn't be opposed to trying to make a move for Alberto Callaspo or Macier Izturis.

Absolutely. But I can't see Epstein making a panic move like that purely for PR purposes. Apparently I was wrong. NBC is reporting Red Sox will decline the options on his contract. Please oh please. Quade has been awful.

Nah, it's good that you've drawn my attention to it. I've been avoiding looking at players birth dates lately because it makes me feel old... (I turn 27 in about an hour, so I'll be officially too old to be a real prospect even if I had picked up a glove in the last 5 years), but I really do need to refresh my memory on most of those guys.

I'll be real honest, I had it stuck in my head that Antigua was 23 for whatever reason. I don't see it changing my opinion significantly, but I'll sleep on it.

I'm not saying I was predicting he'd fall off a cliff immediately upon signing this new contract. Personally, I expected what was actually going to be a pretty steep decline due to BABIP normalization, but that his power would have a nice uptick in his new ballpark and most people wouldn't notice the skills erosion. In other words, I was expecting him to decline but remain at least somewhat useful (if quite overpaid) for at least most of the contract. But I was aware of and cautioning you about the odds that he was far more likely to fall off a cliff than you were willing to admit. Granted, this season is so far above and beyond just falling off a cliff... but still, there were warning signs that he could be less than productive at any given time.

Per Paul Sullivan via twitter: No surprises.

I kinda did.

16-25 would probably contain Candelario, Antigua, Castillo, Flaherty, Beliveau, Malave, Beeler, Dunston Jr., Kurcz, and Amaya in no particular order... Struck might sneak in there for me, as might Acosta or DeVoss. As to Rusin... I actually just like him a lot. Crazy groundball rate and doesn't walk many... he just keeps pounding the ball down in the zone with enough movement to get guys on top of it. I have a hypothesis that guys with that general profile are going to have an easier time adjusting to a higher level. The upside is limited, but I honestly believe we could slot him in at the back end of our rotation today and he'd be a good #4. Contrast that with a guy like Antigua, who has a higher ceiling, but is more likely (in my mind at least) to experience significant struggles until developing some level of consistency, if he ever does... I dunno, as often as I prefer upside, for whatever reason I just like Rusin there.

We wont take that much of a hit in the rankings... most of that already happened with the Garza trade (and in fairness, Archer and Lee were in our top 5, Guyer in the top 10, and Chirinos wasn't far from the top 10). Last I saw, most analysts had already slid us down to around the #20 system before this season even started. But I'm with you... this is the most interesting the minor league system has been in a while. Upside is a magical thing.

Subject to vast changes as I think on it more, but a rough outline for mine would probably go something like this: 1. Brett Jackson 2. Trey McNutt 3. Matt Szczur 4. Javier Baez 5. Dillon Maples 6. Dae-Eun Rhee 7. Ben Wells 8. Josh Vitters 9. Marco Hernandez 10. Junior Lake (I just can't help myself) 11. Reggie Golden 12. Robert Whitenack (would be a lot higher if not for the injury. I'm basically slotting him where I expect him to show back up on peoples lists next year when he returns) 13. Jae-Hoon Ha 14. Dan Vogelbach 15. Chris Rusin I absolutely hate slotting Maples that high as I have some issues with his mechanics based on some predraft videos I saw... but his draft status and ceiling probably warrant a high ranking. I never gave up on Rhee quite like most of you, but from 6-15 I really didn't feel there was all that much separation. I'm sure most of you wont have Lake popping up in your top 30, let alone top 10... but I've discussed him plenty. Whitenack is getting the same treatment I gave Rhee, where he's basically going to get 2 free passes at this slot... once next year because he hasn't pitched much if at all, and once the year after that just so long as he stays healthy in his first full season back. Vogelbach could jump way up this list with a nice year, (or even a massive time at Instructs), but for now this is about as high as I feel comfortable putting him. Rusin is my token upper-level guy who I feel can be sneakily productive if given a shot... gotta love that groundball rate. I may work later at expanding this list into a top 30 or 50... or I may do nothing with it at all.

Rendon went #6 this year, I do believe.

Yeah, you may be in trouble. In fairness, TT and I spent a long time warning you. I also made a ban bet that the gap in WAR between our 1B and Dunn wouldn't put us in the playoffs this year. I had forgotten all about that. Oh well, no matter.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Boston could still make the playoffs depending on what happens with the Rays game... but wow. I don't care if the end result is that the Cardinals are going to the playoffs. Today has been a ridiculously awesome night of baseball.

I just had some fun reading through thread dedicated to him last offseason. On a related note, I don't give imb! nearly enough credit. Each time I reread an old thread, he seems to end up on the right side of it.