There’s still plenty of snow on the ground, but the Red Sox will begin their season for real in Philadelphia on Monday afternoon. (3:05 pm) Predictions on the performance of the team are all over the place, with some predicting a return to the top of the AL East, with others insisting this isn’t a very good team.

Some baseball preview articles to sort through:

Boston Herald team preview.

WEEI.com not-so-special team preview.

Boston Globe baseball section.

MassLive.com Red Sox section

ESPN Boston Red Sox section

I’m sure the wording is a coincidence, but in the Globe staff predictions, these two really stood out to me.

Nick Cafardo
AL East: Orioles – Most consistent starting rotation, great player in Manny Machado.

Alex Speier
AL East: Red Sox – Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

*****

Curt Schilling: Boston Red Sox lack true No. 1 in rotation – Bill Doyle has the former Red Sox pitcher, now with ESPN, saying that Clay Buchholz doesn’t want to be an ace.

For Final Four, you can channel your rooting interest – The NCAA Final Four is this weekend, and Chad Finn looks at the setup by Turner which allows fans to watch team-specific broadcasts. He also has some NESN news.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

33 thoughts on “Red Sox Set For Monday Opener”

  1. IIRC Schilling calling out a teammate for being gutless years back and it turned out the guy had an elbow that “looked like hamburger” when a surgeon opened him up. Anyone remember the particulars? That phrase stuck with me.

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  2. Punk move by redlight.
    Always looking for attention. He is failing his retirement.
    Failed company,pissed away millions of taxpayer dollars,foreclosed and fighting twitter wars. Very dignified for a middle aged man.
    He’s sad and pathetic.

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      1. I don’t hate him. I just think he’s saf and pathetic. He always lives up to his reputation of grabbing attention in the dumbest ways.

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        1. You are pathetic. People who don’t like schilling bring up the failed business. The guy tried to build a company and failed Like 80 % of new businesses so go back to mommy’s basement and call sports radio waiting for the unemployment checks / ebt cards

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          2. You are so trying to be your talk show idols by calling schilling red light. explain to me the punk move please. The state of ri gave him multimillions of dollars to bring 38 studios to ri. Should he have said no that’s ok when they were begging him to set up shop in ri instead of mass. It became a pissing contest between ri and mass. yes the company failed, and yes schilling put his career net worth of 50 million at stake and lost. So so so sick of the taxpayer arguments…..anyone with a biased schilling agenda always brings up the taxpayers got screwed by schilling. So the extra 5 dollars out of your pocket a year is a hardship?? have fun trying to diminish a man who’s only major regret is the company failing and letting down all employees and families which must be a burden. Stop

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          5. Whereas I agree with you in principle about Schilling the RI deal should not have happened. The State had a business development pool of $71 mill that was supposed to go to small businesses instead they gambled it all on 38 studios based on dubious projects in an industry that is a crap shoot. I understand he put up $50 mill of his own money…which was the only way RI does the deal. But at the time I thought the deal was risky based on the financials and what it takes to actually develop of a hit game. Schilling and his people did not foresee the gaming shift to the iOS platform that was taking place when they released a new multi player on line game which had no previous history or following on traditional game platforms.

            Like I said in my comments…I like Schilling and I respect that he put his own money into the deal. However I understand why people are angry. A lot of good businesses that should have had access to that $71 mill pool to develop their small business ideas got shut out of much needed funding at a time that it was sorely needed because of the way the 38 Studios presented their financials. I can see how that can color someone’s opinion of Schilling. It doesn’t to me, but I get it and I think it is a very legit opinion.

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          6. And he spent $50 mill of his own money doing it. People look at the bad deal RI gave the company (which I as a RI resident believe should never have happened) but the guy did put his own cash on the line. That is a lot more than I can say a lot of people are willing to do.

            I understand why people hate Schilling…he is unique in that he walked the walk when he played so that when he talks he speaks from authority. That bothers people who expect ex players to all be part of the “good old boys club”. I find it ironic, we want commentators and media to be honest about what they see but when someone is, who has the credentials to be respected on the topic, people look to discredit him.

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          7. First point I never understand why its not brought up more. No clue why any state is in the risky investment business. There are angels, banks and VCs for that. I also empathize since I did startups for many years, but all were privately funded. Got lucky once and failed many times. That’s the nature of the industry. Unfortunately, the discussion usually winds up going into politics, which is best left for another forum.

            I think the reaction he, and others who express an opinion get, scares not just broadcasters and analysts but entire networks. I never get where it’s going. You either have a NESN-like approach where everyone says nothing, never offends anyone (esp. the team). Or, you get the exact opposite where they’re a bomb-thrower that has “HOTTAKEZ” on everything, usually with some pretty sad opinions. I think he’s something in the middle, like I do with Charles Barkley (on certain things). I think the problem is that the “thought about opinions” takes time and work, and you’re paid the same for them, so why bother?

            I’ll take that all day long.

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  3. It’s hard to expect a full season of good pitching from Buchholz, ie 32 starts, 200 innings, but his performance in Spring Training has me cautiously optimistic. 19 IP, 22 Ks against only 4 BBs and 1 HR…

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  4. Shank/CHF/Gheri-Curl is incapable, as a professional troll, of portraying any scenario in a way that isn’t Dan the victim against the entire planet of bullies. “AL East: Orioles – Why does everyone think the Red Sox made up 25 games on these guys?”

    Back in reality, Dan’s co-staff members Cafardo and Abraham, picked the Orioles ahead of the Sox.

    Second of all, the Orioles lost and failed to replace several key players. It’s not a one-way street, it’s a four way intersection.

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  5. Is it only in Boston that having too many good players can be a perceived negative?

    “Where would we play Willie McGee?”, asks Pete Abraham, in his 2015 preview:

    http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/04/01/scouting-red-sox-new-faces-highlight-new-season/hPvvGKk6jIl15YdEJPcbZP/story.html#

    “The overcrowding has put manager John Farrell in a difficult position.”

    It terms of what, being asked the same question every day?

    The situation will either work itself out due to injury or performance that isn’t good enough or it will be worked out by a trade.

    I wonder if any managers and GMs around the league would LOVE to have the same problem?

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    1. I suggest the Sox have a different problem. They have too many high priced contracts but not enough good players. As such they have players who think they are entitled to play over younger players, just because they are veterans earning big bucks. If this truly were a case of them having too many good players we would have heard more rumors of possible spring training trades because other teams should be coveting these players. Shouldn’t a team really want Shane Victorino or Allan Craig or Daniel Nava if they are as good as the Sox media or the player himself will tell you? I would think so.

      Instead I think you have a situation akin to the football equivalent of 2 starting QB’s…the coach comes out and says we have confidence in both guys. What he really means is the team has no starting QB because neither has gone out and seized the job.

      I think most GM’s would hate to be in the Sox position as these are the type of situations that get GM’s fired.

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      1. I actually think Cherington is just being patient and not panic-selling his assets just so he can have the 25-man roster some people want to see for Opening Day. Overpriced players? Allen Craig makes $6 mil a year through 2017. That is not an onerous contract for a player who was productive two years ago. But he has been hurt and hasn’t proven he can be productive again. If he looks good to start the season he could be a relatively cheap OF/1B/DH trade option for a number of teams. Victorino will not earn his $13 million this season, but that 3 year contract was worth it because there’s no 2013 WS without him. He will also be hurt enough that Castillo (and maybe Bradley) will get some big league ABs very soon. While they paid a lot of $ to get Castillo, he also hasn’t played organized baseball in a couple years so some extra time at AAA isn’t the end of the world. It’s a long season.
        The only player who is really getting screwed here is Nava. He could be a legit 4th OF or platoon (2.8 WAR in 2013) but was regularly put behind Gomes for two years and is now even further down the depth chart. He also only makes $1.8 million this year and is under team control through 2017. I think the team must also still seem him as valuable because they could have easily traded that contract in the off-season.

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        1. I hope you are right…I fear I am. By the way we do agree that Cherington is not the problem and it is even better that he is patient. I am not overly optimistic about Farrell’s ability to make this all work which is why I fear the over crowding of the roster with adequate players at best is going to be a problem.

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          1. Though I like Cherington, I’m not at all sold on Ramirez and Sandoval signings. Hanley hasn’t had a really good full season since 2010, and Panda’s production has been in decline since 2011. I think he bounces back and Hanley will be good if healthy but the deals remind me of the 2012 off season, with the Crawford signing and Gonzalez trade/signing (Rizzo would be nice to have now!). Not sure if ownership is now more in control of baseball decisions but I’m not getting good vibes.

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          2. Completely agree on Sandoval and Ramirez. I also think those were not baseball opps decisions but rather “management” looking to increase TV ratings.

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          4. I think the Sox are right not to pay big bucks for pitching once it hits 30. I can’t think of any contract that paid off. I am sure there may be one or two but the large numbers of broken down arms coupled with lessening desire has contributed to a landscape littered with past their prime pitchers who struggle to be relevant.

            Lester might end up having a good season, last nights game not withstanding, but in the end Larry and Co are going to be vindicated on that one and they are going to savor it. The problem comes when SF is laughing about the Sandoval deal while the Dodgers do cartwheels over the Ramirez one.

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          5. If that were the Redsox, they would have started selling Redsox-branded urine containers with a picture of Wally on ones for the kids.

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  6. Jack Edwards v. Felger. Round 1.. fight!

    Haduken!

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      1. I heard the beginning of what was supposedly his “apology.” He couched it with “this is what we do. Sounds like typical Felger and Mazz programming.” (paraphrasing) I had to get to a meeting so didn’t hear the actual apology. I believe it is on TSH’s site and Twitter feed though.

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  7. Boy, Cole Hamels couldn’t last six innings against a bunch of overhyped, overpaid stiffs assembled by an ownership group that thinks its smarter than everyone else. Why should the Sox go out and acquire him again?

    😉

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