we;ve been letting our current squad ride it out and the result has been a .500 team. And showing signs of life lately? We are 3-7 in our past 10... and have gievn up... oh 81 runs in that span(about 20 more then we did in all of april...

 

this team needs to make a deal, because they are standing still right now.

This will be my least favorite trade if it goes through, and one I am thoroughly against. The only other trade off the top of my head that I disagreed with was Travis Chick for Ismael Valdez.

we the need relievers because we're 12th in the NL in bullpen ERA.

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1. Adding a reliever has limited impact on a team's success, not as much as a starter or a position player

2. Our bullpen has been much better since Perisho and Riedling were sent to the minors. 1-2 full runs better

3. Alfonseca is coming back to help

Actually to add onto my though about Chick, that seems to have worked out because he is struggling at AA this year. Oh well. I guess I just thought we could do better than Valdez.

With all of the LH power in the East, Kline would be a very welcome addition. Yea he's having a bad go round with Baltimore but he's been a very dependable pitcher in his career, is 33 years old and is coming off a great '04 season which he had a 1.79 ERA holding lefties to a .143 BA. I'd love to see him on our team.. even though he's kind of a nutjob.

Lowell is hitting .283 with two homers, five doubles and nine RBI in 16 games during July

 

Anyone ever think maybe he had a first half slump this year and will have a good 2nd half???

Urge to drive down to Miami to punch Beinfest in the face rising

I'm going to want to throw David Samson at Admin Beinfest if this deal happens

It was Tony Massarotti who wrote that column. He is just running with the ESPN report .Gordon Edes who writes for the Globe here in Boston was on NESN before theRed Sox game and he stated that Ponson has a limited no trade clause with 10 teams on the list Tampa is one of them essentially killing the deal.Theo, if he wants A.J. will leave no stone unturned to get him.I think this will go down to the last day. We are in on Romero too from the Twins.We are hearing all kinds of scenarios here in New England involving A.J. Sean McAdam (Providence Journal/ESPN) said a deal is not done.

One source says the deal isn't happening while the other says it happen while another probably says nothing has been decided yet. :blink:

I do think Lowell is coming around a bit, and at least wil be better in the 2d half than he was in the first. But it seems most teams agree his performance at the plate has taken a dive from which he may not fully recover. Otherwise, including him in a deal would have helped it get made instead of maybe killing it like it's reported it did.

 

You can't look only at the players we get in a trade (or at least the GM can't) because the GM must consider the payroll angle. The extra payroll dollars freed up by this trade will allow us to make a later trade that requires big $$ to keep us in contention or, if we look to be out of it, to spend in the free agent market in the off season. That, and getting rid of a 3B who looks like he won't be worth anywhere near his salary would make this (or whatever variant they are working on now) a good trade.

I think trading Lowell is a huge mistake. I just don't understand how a guy can play for so long, then slump for a year and people are so short-sighted they think that he'll never recover. He may have just all of a sudden forgot how to hit, but it's not too likely.

 

Its not that he forgot how to hit, its that since the second half of last year his batspeed has dropped considerably. I do not kknow if there is some kind of nagging injury affecting his swing, but without a resurgence in bat speed, Mike will never return to his career norm.

If a deal happens I see Ponson going to Texas for either Hidalgo or a prospect and then the Orioles taking on most of Lowell's contract and Burnett, unless the Marlins decide they will take Ponson if they are losing Lowell's contract.

I've heard that a lot about his bat speed, but I don't know that I agree with it. Given, I know a lot less about hitting than any ML scout or anything, but I don't think bat speed is Lowell's problem. I still see him turn on the inside fastball pretty often and rip it foul.

 

If anybody watched the Wednesday game on ESPN I think what Tony Gwynn was saying is dead on. He's sorta starting his weight shifting too early and as a result his swing is outta whack and he can't wait as long on pitches.

I've heard that a lot about his bat speed, but I don't know that I agree with it. Given, I know a lot less about hitting than any ML scout or anything, but I don't think bat speed is Lowell's problem. I still see him turn on the inside fastball pretty often and rip it foul.

 

If anybody watched the Wednesday game on ESPN I think what Tony Gwynn was saying is dead on. He's sorta starting his weight shifting too early and as a result his swing is outta whack and he can't wait as long on pitches.

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Ripping a fastball foul would indicate that he swung a little too late.

I've heard that a lot about his bat speed, but I don't know that I agree with it.? Given, I know a lot less about hitting than any ML scout or anything, but I don't think bat speed is Lowell's problem.? I still see him turn on the inside fastball pretty often and rip it foul.

 

If anybody watched the Wednesday game on ESPN I think what Tony Gwynn was saying is dead on.? He's sorta starting his weight shifting too early and as a result his swing is outta whack and he can't wait as long on pitches.

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Ripping a fastball foul would indicate that he swung a little too late.

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Pulling a ball foul means that the hitter was out in front of it, which indicates that he swung early.