Comments on: Rays Push Sox To the Brink

By: will

will — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:23:46 +0000

Exactly AOB. I see a lot of pitchers doing very well without Captain Soundbite behind the plate.

By: Angry Old Bastard

Angry Old Bastard — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:28:25 +0000

could not agree more, Will. Varitek is the most coddled, overrated player in Red Sox History. Do people really think Red Sox pitchers would forget how to pitch if Varitek wasn’t around?….PUH-LEESE….The Media LOVES Varitek because he’s a “nice fella”….give me a break

By: Angry Old Bastard

Angry Old Bastard — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:23:38 +0000

The problem is, almost all of the Rays young stars are ALREADY SIGNED long term. They’ve got a helluva team, I have no problem giving them credit for it. The only thing they have in common with the Marlins is they are from Florida.

By: will

will — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:22:21 +0000

Hopefully we saw the last of Tim Wakefield, Mike Timlin, and hopefully only one more game of Captain Soundbite striking or popping-out with runners in scoring position.

By: Angry Old Bastard

Angry Old Bastard — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:57:39 +0000

Well, I don’t know if they’ll “dominate” but they’ve got a helluva team and most of them are young and SIGNED. East Division is looking like a beast.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:41:33 +0000

That’s what I say. At the end of the day, the Tampa Bay Rays will morph into a ’small market’ team full of ‘big market’ salary demands. This is the proverbial definition of ‘This Won’t End Well.’

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:00:22 +0000

The Rays have a better, younger starting lineup, but the Sox have the better starting pitching, with the three B’s (Bowden, Bard, Buchholz) on the way in 2009.

Offensively, the Sox are getting old at key spots and they should be active in the free agent market in my opinion, because young power hitters, especially, don’t seem to be dotting their minor league rosters.

But really, there’s no need to panic about the future. The Rays are better this year; that doesn’t mean they’ll be better next year, in 2010, or whenever.

Besides, what does Tampa’s management do when a lot of these young guys need to get paid when arbitration time comes along…..can you say, “2003 Florida Marlins”??

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:41:30 +0000

Bob Ryan is usually awesome. But I’m glad he’s around to tell us these things especially since the Red Sox have no farm system and crappy young players. Oh, wait…

The Rays aren’t dominating anything next year. The Blue Jays will have a monster pitching staff again, the Orioles are getting better, and the Yankees will be active in the free agent market. Oh, and there’s us.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:29:59 +0000

And the intelligence doesn’t end there! Some headline writer at The Globe actually used the phrase, ‘Ray of Hope’ atop Shaughnessy’s column this morning. Because, you know, the team in Tampa is called–w-a-i-t f-o-r it–the Rays. Mensa candidates over there on Bowtie Boulevard, I’ll tell ya.

By: Angry Old Bastard

Angry Old Bastard — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:47:20 +0000

… Thank God the sainted Bob Ryan is around to tell us, “the Rays are younger and more talented and going to be around for a while in the AL East”……gee, I never could have figured that out on my own. Ryan is such a knowledgeable scribe.