In response to Hfxsoxnut's comment:

Sure they did, just as other minor league players who are brought up when the roster expands to 40. They got a lot of playing time because the Sox were out of it, and because BV wanted them to play. This in not as much about ability as it is mental capacity and maturity. The kids all have the ability to play at the the MLB level, it just takes confidence and determination to succeed at it.

Go ahead HexNut, and climb on board the "insult ike" train. Truth is, I understand this game better than most of you put together.

 

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In response to Softlaw1's comment:

Where did I agree with that? That must be your amazing reading comprehension skills at work again.

In response to BarberNJ's comment:

Hey Pike, have you seen what Vegas thinks of the Sox 2013 team?  It aint just the whiners!

be careful, Carnie will call you a crybaby....

In response to Alibiike's comment:

That's not the case with Middlebrooks, and you know it.  They shipped Youk out when Middlebrooks showed he could play at this level.  Lavarnway and Iglesias showed that they have a ways to go.

I don't disagree that the Red Sox have been slow promoting prospects in recent years.  Lucchino admitted as much.   I think their offseason strategy this year has been clearly geared toward the future and the prospects, and anyone that can't see that isn't paying enough attention.

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carnie, joey is a bootlicker

you and notin are insane apologists...there is a difference....

even Moon is depressed about these signings

this off season is a disaster...i suspect you are on somebody's payroll

Wow, sorry I was confused. Never meant to start an arguement. I just felt we were headed young! I believe other orginizations have gone young quickly and it has worked out. Have a good winter guys.

In response to Promise4you2's comment:

Come on man, don't feel bad.  Saying good morning starts an argument here.  There'd be no need for a message board if we didn't like to argue.

In response to Hfxsoxnut's comment:

Hey Hlfx,

In the end, those that are chirping about the Red Sox current roster are the same ones who in 2007 were running around and saying the sky was falling when the Yanks made the push at the end of the year and almost overtook us. Devils advocates Ailibike and Softy are among the ring leaders. The next time I see a positive post from either regarding the Red Sox will be the first. Like it or not, fair or unfair, Cherington's been charged with remaking the club and last years purge signaled the beginning of the process. This offseason he's addressed most of the roster issues we had at the end of last year and he's still not done. Today with the additions of Victorino, Drew, Napoli & Ross he can now deal from a position of strength and if they chose to trade say Ells, Iglesias or Saltalamacchia or for that matter any of our highly touted prospects for a young impact player. He can do so without the need to replace any on the big league roster. The addition of Demster soilidifies the opening day rotation and buys the team some time to see what they have in Lackey...

In the end the current squad might not be the most formitable line-up we've ever rolled out but will be much improved over the line-up we ran out there at the end of last year and if Farrel can get Lester back on track...this team will be there all year and as the season unflods if we find ourselves in the mix come June 1st. As has been the case since Henry bought the club, they be aggressive in adding to the roster...It's still months away from the start of the season and the rosters still not set...count me among the group that's excited to see what we have come April...

 

In response to JimfromFlorida's comment:

Just seems there are some fans posting here who really are just miserable / spoiled by recent success. 2 bad things have happened to RS last few seasons. [1] Bobby V [2] Injuries. Bobby V might have been the worst managerial hire in the history of baseball [Thanks Larry] and to this day can't stop throwing people under the bus. Injuries have decimated the RS in the past few seasons. It would probably be easier to list the players who have not been injured. Can any team withstand this list of injured players Pedroia, Papi, Lester, Beckett, Middlebrooks, Ellsbury, Buchholz, Bailey, JD, Lackey, Dice K, Hill, Atchinson, Crawford, Kalish, Sweeney and probably a couple more I can't think of. If this team could just stay healthy for a yr and players have seasons that they are capable of, this team will surprise many. 2 things the 04 and 07 teams had in common stayed relatively healthy, pitching staff stayed in tact most of the season. It may not be WS team but could be in hunt for playoff spot. But too many RS fans here starting to sound like spoiled Yankee fans who think team should win WS every year.

In response to Promise4you2's comment:

Agreed in full.... but I am a supposed hater  for wanting this.

In response to EnchiladaT's comment:

Don't play the martyr card, now...who called you a hater?

In response to BarberNJ's comment:

Looks like a healthy future to me. 3 years is not a life time.

In response to georom4's comment:

I'd add Drewski and myself to that list.

The only person complaining about these moves that isn't constantly whining and complaining about something is Moonslav.

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Are overpaid , short term contracts the new strategy ?  What do you do when the contract is up ?  Sign another overpaid , short term contract ?  Why is an overpaid , short term contract preferable to a longer contract for a far superior player ?  In either case , there will always be young prospects coming up through the system .  The fact is that , under Ben's watch , this team has fallen very far , very fast.  If being unhappy with that makes one a whiner or crybaby , then so be it.  I don't see how any Sox fan can be satisfied with what has been happening.

In response to Promise4you2's comment:

because they are not ready to play in the major leagues yet and their development would regress if they were brought to Boston. it isnt that hard to understand the sox recent free agent signings when you realize the kids are not ready for prime time yet. the sox are not going to win the world series this year and probably not next year, they are building for the long haul.

It's a longer-term vision. I'm not liking what 2013 is going to look like but at the same time I think they're on the right path. Short term pain for longer term gain.

That list of about ten players back up in this thread a bit is pretty encouraging when you think (hope?) that most of those players are going to be ML Ready no later than 2015. In the meantime Ben is assembling a team that protects the pocketbook in the longer term by not signing high priced FA's and at the same time will be competitive.

I've long said that the reason the Sox don't win more League Championships or WS than they do is because they have no concrete plan - no "target year" when they plan on winning it all, so instead they try to fill gaps to be competitive every year. It looks to me like they've now targeted a timeframe starting no later than 2015 when they could be in the position the Y's were in when Jeter, Posada, Bernie Williams, etc. were young. 

 

In response to Hfxsoxnut's comment:

yes, he should be because he is doing the right thing for the organization, people have short memories i guess and would prefer we give 150 million to a crack head or 80 million to a pitcher with a sub .500 career record

In response to snakeoil123's comment:

Ben is betting Drew has a bounce back year and looks like the guy he was pre injury who was a pretty good player, Aviles is a bench player and not much more than that.

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In response to SonicsMonksLyresVicars's comment:

I get the sense that a lot of people have been underwhelmed or skeptical about the signings so far, but only a select group feel the need to make half a dozen new threads every day repackaging the same complaints. There comes a point when you've made your feelings known and it's time to wait for the games to be played to see how things turn out...starting 150 threads between now and April about how much you think Victorino or Dempster sukks and Cherington is a big dummy dum-dum isn't going to change a thing.