The Official 2012 Major League Baseball Thread

[Doc Holliday]

The Fenway Chronicles: Kelly Shoppach behind text?

Former Boston Red Sox catcher Kelly Shoppach, not first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, was behind the text message sent to team ownership in late-July that complained about manager Bobby Valentine, the New York Daily News has reported.

Citing major league sources, the newspaper says Shoppach was "deeply involved" in writing the message, which was sent on Gonzalez's cell phone.

Shoppach, who since has been traded to the New York Mets, denied any involvement in sending the text.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he told the Daily News on Saturday.

Yahoo! Sports reported last week that, irked by Valentine's decision to leave Jon Lester in a July 22 game in which he surrendered 11 runs, Gonzalez texted his displeasure to ownership on behalf of himself and other players.

That message led to owner John Henry and team president Larry Lucchino meeting with a frustrated group of players at a New York hotel before a series against the Yankees on July 26. At that meeting, according to the Yahoo! Sports report, some players stated they no longer wanted to play for the first-year Red Sox manager.

However, sources told the Daily News that the text message "was not (Gonzalez's) idea or his opinion ... or his words," but rather came from a small group of Red Sox players that included Shoppach.

One member of the group, according to the newspaper, believed the only way to solve their problem with Valentine was to take it up with ownership, and Gonzalez -- the highest-paid player on the team -- felt it would be best if that text message came from his phone.

On Wednesday, Gonzalez denied Yahoo! Sports' report, which cited three unnamed sources, that he played a role in organizing the meeting and was one of Valentine's harshest critics at the meeting itself, at which 17 players attended.

"The source is inaccurate," Gonzalez said. "He says that I was animated and one of the most vocal guys in the meeting, and that's false. If somebody's going to try to be an unnamed source, they better be right with what they say, because this is putting our integrity and everyone about us out there, and that's just unfair."

Shoppach hit .250 with five home runs and 17 RBIs in 48 games with the Red Sox this season, splitting time behind the plate with Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

"I don't know that anybody is saying anything, and to be honest, I don't care. I don't play for them (the Red Sox)," Shoppach told the Daily News on Saturday. "I play for the Mets. My responsibility is here. Nothing I did yesterday does anything for today, and that's going to be my stance for the rest of my life. 'What am I going to do today? Yesterday's gone. It ain't gonna do (expletive) for me today.' That's my philosophy on life."

The Red Sox Nation Chronicles

 

[lgna69xxx]

Watching the Yankees/sox game, they just said carl crawford will be shut down for the rest of the season to have needed surgery, this coming tuesday. Is this waving the white flag on the season by boston management?

 

[Joe.t]

Watching the Yankees/sox game, they just said carl crawford will be shut down for the rest of the season to have needed surgery, this coming tuesday. Is this waving the white flag on the season by boston management?

I think that the waving of the white flag by management was done when they decided to keep Valentine as manager for the rest of the season.:yield:

 

[lgna69xxx]

Or maybe when they hired him lol.... we all knew it was not gonna go well, at least Yanks fans an some of my red sox buddies who are truthful and honest. They all hated the Bobby V signing, i on the other hand, loved it. I think he deserves an extension.

I think that the waving of the white flag by management was done when they decided to keep Valentine as manager for the rest of the season.:yield:

 

[lgna69xxx]

Red Sox fire pitching coach Bob McClure

And so it begins

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=403503

 

[Doc Holliday]

The Fenway Chronicles: Red Sox fire pitching coach Bob McClure

McClure was the team's 4th pitching coach over the past 2 seasons

BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox have fired pitching coach Bob McClure, the team said Monday. Assistant pitching coach Randy Niemann will serve in that role for the remainder of the season.

General manager Ben Cherington said the decision to relieve McClure of his duties for the remainder of the season was solely "performance based" and had nothing to do with McClure's relationship with manager Bobby Valentine, which reportedly was strained.

"This is a performance-based decision," Cherington said. "As I said (in New York on Sunday), and I think Bobby has said, there's been a really good effort on the part of the staff to work together and iron out any communication issues that existed previously and this decision had nothing to do with that. We simply felt we needed to make a change to put our pitchers in the best position to do what they needed to do in the next six weeks.

"We feel the next six weeks are important no matter what our record is. Anything we need to accomplish in the next six weeks is to provide and create a foundation going into the offseason. We felt this change was needed to have the best chance to do that."

The Red Sox rank 11th in the American League in ERA at 4.31; their starters' ERA is a combined 4.82.

Niemann will be the Red Sox's fourth pitching coach since 2010, following John Farrell, Curt Young and McClure.

The Red Sox originally hired McClure as a special assistant for the organization last November, before Valentine was named manager, but a month later McClure was named pitching coach. He had spent the previous six seasons as the pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals.

Cherington said McClure would not stay in the Red Sox organization.

"We've relieved him from his duties and he's no longer working for the Red Sox," Cherington said. "We have great respect for Bob, he's a quality guy and a good coach. It just didn't work out as we had hoped and when it doesn't work out, we have to look at ourselves first and ask what, if anything, can we do to make it work better, so we'll do that. The fact that it wasn't working out, we felt like we needed to make a change and the right thing to do was to get a fresh start, and Bob will get a fresh start and we expect him to get an opportunity somewhere else."

Niemann, also in his first year with the Red Sox, was one of two hires made by Valentine for his coaching staff (third-base coach Jerry Royster is the other). Niemann also served under Valentine while he was manager of the New York Mets.

"Randy's got a lot of experience," Cherington said. "He knows our guys well. He's been involved with our pitching staff pretty intimately since spring training and there won't be a learning curve, that's for sure. He's done most jobs in the game, and obviously was a major league pitcher himself, and has a long coaching career. He's got a lot of experience and we feel like he can be part of the solution to making sure we get a lot of good work done from the pitchers for the rest of the season."

When asked if there would be any more changes to the Red Sox staff coming before the end of the season, Cherington said, "No."

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story...d-sox-relieve-bob-mcclure-pitching-coach-duty

 

[Doc Holliday]

Yankees' Michael Pineda charged with drunk driving

Tampa police charged injured New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda with driving under the influence early Monday morning.

Pineda's blood alcohol rate was calculated as high as .128, which is above Florida's .08 legal limit.

This continues the downward spiral for Pineda, who was the Yankees biggest offseason acquisition last winter. He has missed the entire season because of shoulder surgery.

On Monday, Pineda was stopped at 2:35 a.m. and, according to the police report, "no headlights were illuminated at night." The report also stated that the officer could smell "a distinct odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath and his speech was slurred."

Pineda, 23, was the main acquisition in a four-player trade with the Seattle Mariners that sent prized prospect Jesus Montero west in January.

Pineda entered spring training overweight and with the Yankees trying to lower expectations that he could fall behind ace CC Sabathia as the team's No. 2 starter. During the exhibition season, Pineda could never find the 94-98 mph velocity that in part made him so enticing to the Yankees. Instead, he struggled all spring before eventually the Yankees were forced to shut him down and then announce he needed season-ending shoulder surgery.

In his rookie season with the Mariners in 2011, Pineda made the All-Star team and finished the season at 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA.

Both Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi said they had no comment.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Carl Crawford gets his way: will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery

BOSTON -- Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery on Thursday, the team announced Monday evening.

Crawford has what the team termed a "chronic" ulnar collateral tear in his left elbow. Dr. James Andrews will perform the procedure on Thursday. Crawford is expected to be out up to nine months.

There was no question Carl Crawford needed Tommy John surgery, but the timing could be debated, writes Gordon Edes.

Crawford, Boston's left fielder, first suffered the injury during spring training when he was rehabbing from offseason wrist surgery, which was performed last January. He missed the first half of the season and was finally activated on July 16. He finished the season with a .282 average with 10 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 19 RBIs in only 31 games.

In only his second season in Boston since he signed a seven-year deal worth $142 million as a free agent prior to the 2011 season, Crawford admitted numerous times this summer that surgery was inevitable, but he attempted to play through the pain until the symptoms began to worsen.

"We were trying to manage it conservatively and his symptoms increased over the last few days," general manager Ben Cherington said. "We talked more late last weekend and over the weekend, but Carl wanted to get through the weekend and play in the Yankee series and we agreed to circle up again (Monday) and we decided to get it taken care of."

"It became clear over the last few days that surgery was going to happen, it was just a question of when," Cherington added. "We felt, after talking with Carl, it was the right thing to do to get it taken care of now. To Carl's credit, he had played through the injury and played pretty well, but since it wasn't getting better and symptoms were getting worse, we decided it wasn't fair to keep asking him to go out there, so we decided to take care of it now and he agreed with that."

The recovery time for position players after having Tommy John surgery is shorter than for pitchers, who generally miss at least 12 months, but each case is different.

"It is shorter than a pitcher," Cherington said. "It can be up to nine months, but players have come back sooner than that in a couple of cases."

After discussing the matter with Crawford, his agent and the organization's medical staff, Cherington said that Rick Jameyson, the club's head athletic trainer, ultimately made the recommendation for Crawford to have the surgery this week. The club also consulted with Andrews on several occasions, including a recent discussion.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Melky Cabrera caught launching fake website in ruse

San Francisco Giants star outfielder Melky Cabrera mounted a campaign to avoid his 50-game suspension that included a fake website featuring a fictitious product in an effort that was quickly uncovered by MLB investigators, the New York Daily News has reported.

Citing an anonymous source close to the case and a Cabrera associate who told the newspaper he was "accepting responsibility for what everyone else already knows" concerning the fake site, the Daily News reported famed investigator Jeff Novitzky and agents from MLB's investigative arm have begun looking more closely at Cabrera and the scheme purportedly hatched in July as they seek the source of the synthetic testosterone found in his urine.

"There was a product they said caused this positive," the source told the Daily News of Cabrera and his representatives. "Baseball figured out the ruse pretty quickly."

Melky Cabrera's positive drug test and 50-game suspension proves that baseball's testing works. And so do PEDs, writes Tim Keown.

In an era of stringent testing, players must take a stronger stand against those who cheat. If shame won't cause change, perhaps money will, writes Buster Olney.

Juan Nunez, who has been described by Cabrera's agents, Seth and Sam Levinson, as a "paid consultant" of their firm but not an "employee," is alleged to have paid $10,000 to purchase the fake website, according to the report.

The purpose was to fool MLB and the players' union, while presenting them with the website and resulting phony product information, into believing Cabrera had ordered a supplement fraudulently spiked with testosterone, therefore causing the positive drug test, the report says.

Players who test positive are allowed, as part of the collective bargaining agreement that covers MLB's drug program, to try and prove they ingested a banned substance through no fault of their own.

Cabrera's suspension was announced Wednesday.

Cabrera was to miss the final 45 games of the regular season and serve the remainder of the suspension at the start of next season or during the postseason, depending on whether the Giants make the playoffs and how far they advance.

The union initially had filed a grievance, which would have caused the case to go before an arbitrator, but then dropped it, a person familiar with the process told The Associated Press last week.

Cabrera's associates and his entourage, including trainers, handlers and agents, have now drawn the focus of Novitzky, along with agents from MLB's Department of Investigation, according to the report.

Novitzky is the Food and Drug Administration special agent who, in his prior job as an IRS special agent, ran the investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO). That probe led to the seizure of the baseball drug list and the indictment of home run king Barry Bonds.

The Levinsons denied to the Daily News of having anthing to do with the scheme, a claim backed by Nunez and a source from the union who also spoke to the newspaper.

Cabrera is batting .346 with 11 home runs and 60 RBIs in his first season with San Francisco.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8...abrera-launched-fake-website-ruse-report-says

 

[lgna69xxx]

Maybe the red sox could bring back Curt "CY" Young, what do you think rumps?

The Red Sox Nation Chronicles: Red Sox fire pitching coach Bob McClure

 

[Doc Holliday]

Bartolo Colon gets 50-game ban for testing positive for PED

Oakland Athletics’ right-handed pitcher Bartolo Colon has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Major League Baseball announced the suspension Wednesday for the 39-year-old Colon, who was in the midst of a rebound season with a 10-9 record and 3.43 ERA for the wild-card contender.

“I apologize to the fans, to my teammates and to the Oakland A’s. I accept responsibility for my actions and I will serve my suspension as required by the Joint Drug Program,” Colon said in a statement released through the MLBPA.

Colon did not pitch in 2010 but he underwent stem-cell treatment on his pitching shoulder and elbow and returned to make 26 starts with the New York Yankees last season. Colon was 8-10 with a 4.00 ERA.

Colon’s suspension was the second 50-game ban handed down by baseball in the past week. Giants’ All-Star outfielder Melky Cabrera was suspended 50 games for testing positive for testosterone last week.

 

[Doc Holliday]

What's with all those former Yankees getting caught with PED's? Coincidence?

 

[lgna69xxx]

Seeing as mlb players are tested routinely, i would say yea, just a coincidence.

What's with all those former Yankees getting caught with PED's? Coincidence?

 

[Merlot]

What's with all those former Yankees getting caught with PED's? Coincidence?

Seeing as mlb players are tested routinely, i would say yea, just a coincidence.

OMG,

The world reels in shock. Iggy...deciding it's "just a coincidence" Yankees and former Yankees keep getting caught with banned roids or hormones. :faint: I haven't been so shocked since...

...I have a Doctors note...

Another revelation for the disillusioned world to suffer. :lol: :lol: :lol: :nod: :wave:



Merlot

 

[lgna69xxx]

Huh? Merlot? Is that really you? Must be the red sox finally won a game tonight.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Huh? Merlot? Is that really you? Must be the red sox finally won a game tonight.

LOL!!!! Man, did Clay Bucholz ever get pounded last night!!!!! It may have been his worse outing ever!!!

 

[lgna69xxx]

WOW!!!!!!! I really thought with Merlot showing up for once here that the red sox had seriously kicked some booty last night, but seems the man named "Clay" was the one who got spanked. What a waste of near $150million, but not as bad as the Phillies $173 mil. See, there is always a silver lining :thumb:

LOL!!!! Man, did Clay Bucholz ever get pounded last night!!!!! It may have been his worse outing ever!!!

 

[lgna69xxx]

One of the best articles I have ever read, and soooooooooo TRUE!

No respect. No excuse.

Rodney Dangerfield would love the 2012 Red Sox. They get no respect. show no respect and deserve even less. Cue Aretha Franklin.

The Red Sox spoke for days about the "code of silence" when word came out about the "Malice in the Palace" in New York last month. If John Henry had been up on his "Goodfellas" or "Godfather" parlance, he would have known the word is "Omerta" The "code of silence" is big in the world of Hollywood organized crime. So are "snitches," "getting whacked" and "ending up in the weeds." Red Sox fans are familiar with all those concepts this season - especially the later.

Another big word for the likes of the Corleones, Henry Hill and Frank Costello is "respect." This isn't the "respect" demanded by 22-year-old athletes who have done nothing but signed a big contract after being drafted, or crybaby ballplayers demand when their manager has the nerve to tell them to do something, or even the "disrespect" teams like the Patriots attempt to convey while trying to inspire anger among themselves heading into their latest Super Bowl loss to the Giants.

The respect Billy Bats demanded when he told Tommy to "go home and get your ... shinebox," paid to Don Corleone as he walked through his old neighborhood before he got shot and given to Paulie who "may have moved slow, but it was only because Paulie didn't have to move for anybody" was based on fear and threats of consequences. The wrong gesture might be fatal.

There's another form of old-school "respect" - one that comes from love and admiration. A "respect" for service, age, accomplishment, friendship, loyalty and just plain goodness. David Ortiz, Vicente Padilla, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Clay Buchholz (according to the Boston Herald) understand this simple yet apparently outdated concept. Their teammates do not. Meanwhile, Red Sox fans have been told to get their collective shinebox by ownership and management, who once again trashed those poor fools who got enraged at the nearly team-wide snub of Johnny Pesky's funeral.

We're being told not to make such a big deal out of the fact that only four players from the Red Sox managed to attend Pesky's memorial service on Monday. The Beckett Bowl, that big dinner at Strega North End (which apparently was not affected by Dustin Pedroia's impending fatherhood), the late-night loss in New York on Sunday, the early arrival on Monday, the fact that it fell on a sacred "day off" have all been trotted out as excuses by Larry Lucchino, Bobby Valentine and others for the pathetic and disgraceful turnout by the players. It really doesn't matter if 100 or so front-office personnel turned up to Pesky's funeral. They really had no choice. And they're nameless and faceless minions. The players should have felt a sense of duty to put themselves second to honor the team's elder-statesmen and best second-baseman of the past 100 years. They needed to show their collective face.

17 players saw fit to show up at last month's bitch-fest in New York on their off day at roughly the same time of day following an equally late night trip (this one from Texas) that saw the team arrive in New York at 5 a.m. That's 13 more than who paid their respects to Pesky. Even worse, on that infamous Thursday in New York, the highest-paid player on the team - Adrian Gonzalez - earned his "Fan Cave" moniker by showing up at 10 a.m. to plank, hit Wiffle Balls and play video games. So while he got up early to chill in the "Fan Cave" - "Fan Cave" could not be bothered to pull himself out of bed to make it to Pesky's funeral.

But "Fan Cave" did have this to say a few hours before his strikeout ended Thursday's calamitous 14-13 loss to the Angels in 10 innings. He told ESPN Deportes Los Angeles - "In Boston, there is always a novel -- in here they never talk about baseball; it's always the same. That's one of the reasons why I almost never talk to the press here. Very few times they ask me about baseball. But most of the time it's about gossip, rumors, plots, well ... a soap opera."

Or maybe the latest happenings in the "Fan Cave." We won't bother talking about his 1-for-6 performance against the Angels in a game where his team scored 13 runs and lost at home.

Nauseating.

The Red Sox do not deserve a pass on this injustice because they've had so many horrible on-and-off-the-field missteps of late. You don't get to skip the funeral of the guy who spent six decades in service to the ball club because of (fill in the blank excuse) and escape condemnation just because everyone who doesn't cover the team as their full-time job recently found there was beer in the clubhouse on the road, or that the players failed to fire the manager, or that the Mutineers couldn't even send their own texts, or that they're 29-37 at home, or that Josh Beckett has one victory since May 20 or that Red Sox fans would watch the Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland A's, Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers go "Hunger Games" for the two wild-cards if the season ended today.

Piling on? You bet. The Red Sox have been piling on us all season. It's been one disaster after another. Forget the off-the-field hysterics - this team is seven games under .500. There is no margin for error anywhere. Remember 7-20 in September 2011? Meet 6-15 in August 2012.

But it's just a funeral. No big deal, right? Hell, the Red Sox players should have turned out to honor Pesky the Navy veteran, never mind Pesky the Red Sox veteran. Pesky - like so many others - gave up three years of prime baseball to serve his country during World War II. Could you imagine the likes of Beckett or "Fan Cave" sacrificing three weeks for their country? Sure, they both engage in very worthy and laudable charitable endeavors. And Beckett's event was Monday. But who doesn't give to charity? And not many of us are working off guaranteed $68 million or $160 million contracts. The sacrifices make by Pesky and his generation have been blurred by time, history and a culture that worships the contributions of the Kardashians, the latest "kid-crying" video on You Tube and Chad Johnson's Twitter feed.

At least Ortiz - who urged his teammates to attend gets it. "The funeral is the last goodbye you give to a friend. There's no way you're a friend with somebody, that person passes away and you're not going to show up to his funeral," he told WEEI. Ortiz added that Kevin Youkilis - you know that guy who was the root of all the problems with the Red Sox back in the good old days when they were over .500 - was upset he couldn't make the funeral. "It was hard for him to show up," Ortiz said. Not an issue with most of Youkilis' former teammates.

This goes beyond bad baseball. These are basic life skills you teach your children. Class. Dignity. Respect. All outdated concepts - especially on Yawkey Way.

It's hard for most fans to come up with words to describe their disgust for this team right now. It's sickening for so many thinking about what this team has become.

Just about every working adult has taken time off of work to attend a funeral. And no matter how tired you were - there was at least one person there in worse shape than you. Funerals are when people come together - try to forgive and forget their differences - and unite under the common goal of respect, tribute and - often - love for the dearly departed.

The failure of the Red Sox to come together as one and attend Pesky's funeral as a team is just another indication of how dysfunctional this unit has become. It's amazing the lights come on at Fenway each night and the plane leaves Logan full of jet fuel. The fact that all but four of these selfish, arrogant, entitled, soft, spoiled, unprofessional, apathetic individuals saw fit to take the time and effort to do something beyond themselves and pay tribute to someone who deserved it as much as anyone else who had ever worn a Red Sox uniform is almost beyond imagining. Even with this bunch.

Here's one small gauge of the intensity: Jeff Gulko's "Boycott Red Sox Like They Boycotted Johnny Pesky's Funeral" Facebook page had more than 5,000 "Likes" by 1 a.m. after just a day in existence. My favorite comment - from Pat C. who writes: "I'm at the point now I don't even want to show off my Red Sox tattoos."

25 players, 25 cabs. Try 25 players, 21 children, 347 agendas and zero class. Not to mention a game-total 410 pitches, a blown 6-0 lead, an eight-run third inning for Anaheim and the Angels capping off a three-game sweep of the Red Sox Thursday night. For the fourth time - we'll ask and answer this question: "Can it get any worse?" Answer: "Yes, there have been no arrests or PED suspensions."

The best news of the season thus far - Gonzalez and Beckett have been placed on waivers.

There is hope for 2013.

Meanwhile, current situation is hopeless.

Rest in peace, Johnny.


http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/obnoxiousbostonfan/2012/08/red_sox_2012_funeral_pesky.html

 

[Doc Holliday]

Red Sox and Dodgers close to blockbuster deal

Gonzalez, Beckett, Crawford & Punto would be shipped to L.A.

BOSTON -- The Dodgers and Red Sox are closing in on a deal that would send Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to Los Angeles, though a few hurdles remain before it's official, multiple baseball sources said Friday.

Pitcher Rubby De La Rosa will be headed back to Boston as the centerpiece of the deal, sources say. De La Rosa made his first major league appearance of the season Wednesday, having had Tommy John surgery about 13 months ago. Also included are first baseman James Loney and prospects Ivan De Jesus (infielder) and Jerry Sands (outfielder), according to sources, plus another top prospect that is still unknown.

The Dodgers optioned De La Rosa to Triple-A Albuquerque on Friday afternoon. Gonzalez was scratched prior to Friday's game and summoned to the clubhouse, along with Punto. Loney was a scratch as well, and was called to manager Don Mattingly's office.

Giving up Gonzalez would be a shocking change of direction for the Red Sox, who in December 2010 traded two of their top prospects -- first baseman Anthony Rizzo and pitcher Casey Kelly -- to acquire the first baseman. Gonzalez is making $21 million this season, the first in the seven-year, $154 million extension he signed in April 2011.

But with the Red Sox essentially out of contention for a playoff spot and the Dodgers under new ownership, Los Angeles is aggressively making a strong bid to bolster its chances for this season and the future.

Beckett, a 10-and-5 player, has the right to refuse to go to L.A.

It's likely the Dodgers would absorb most, though not all, of the $261 million that Gonzalez, Beckett and Crawford are owed after this season.

A Red Sox official, speaking on the condition of anonymity Thursday, insisted the Red Sox had no issues with Gonzalez on or off the field, but said the club was exploring all avenues to improve. Ridding itself of Gonzalez's salary might free up resources that would allow it to make significant improvements to a pitching staff that has significantly underperformed.

"I think something is happening, but I'm in a state of disbelief that it is," one baseball source said Friday.

Gonzalez was asked about the Dodgers rumors before Friday's game, where he had previously been in the Red Sox's lineup, batting fifth.

"Waiver questions? I'm not talking about that," he said.

During his daily pregame news conference, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine was asked about the situation.

"I have no thoughts at all," Valentine said. "I saw it scroll on the bottom of my TV."

Valentine said he had a conversation with general manager Ben Cherington earlier in the day, and Gonzalez was not mentioned.

"I talked to Ben this afternoon and there was no mention -- at all," Valentine said. "There wasn't a mention of 'who do you want?' There wasn't any conversation, so I believe it's nothing more than the standard operational of a guy gets claimed, it's a block, it's not a trade and life goes on."

Gonzalez leads the Red Sox in batting average (.300), RBIs (86), on-base percentage (.343) and hits (145) this season.

The Red Sox and Dodgers had broached a trade for Gonzalez at the July 31 trade deadline, but sources with both clubs insisted the talks never got beyond the preliminary stage.

The deadline is 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday, when the Dodgers' claim on Gonzalez expires.

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story...ckett-nearing-boston-red-sox-exit-sources-say

 

[EagerBeaver]

Gonzalez: He is a very good all around player, although I look at him and wonder if he should not be in better shape. He is a premiere all around 1st baseman but has a huge contract, which along with Crawford's contract and Lackey's contract, is draining the life out of John Henry's wallet. At some point you look at the cash going out and what you are getting as an overall return and you have to say, what the fuck?

Crawford: This was a bad signing. He is not a Boston guy and will probably do better in LA. Only the Lackey signing was worse.

Beckett: Has been unable to move past the fried chicken controversy. He just seems like he has worn out his welcome in Boston and needs a change of scenery. Even though he had some good years in Boston he was never as good or as consistent as his talent level warrants. I don't think he is a terribly smart pitcher. He gets by with natural stuff and is held back by his head. Not the only pitcher like that but his stuff is better than most.

Punto: a utility player who hustles but is not a good hitter nor a smart baserunner.