****OFFICIAL BOSTON RED SOX 2014 OFFSEASON THREAD**** - Welcome Panda! Welcome Hanley? 8o

DeadsetAce

DeadsetAce

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it's about that time, fellas. another year of baseball set to begin. the title defense starts now. the AL East overall should be tougher and obviously teams are gunning for us. hopefully the hangover isn't too bad. let's get it :pimp:

as of right now, here's how we look:

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we'll see how big the ellsbury loss really is. i'm not really too concerned about it. he's a great player, but not worth the money that it would have costed to keep him in town. getting lester locked up long term is going to be crucial and lester already said he would take a hometown discount which is great. just like pedroia. ortiz's contract situation is one to keep an eye on...hopefully it doesn't become a distraction.

3B and SS will make or break our season IMO, or are the big question marks I should say. can X and middlebrooks handle the load and carry their weight? i'm excited about X but have my doubts about will. grady sizemore is an interesting signing. we'll see if he can make the opening day roster or if his comeback falls short.


and let's all poor some out for my girl getting the ax in terms of being our sideline reporter. middlebrooks BETTER deliver :smh: :lol:


i'll say 96 wins and an AL east title. with jeter hanging them up, would be cool to knock the yanks out of the ALCS this year :lol:
 
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I agree with SS and 3B being huge for us. Especially Middlebrooks. Hes now in his 3rd year, and while we all know what type of power he has, dude is liable to completely fall off and start whiffing every AB. Dude needs to concentrate more on being consistent and less on smashing the sideline reporter :smh: I feel like X is a pure, natural talent and will play well this seasob. Im not worried about him at all and i hope he gets all the repz this year. Drew can kick rocks .

Excited to see Jackie Bradley put in that work this year too. Didnt put up great #'s in his short stints last year but watching his ABs, you can see he is the goods. Not at all worried about Jacoby :lol: :lol: Dude is frail as hell.

Lackey looking in shape for the 2nd consecutive season. If he looks anything like he did last year and Clay can stay healthy, our top 3 is lights out. So many other guys who can fill in those last two spots too. Workman, Felix, etc

I love that we brought in Pierzynski :pimp: :pimp: Such a solid player . A guy who you hate if hes on the other team, love him if hes on yours :pimp:
 
grapefruit league opener in 3 days, fellas :pimp:

already looking like the start of baseball season here in CA...not so much back home tho. stay warm this weekend fellas. i recommend jameson in your coffee/hot chocolate to help with shoveling out. DSA loved, Champ approved.
 
^ you must hate life...being surrounded by pats and sox fans :lol:

at least you get plenty of snow for snowboard/ski season up there in maine
 
Opening day felt within reach this weekend :lol: Mid 50's and sunny :pimp:

Now it feels far away again because its going to be brick this week :smh:
 
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Friday, March 28, 2014
Grady Sizemore to start in center
By Gordon Edes
ESPNBoston.com

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell announced Friday morning that Grady Sizemore will be the team's Opening Day center fielder, a prospect that seemed almost unimaginable when camp opened six weeks ago.

But Sizemore, who has undergone seven surgeries since 2009 and had not played in a game at any level the last two seasons, has passed all physical tests this spring and showed few ill effects from his long layoff, batting .333 with a home run.

"To Grady's credit, he has answered the questions with his play, and he has responded physically," Farrell said.

Farrell shared his decision with the 31-year-old Sizemore, a three-time All-Star who signed a contract for a $750,000 base salary in late January, shortly before meeting with the media late Friday morning.

The manager said Sizemore took it in stride.

"He smiled," he said.

Sizemore, who was not scheduled to play Friday but said he will play in the team's exhibition finale Saturday, said he called his father, also named Grady, with the news.

"He took it in stride, like me," Sizemore said.

Sizemore was asked how this compared to making his first major league team as a 21-year-old in 2004.

"I'd say this was definitely a lot more satisfying," he said. "After going through what I've gone through, all the negative things that have happened, it's a long time since I've had positive news, a long time since I've been able to play, to feel this good in this setting, to look forward to coming to the ballpark not thinking, 'What's going to happen next? What's going to hurt today?' Everything's great."

Farrell said the plan is to continue with the same kind of progression that was prescribed for Sizemore this spring, where his playing time was gradually increased. Sizemore just played three games in a row, which is probably the same workload with which he'll begin the season, Farrell said.

"The durability with what we've been able to challenge him with, he's come out of it fine," Farrell said. "And even if he were to be asked to play today, he feels great to play a fourth consecutive day. However, we're not doing that based on the progression."

Sizemore said he wasn't even sure how much he would be able to run again in the wake of microfracture surgeries on both knees and a third knee procedure, as well as surgery on his back, elbow and two operations for sports hernias. He praised Dr. Dan Dyrek, the team's director of medical services, for laying out a comprehensive plan that has worked beyond Sizemore's fondest hopes.

"I think I'm getting there," Sizemore said when asked if he felt he could return to being the player he was before being injured. "I feel great now. I feel as good as I could have hoped coming in before camp, and I think there's still room for improvement.

"I'm not going to put high expectations on it. I'm going try keep improving on what I've done so far."

Farrell said the Red Sox don't believe that Sizemore has reached his ceiling.

"That's the thing that probably has us the most excited," Farrell said. "The repetition, and volume in spring training, he's not hit a physical threshold where there's pushback and it's, 'Uh-oh, his body is not responding, we've got to stop.' There's been none of that. So the gradual increase of games played, there's a cautious level of optimism that he'll become an everyday player again."

Farrell said the club was "open-minded" about the competition for the center-field job, and he acknowledged the improbability of Sizemore having recovered to the degree he has.

"This is a rarity," Farrell said. "There's no question about it. I think it speaks to his work ethic and athleticism. Those are the two main ingredients for why he's going north."

Bradley, who has hit .158 this spring and struck out a team-high 17 times in 57 at-bats, remains a "critical" part of the team's plans, Farrell said.

"Like any competitor, he was disappointed, as we fully expected him to be," Farrell said. "He's a very driven athlete. He looks upon this as a challenge to meet and get back to the big leagues.

"Jackie is critically important to us, not just for today but for what we would consider a long period of time, and we anticipate him being on our major league roster at some point this season. We don't know when. We think it's important for Jackie to go down and get some regular at-bats and get on a little bit of a roll and kind of get his game going, and be like we know Jackie can be."

Bradley showed only glimpses of the player who had stirred so much excitement last spring.

"I knew it was going to be a competing thing," he said. "[Sizemore] played well. I didn't perform in spring training, but I feel like I'm ready for the season and ready to prove it."

"We all didn't, I guess, see Jackie Bradley Jr. this spring," he added.

Asked if he could appreciate what Sizemore had accomplished, making it back to this point, Bradley said: "Oh yeah. For anybody, if you said you didn't admire what he had been through and the things he's been able to do, you'd be lying. He's amazing, a great ballplayer, great person, great teammate."
Click to expand...

this is pretty cool. good for sizemore, too. definitely deserves another shot at this level.

hope JBJ stays positive and uses this to build and improve. we will need him.
 
Jenny Dell ‏@JennyDellNESN 52m
3/31 #RedSox at BAL:
Nava RF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Napoli 1B
Carp LF
Sizemore CF
Bogaerts SS
Pierzynski C
Middlebrooks 3B
Lester
Click to expand...

let's get it, fellas. title defense starts today :pimp:


victorino already with tightness in the hammy...so he's sitting out today. 15 day DL
 
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I see the Sox brought back the old uniforms with red lettering. I like it.
 
happy opening day guys! let's make another run at it 
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good first game for Grady

all these players left on base 
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 hopefully it was the first game nerves.

we'll see if JBJ proves himself.

uniforms were dope 
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Put in work in Jimenez once again :pimp:

Seems like he fell off quite a bit.

You already know this team is going to be tops in baseball in terms of runs scored :pimp:

Top of the rotation looking solid :pimp:

Yankees getting worked by Houston yesterday :rofl:
 
W 
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feels like a weight off my shoulders.

nut yankers currently losing to the Astros 3-1. Astros only have 4 hits while that other team has 7. 
 
Not gonna lie. Opening day/week kind of snuck up on me this year. I didnt get to see opening day. But we looked good yesterday. And the hits are coming in today pretty well. Offense is looking real good from what I've seen so far. 

Excited for the season. Would love to go back to back. 
 
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