No big surprise here.....I bolded an interesting section...

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-sox/ ... ons-issues


In his Sunday blog post, ESPN Insider Buster Olney talked about issues that still remain in the Red Sox clubhouse. Today, he expanded on that thought, writing in part:

Anybody who has had a 30th birthday has been witness to troubled marriages. The frustration and exasperation of those involved is deeply felt, and because of the requirements of the union, there is little respite. They have to deal with each other every day.

And because everything that is said and done is viewed through the prism of that frustration and exasperation, the whole situation is refueled constantly. Stuff that really shouldn't be a big deal becomes a big deal, because of what happened before.

Which brings us to the 2012 Boston Red Sox.

The unhappiness that exists among the Boston players and staff is multi-layered and deep. Calls and texts and complaints about daily events and exchanges are being sprayed all over the baseball landscape, as some involved share their frustration with friends and family and agents. Some are already talking about looking for work elsewhere down the road.

There is frustration about how individual situations have been handled, about communication. For those aware of the problems, there is bad body language on display during games, as the anger manifests.

Kalish and Middlebrooks are good first steps, next needs to come Lavarnway and Iglesias

and honestly, if you're going to have to eat his salary anyway, releasing Youkilis might be a good wake up call to some others on the team

and if you can find someone who's willing to take on his contract for 2 years, see what's out there for Beckett...even if you don't get much back other than salary relief and a shitty prospect who will never play above double A, it's like addition by subtraction

Smell ya later Youk.

You're welcome for Mike Minor yesterday. Guy is lucky he's left handed.

what a great trade!

a roster full of utility guys means Bobby V can pretend he knows what he's doing!

I really dont think the manager is the problem, just like it wasnt last year either.

6.5 games back from first

2 games back in the wild card.

Ells, Buchholtz coming back after the all-star break.

Maybe a big trade for a starting pitcher rental at the deadline?

I don't know, there could be playoff baseball in Boston......

trade nava & ross for whatever you can get (bullpen help/spot starter). roll the dice w/ Ellsbury, Crawford, Kalish & Sweeney.

then wait and see what you get from Buchholz, Beckett, and Bailey.

the extra playoff spot sure makes your comment easier.

To me, under the new playoff format, being a wildcard winner isn't something I'd consider "making the playoffs". Being a wildcard team just means you have the opportunity to play a game to make the playoffs.

They'll likely brand it as a "one game playoff," and I'm fine with that. It's not a regular season game. It's a post-season game.

Sure, it's not a regular season game. But if you make it to the one game playoff and lose, will you feel like that was a year you "made the playoffs"?

Did I mention that I'll be attending my first Red Sox games ever, starting tomorrow?

Bone up on your Neil Diamond.

Not at all. It's really the same as the game 163 tie-breakers we see every once in a while. It's technically a playoff game, but it's more a "chance to make the playoffs" game.

Exactly how I see it.

I hear ya. The day or night before the game you'll "feel" like you did make the playoffs because of the added pressure and butterflies. If you lose, you'll feel like you lost a playoff game. It's kinda getting into semantics at this point.

It'll be the same exact feeling as being in a 163rd tie breaker game.

Both teams will be able to say they made the playoffs. I should have looked this up sooner:

For example, if the Yankees have the best record in the AL and the Red Sox win their one-game Wild Card playoff, they will meet in the Division Series. In the past, the Red Sox would have played the division winner with the league's second-best record and the Yankees would've played the division winner with the third-best mark.

from: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... d=26927024

I don't think we're arguing that though. We know the league is calling it a playoff spot, but it's really not.

Yeah, both wildcard teams technically made the playoffs. But in my book they didn't.