So if Tim and Doug divorce, who gets the kids?

Aren't Youks and Papelbon the resident cutups now?

Man, I was really hoping this was about Doug GLANVILLE and we'd get some more stories about Voxter Scythehands and Bingbong the paladin.

That said, I'll miss him too. He can't play anymore and that's a fact but I always liked him.

Me too. I know he's basically done, but (I ask seriously) is he really worse than Cash? It'd be one thing to push Doug aside for Varitek's heir apparent, or even a good backup who can carry some of the load.

Is Mirabelli's clubhouse presence (something that gets mocked a lot, but there is value there) worth more or less than whatever Cash brings to the table?

We all have people in our office who may not produce, individually, as much as others... but their demeanor and presence helps lift the mood around them so as to improve the group's performance as a whole.

I know he's basically done, but (I ask seriously) is he really worse than Cash? It'd be one thing to push Doug aside for Varitek's heir apparent, or even a good backup who can carry some of the load.

From the Globe:

According to team sources, the 37-year-old Mirabelli's bat had slowed since last season, when he appeared in 48 games and hit just .202 with 5 home runs and 16 RBIs. His defense, particularly his throwing arm, has declined.

From the Hartford Courant:

"I think we're hopeful [he can hit] but that's not what this is really based on," manager Terry Francona said. "Cashy's not going to be our DH, but the handling of the staff is very well thought of. We'll take anything offensively from anybody. Cash hopefully can get a bunt down, or he can hit-and-run. The defense is what he does."

But Cash has taken steps to improve his hitting, and so far this spring he is seeing positive results. Cash and hitting coach Dave Magadan live within 20 minutes of each other in the Tampa area, and they spent this winter working on changing Cash's swing path.

"That's a credit to him. A guy who's a 15-year veteran, probably the last thing he wants to do in the offseason is go hit with a guy," Cash said. "We worked on giving myself more of a chance in the strike zone. I was a guy that got the barrel there and had one opportunity to hit the ball. If I wasn't timed up perfect, I was going to struggle. Now, we've worked on staying through the zone longer."

Magadan compared the change in Cash's swing to figure skating.

"When the skater is spinning slowly, their arms are far apart from their body," Magadan said. "When they bring their hands and arms and legs together, they spin faster. It's similar to a baseball swing. If your hands are really far from your body and your swing path is big, your swing is going to be longer. If you're short and direct to the baseball, you'll be on the baseball sooner and it allows you to stay through the ball longer.

"Doing the tee kind of retrained his swing to be a little more direct with a little more length through the baseball. It's a work in progress. You never feel like you've got it figured out, but he's got confidence in what he's doing right now. He's got a little more swagger to him."

Cash is hitting .250 this spring (4-for-16) with a double and a three-run homer Wednesday against the Twins.

"He's hit home runs before, but just the way he hit it, the pitch location, and he hit it to center," Magadan said. "He didn't hit it to left field, which is where a lot of his home runs have been to. It was re-assuring. When you change a guy a lot, you hope for results right away and he's gotten them.

"He's worked his butt off from right after the season. It's all him. He's the one who went out and did it. November and December, he's hitting off a tee when other guys are taking vacation. He worked extremely hard. He's gotten off to a good start."

While I believe what Schilling says about Mirabelli's presence, I refuse to believe this team will fall apart without him. They'll miss him, sure, but life will go on.

Thanks, VI, that was interesting and somewhat reassuring.

No problem, though upon rereading my post, I think my point was somewhat incoherent. (I was being distracted by my tired daughter whining about a school project; she keeps alternating between "I can't work on it today!" and "I can't work on it any day but today!" I understand women, but not 9-year-old girls who are short on sleep.)

My point with the quotes was that Mirabelli and Cash seem to be moving in opposite directions, and that Cash's development is more than just showing up & getting hot (well, for him) for a few PAs. My separate point about presence, which I never quite made, is that Kevin Millar had a presence, as did Pedro Martinez, Johnny Damon, Orlando Cabrera, Bill Mueller, and Trot Nixon; heck, didn't all the players stand up & applaud when they found out Grady Little was going to be their manager? Each of these people are gone; yet the clubhouse managed to survive all the way to another championship last year.

While I don't doubt the veracity of Schilling's comments about Mirabelli, I don't get the impression that Mirabelli was the glue holding together a fragile clubhouse. Rather, I get the sense that everyone in that clubhouse considers Mirabelli a friend, and they know that by getting released Mirabelli's career is probably over - something you don't want to see happen to a friend.

Don't worry about Dougie. Undoubtedly he'll be added to the stable of NESN postgame analysts. Everyone else is.

Mirabelli has consistently reported to camp overweight and out of shape. This, along with the effects of aging, have made him injury prone over the last couple seasons. If the guy isn't willing to even attempt to improve his game (ie: lose some weight so he can be more agile behind the plate and less prone to muscle tweaks) then he doesn't deserve a spot in Major League Baseball. This is a competitive professional sport, not a fraternity.

Go back and look at the comments people made about Mirabelli on his way out of San Diego. By all accounts he was extremely unprofessional in his short stint there, leaving a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. I refuse to believe that anything Doug Mirabelli contributes off the field can compensate for he sheer incompetence he demonstrates between the lines. Good riddance.

Gotta give it to kevin, he's honest about his shortcomings and limitations.

Between this and his love letter to Sean Casey, I've become interested to see Schilling manage a team. Specifically, the Boston Red Sox.

I was hoping that we were going to read Schilling's take on Doug.

What kind of character is Schilling anyway? I see him as a Chaotic Neutral rogue type, maybe a bard.

He has played many. One of his main EQ characters was a monk. He talked about playing a shaman in EQ2. He plays WoW now, not sure what his main guy is. And now of course, he's playing the ultimate DM by developing his own game.

What kind of character is Schilling anyway? I see him as a Chaotic Neutral rogue type, maybe a bard.

Schilling is a complicated NPC. He sees himself as Lawful Good, but really he's Lawful Neutral with some Chaotic backsliding. Varitek is a more solid Lawful Neutral. Manny is completely Chaotic Neutral. He's like a wildman fight with exceptional weapons skills. Lowell is True Neutral. Wakefield is Neutral Good. I always imagined Alex Cora as Lawful Good, but this might be me projecting an imaginary personality on him.

edit: more on Manny

I understand women, but not 9-year-old girls who are short on sleep.

Hmm, I fail to see the difference.

I mean between Mirabelli and Cash, of course.

It's one spring training start, and it was against AAA competition, and it's not like the catcher affects the quality of the knuckler. But, still, in 5 IP today, Wakefield was perfect throwing to his new catcher.

No word on whether Cash managed any hits against AAA pitching.

Schilling thinks he is a paladin but you're right, he's more of a rogue or a bard.

Wakefield is a druid, like pretty much all knuckleballers. Whether he is true neutral or neutral good depends on what version of the game you are playing.

Papelbon is a chaotic good bard or perhaps a rogue.

Beckett is a lawful neutral ranger.

Matsuzaka is a wizard, maybe even an illusionist.

Varitek is lawful neutral, a fighter in any edition of the game up to now, but probably a warlord in 4th Edition.

Papi is a fighter. Maybe even a war hulk.

Manny is the Grand Master of Flowers.

must stop, this is making my head hurt.

Cash is one of the worst offensive position players in history. I hope they have a better backup plan than him.

Cash is one of the worst offensive position players in history. I hope they have a better backup plan than him.

Matt LeCroy is available!

Will Nieves would listen if the Red Sox called...

We all have people in our office who may not produce, individually, as much as others... but their demeanor and presence helps lift the mood around them so as to improve the group's performance as a whole.

That is possibly the only reason I'm still gainfully employed in my current organisation...