I mean, you can’t keep all three in 2013?

Prince to DH, Cabby’s fairly decent there.

over 20 million well into his late 30’s. Hope Fielder’s body type holds up, his dad took a nose-dive at about age 32

… as we all know, Manny only started using PEDs when he got to L.A.

Seriously, if Boras doesn’t suggest to Manny that he act up a little (anyone doubt that he did), to make sure that Boston didn’t pick up Manny’s option(s) at the end of the season, I don’t think Manny pulls the stunts he did that summer.

What Boras failed to consider is that Manny doesn’t really know how to act up, and took it too far. Hence the rumor that after the Dodgers deal was announced, Boras called Theo and begged him to kill the deal. Promised that Manny would be a good soldier the rest of the season (assuming, of course, that Boras could just tell Manny it was time to look good, for the potential offseason suitors).

Boras knew that Manny was more likely to have a stronger finish in Boston than he was in Dodger Stadium, and our team would have been stronger with a Manny that didn’t get direction to act up than we were with Jason Bay (as good as he played). I also believe Big Papi wouldn’t have gotten into that funk he did after the deal, and we beat the Rays in less than 7 on our way to beating the Phillies in the World Series.

Of course, this is all rampant speculation that can never be proven true, much like my theory that we could have easily gotten Beckett/Lowell (since they really wanted to dump Lowell’s salary) without including Hanley Ramirez in the deal.

I mean, I’m sure he’d be good at it, but I assume you meant Tex?

not to mention i much rather have Gonzo than Fielder

sort of like defensive tackles in football, or sumo wrestlers. They look like they’re fat and out of shape until you see them do something athletic.

… when you have an 0 fer.

Clearly, Big Papi doesn’t think DHing sucks too much, or he wouldn’t be as good as he is. However, when you have an 0 fer night, and you’re Pedey with a line drive stab and a behind the back double play, you can feel pretty good about yourself.

When you’re the DH, like Big Papi’s 2009 and 2010 starts to the season, and you don’t have anything to focus on but your struggles at the plate, that’s where I think it takes a certain type of player to deal with the challenge.

So, I think that’s where you actually see it… harder for a DH to end a slump, than a position player who has other things to think about, and other ways to contribute to his team’s success.

but it’s all mental, so I’m not sure there’s really a way to accurately estimate the difference in production- as different players handle it differently. I doubt Papi would be hitting any better if he were playing first base, but I think there’s little doubt that Dunn would’ve probably done better if he wasn’t stressed about DHing