What I've learned in the first two weeks of the season

a)  Brian Anderson is fine on the field, he just needs to catch up at the plate.

b)  Buerhle & Contreras are our #1 and 2.

c)  Garland and Vazquez continue their career trend of frustration.

d)  After 2 weeks, only one game lost because of the Thorngan experiment.

e)  Thome and Konerko can be really good, close to the Manny/Ortiz combo.

f)  Cotts & Politte are concerns.

It's fairly obvious he's not going to play.  When you're below Ozuna in the outfield depth chart, you should probably hope for greener pastures.  I wish the best for Gload and even though I would hate to see him go, it would've been nice for him to be traded to a team where he could get more consistent playing time and net us a backup outfielder we could use right now.

1. Don't blink, or you might miss a Buehrle win.
2. Jenks SEEMS to be rounding (no pun intended) into form.  His curve looked nasty on Saturday.
3. Could Garcia's early lack of speed be due to the WBC?  Haven't we seen pitchers who, near the end of Spring Training, get the "dead arm"?  Since his ST was mostly in the WBC, could it be hitting him now?  If so, I'm not that worried about his health or skills... just his head.  And I suspect Ozzie won't allow too much nonsense, nephew-in-law or not.

Other than that, it's way too early in a long season to draw any conclusions.  All I'd add is that I disagree with most of you about the season coming down to the last week (this means YOU Cheat!).  I'm guessing that even with the question marks the Sox have, they'll win the division by 7 (or more) games.  I expect a regression to norm in the 1-run games too, but I suspect that this offense has the potential to cut the number of them in half.

Finally, as much as I loved my vacation in Mexico last week, I really really really missed watching the Sox.  I saw results, but had no details or box scores.  And of course, the 1st thing I did upon return was read every post here.

Being in Philly I've noticed:

-The Sox are somehow flying under the radar, a year after winning the Series. My Sox news is limited to websites like this and the national sources. On SportsCenter yesterday they started off the highlights with a bunch of games. The Sox didn't show up until after a piece on Jeffrey Maier. Thome hits his 7th homer, one less than the league leaders and there's almost no mention of it.

-Phillies fans really don't appreciate it when I thank them daily for the Thome trade.

-Red Sox, Yankees, Red Sox, Yankees. Schilling/Beckett greatest pitchers alive. Red Sox. Yankees. Schilling/Beckett. Ortiz. Red Sox.

I really need to move west.

"steal every time I'm on base" mentality ASAP.  Especially when Thome, Konerko, and even Gooch are hitting like they are.  We don't need to risk losing a baserunner to generate a sac fly, when these guys are knocking the ball out of the park at this rate.

Just get on base, steal when it's apparent the pitcher/catcher can't match your speed, and otherwise wait until the guys behind you drive you in.  

I'll wait until the end of June to try and make any conclusions--mostly to save myself any crow eating.

I've emjoyed reading everyone elses though.

- I'm still not confident in Podsednik, even after his two hit game; though it was nice to see him get on base twice in the same game.  Towers isn't/wasn't a good barometer, though; he was awful yesterday, leaving everything up when he did find the zone.  It was almost painful to watch him pitch yesterday.

-Thome is teh r0xerz.

-For folks thinking that Javy Vazquez is going to be a Cy Young candidate...  keep dreaming.  He's going to give up 30-35 homers (most likely) this year, and really, that's too much to keep his ERA low.  That doesn't mean I'm expecting bad things from him -- just, I doubt he's going to finish with the 3.20 ERA people are hoping for.  I'll say he and Garland will finish from 4.00-4.15 at season's end.

1. If Thome and Paulie stay healthy, we are in for some real treats this year and the Sox will need to buy additional fireworks to keep up.
   
2. Jermaine Dye is also a phenomenal player, quietly having a great start (defensively too) and will be huge all year.
   
3. Tad Iguchi was a find and a steal.
   
4. We can't rely on the 2, 3, 4 and 5 hitters to stay hot all year...so the top and bottom better get it in gear.
   
5. The bullpen needs a shake up sooner rather than later.

I haven't learned a damned thing.  It's a long frickin' season, and I'll give anyone even odds that neither Thome nor Shelton nor Casey Blake will be making the MVP Top Five.

I'll bet that Toronto isn't top 5 warmest North American cities in 2006--even odds!

Barry Bonds is old and it shows.