Dice and the Red Sox are on ESPN today at 1.

This will be the fourth Sox game I've seen this spring on the fourth different network. On the other three, announcers have been saying the same things I have:

Stop the charade, get Pap back in the pen. (Are we seriously talking about Tavarez as a closer? If you were the Yankees, who would you rather face in the ninth, hothead Tavarez, or literally any other pitcher in the league? "Hey, it's the ninth, oh no, we gotta face Pap--oh wait, it's any other guy, okay, we're fine. Hey Cano, you don't even need your corked bat, it's not Papelbon!")

and

Why the hell did we get rid of Alex Gonzalez? Our middle infield fell about eight notches on a scale of, let's say, a few dozen total notches this offseason. I also wouldn't have minded waiting another year on Pedroia, since we had Loretta and still have Cora.

Hopefully, our strength, the starting pitching*, makes it all irrelevant.

*Would be even stronger if we hadn't traded star pitcher Bronson Arroyo to the Reds for a backup outfielder. Arroyo is currently the coverboy of the Reds' media guide, while Wily Mo is sitting on the bench wondering what to do with 40 subscriptions to Vibe. Note for new people: I've been saying this since the minute the trade was reported. Not hindsight stuff. Note for old people: I know I'm at Michael Leggett-level obsession about this, but, come on, it's all true. Let's hope your side proves me wrong this season.