COVERITLIVE.COM

11:54

Boston.com - Hi chatters -- Chad will be here a few minutes past noon to take your questions, but feel free to start submitting them now.

12:09

Chad Finn - Hey gang -- Thanks for popping in, and sorry for the delay. Had to put on my Armani. Everyone else around here wears sweatsuits. Weird.

Curious what everyone thinks -- can the Angels steal this series? Still feel like it's the Yanks' year, but if Anaheim steals Game 6, there's going to be A LOT of talk about 2004 in the Bronx. Fun game last night, anyway . . .

OK, let's go . . .

12:09

[Comment From Sully]
Hey Chad....Your best guess. Who's playing left field for the Sox next year?

12:13

Chad Finn - Wow, that's tough. I'm 99 percent convinced that Bay won't be back. He'll get the length of contract he wants elsewhere, and Theo has made it pretty clear in his interviews lately that he's not going to go to five years, and I suspect the best offer will be three years and a club option. While it would be tough to lose Bay's 36/119, I've seen enough of him to know I don't want him on the Sox at age 36. But to replace him, I really have no idea. I doubt it's Damon. Abreu turned down two years and $16 mil from the Angels, so I doubt it's him. I don't think Holliday appeals to them enough to pay him what he'll get. So there may be a one-year stopgap there of someone we're not even considering. Maybe a Josh Willingham, as one reader suggested.

12:13

[Comment From carl_the_swede]
Anything scare you about the Bucs this weekend? I can't find anything that would worry me - and that worries me.

12:14

Chad Finn - Nope. But then, I went into last week's game fearing the Titans. I still can't believe they're that bad, even with the injuries.

12:15

Chad Finn - But to answer your question about the Bucs, they're 31st in the league in run defense (170-something a game), they're starting Josh Johnson at QB, whose passer rating is in the 50s, and they appear to be pretty porous on both lines. Unless the Pats eat some bad British food, they should come back stateside with their fifth win.

12:16

[Comment From carl_the_swede]
After a horrible episode last week, I think the Office nailed it last night. Plenty of laugh out loud moments...

12:17

Chad Finn - Yeah, my wife turned to me about halfway through it and said, "This one's actually funny." Angry Pam was pretty hilarious, as was the Dwight/Jim storyline with the wood duck. A solid B.

12:17

Chad Finn - Whoops, I meant Mallard.

12:18

[Comment From Mark Bellhorn]
Hey Chad, I hear a lot of Yankee fans screaming today for Swisher to be replaced in the lineup by Gardner. Personally I think that would be spineless and a big mistake. Do you think Girardi will cave in and make the switch Saturday?

12:20

Chad Finn - I hope so. Noticed a little bit of backlash last night on Twitter regarding Swisher and the Moneyball way failing again in the postseason, the point being that a low-average, high-OBP player like Swisher can't get a hit when he's thrown strikes by quality pitchers. I realize he's in a slump, but he's a pretty important part of that team in terms of personality and lineup depth, and he's a much better option thant Gardner, who strikes me as Bubba Crosby in disguise.

12:20

[Comment From Booyah]
"Yankees win blowouts and even tight games, but tend to lose epic games". Is that a fair statement, or naive? Or are they only epic BECAUSE the Yankees lose, in the David vs. Goliath sense?

12:23

Chad Finn - Hope we get a chance to find out. But it's tough to generalize by saying they lose epic games, at least when you're talking big-picture with Jeter, Pettitte, Posada, and Rivera. Like I said before, though, if they lose Game 6 . . . I wonder if someone on the Angels made the "Don't let us win tonight speech" that Millar made before Game 4 in '04. Seems like something Torii Hunter might do.

12:23

[Comment From Booyah]
Great piece on the 5 year anniversary. I showed it to family members who don't usually read your work (or any Red Sox writers' work, actually) and it brought back a lot of great memories of that night.

12:30

Chad Finn - Thanks. Really appreciate that. I sort of rushed through that piece after realizing during the day that it was the fifth anniversary and it was being completely overlooked. Even though Sox fans are disappointed with the way this season ended and Yankees fans are counting their championships before they've hatched (man, did they come out of the woodwork this week), I don't think we should ever pass up an opportunity to remember that team.

12:30

Chad Finn - Sorry, had to take a call there.

12:30

[Comment From OilCan]
Will Pedro deliver another gem in the WS?

12:31

Chad Finn - Yeesh, I don't know if he's got the stuff to shut down an offense like the Angels'.

12:33

Chad Finn - That one was for you, Yankees fans. Looks like he'll pitch Game 2 at the Stadium if the Yankees close this out. As great as it was to see Pedro in his '99-injured-oblique-but-you-still-can't-touch-me-Thome form against the Dodgers, I can't imagine it would end well against that New York lineup in that puny stadium. Then again, if there's one guy who never should be doubted, it's Pedro.

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