Boston Red Sox Blog Spot

Looks Like Oil Wasn't The Only Thing Lubricating Dennis Boyd

2012-02-09T21:34:00.000-05:00

While being interviewed today on Boston's WBZ Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd admitted that he was high on cocaine for about 2/3 of his starts during his 10-year major league career, eight of them with Boston (78-77, 4.04 ERA). Wow, does that explain a lot. Makes you wonder about Mark Fidrych and Al Hrabosky.

Historical footnote: Dennis Boyd was nicknamed Oil Can because that's what he called beer, apparently consumed in copious amounts in his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi.

To Arbitrate or Not To Arbitrate, That is The Question.

2012-02-08T22:39:00.000-05:00

As the Sox inch closer to spring training (pitchers and catchers report February 19), the arbitration chess match between Boston management and players continues unabated.
Alfredo Aceves avoided arbitration and accepted a one-year $1.2 mil deal with another opportunity for $100,000 in potential bonuses. Given Aceves' ability, age (30) flexibility and heart, this is a solid bargain.
In the most intriguing turn of arbitration events, Big Papi opted for arbitration after Boston's offer of $12.65 mil didn't meet his $16.5 mil expectation. As talks have continued, Ortiz has expressed an interest in getting a deal done before it comes to a date with the judge. After a sub-par 2009 season, Ortiz bounced back in 2010 and had an even better 2011 campaign, proving he's still got gas in the tank. I've said many times that when Papi went sour it would happen all at once. I'm pleased that, at least in this case, my intuition-o-meter continues to be broken. Get this deal done and keep your guy in the middle of the order happy.

OK, We're Ready For Baseball...Well...

2012-02-02T23:08:00.000-05:00

The off-season merry-go-round of new managerial hires, the fleecing of Boston's front office by Theo Epstein and the Cubs - of which Boston has still not seen a penny or a prospect - and only marginal to slightly better than average acquisitions are still giving me that queasy, well, 2011 feeling.
Josh Beckett and Bobby Valentine have supposedly cleared the air. Beckett, who hadn't surfaced publicly since the bucket o' chicken and beer fest that he, John Lackey and John Lester (did this only affect guys who's first names started in Jo?) indulged in, said on MLB's Intentional Talk, "You know what, I had a lot of stuff going on at the beginning of the offseason, so it let me distance myself immediately from [September's disappointment]. I think that it definitely helped come December and January." Beckett and wife Holly recently had their first child, a daughter.
If this is the latest story, I have to declare officially. We're ready to talk about baseball, not the sins of the past. It's time to reload for another 162.
In baseball news, Daisuke Matsuzaka threw 26 pitches off a mound two days ago after undergoing Tommy John surgery and is expected to return by mid-season. OK, maybe we can wait a few more days to talk baseball.

Every Wish Granted Has A String Attached

2012-01-22T07:14:00.000-05:00

Otherwise known as, there's no free lunch. The Red Sox traded shortstop Marco Scutaro to the Rockies Saturday in exchange for right-hander Clayton Mortensen. Scutaro will be playing second base for Colorado in 2012.

I'm not broken up about the move. Scutaro has been serviceable in his role in Boston. Just serviceable. I'm OK with the move. Watching Scutaro and Jed Lowrie jockey for control was like watching the two little trains that thought they could actually become a stable, long-term solution to Boston's continuing shortstop deficiencies. What makes me queasy is Boston's solution - a shortstop duo of Mike Aviles and Nick Punto. And the revolving door that has become the hallmark and bane of the Boston shortstop saga continues.

Perhaps it's because I'm currently reading The Art of Fielding or perhaps it's my own arrogance after playing the position for so long. Shortstop is the center of the defensive baseball universe - not the pitcher, not the catcher or the center fielder. As quoted in The Art of Fielding, "The shortstop is a source of stillness as the center of the defense. He projects this stillness and his teammates respond." If that is true then spasticity must be the Red Sox norm all these many years. After the years of Nomah, Boston fans have witnessed a literal parade of men in the six hole. During the 17 years in which Derek Jeter has been patrolling Yankee Stadium, Boston has seen a cavalcade of eight shortstops carousel through the most important defensive position in baseball.

Now the oft-injured Lowrie and the just OK Scutaro are gone and Boston fans will be strapping in to watch the Aviles/Punto show. I suppose it is a blessing to have two decent defensive shortstops. If one goes down, you've still got an every day player. On the other hand, would Boston have not been better off the past 17 years with a Derek Jeter of their own?

And now as we approach another spring training, my long personal Red Sox national shortstop nightmare continues. I'll keep the glove oiled up just in case I finally get the call.

Boston Red Sox shortstops since Nomar Garciaparra's departure:

Orlando Cabrera (The best since Nomah. Never should have let him go.)

Edgar Renteria (Monumental bust)

Alex Gonzalez (Twice. Second best after Cabrera.)

Julio Lugo (Monumental bust)

Alex Cora (Decent defensive SS and a good guy)

Jed Lowrie (Just OK, injury-plagued)

Nick Green (No comment)

Marco Scutaro (Pretty good to just OK)

Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart...At Light Speed

2012-01-18T23:22:00.000-05:00

Since the winter meetings in Dallas a lot has happened in and around The Nation, most of which has not inspired me to think of championships and AL East first place finish or even a wild card berth for that matter. Here are the happenings in bullet point staccato fashion. If you really want to get your Boston sports excellence mojo going, this list should leave you cheering for the Patriots this weekend. And yes, each bullet point may likely be followed with my snarky, pent-up bile of frustration.

In no particular order:

- Bobby Valentine has a great conversation with Carl Crawford and likes his attitude. Three days later Crawford has surgery on an ailing wrist that has been bothering him since late in the 2011 season. At the very least, he will miss opening day. Snarky Comment (SC): Just ask Nomah and Jed Lowrie about wrist injuries. I don't have a good feeling about this.

- On the same day that Valentine and Crawford are playing "no you hang up", "no you hang up", the Yankees, who did nothing in Dallas, secure the services of both free agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and Seattle's Michael Pineda. Valentine says he's not worried about the Yankees' move. Right.

- One day before the Yankees deal, the Sox sign perennial hothead and a pitcher who has taken beaning batters to an art form, Vicente Padilla. SC: My sole consolation when hearing this news was also hearing that Boston was seriously looking at Alfredo Aceves for the number five spot. Aceves only did everything that was asked of him last year and generally came up big. What can I say? I like the guy. Besides which, can he suck any more than John Lackey?

- The Red Sox continue to toy with asking Jason Varitek to camp as a non-roster invitee. No matter what I say I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.

- The Cubs and Red Sox, unable to come to terms over Theo Epstein's compensation, turn the whole mess over to Bud Selig. SC: The Cubs and Red Sox were unable to come to terms over Theo Epstein's compensation. I'm letting this sink in. On what planet and in what business domain does a deal involving a high-profile sports executive go down without the compensation being locked down first?

- At this point, between the Yankees, Angels, Tigers and Rangers (signing Yu Darvish and in the hunt for Prince Fielder), Boston's power ranking doesn't even place them in the top three in American League.

Now for the good stuff:

- Recognizing Jacoby Ellsbury's monster 2011 season, Boston signs Ellsbury to a one-year $8.05 million deal, up substantially from his $2.4 million contract last year and in the process avoiding salary arbitration.

- Boston also agrees to a one-year contract with Franklin Morales. Morales will be a much-needed lefty in the pen but he's not not the answer.

- Continuing the non-committal parade, Jarrod Saltalamacchia signs a one-year deal, also avoiding salary arbitration.

The hot stove has been banked up and will burn through the January and early February night when pitchers and catchers at last report in mid-February. Then, at least for a brief period, I will be reborn. I will dawdle over real life life while wondering what it would be like to take off two or three straight weeks, criss-cross Florida, eat hot dogs, drink beer and catch every Grapefruit League game I can make. I'll vow to myself that one day I'll make the Red Sox fantasy camp. My mood will brighten as I think of players honing the ultimate skill; that of using a perfectly round thing to hit a perfectly spherical thing coming at you at between 85 and 100 mph.

Come to think of it, who cares about the trades, the business and the intrigue. The playing of baseball is nearing.

Jenks Knifed

2012-01-07T14:27:00.000-05:00

Well not in the criminal sense but Bobby Jenks did go under the knife for the second time in two months recently after experiencing more back pain after doctors performed a spinal decompression/bone fragmentation removal procedure in December.
While recovering, Jenks experienced more back pain. Upon examination doctors discovered additional bone fragments that required removal. This means Jenks will not be ready to go for the beginning of spring training.
Oh well, since the team has lived without him for so long and he's been a bust since coming to the Sox I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it.
I continue to await my call for a slot in the bullpen.

You Just Gotta Love Peter Abraham

2011-12-31T11:27:00.002-05:00

A look ahead at the 2012 Red Sox.

Right Leaning

2011-12-30T22:03:00.000-05:00

No, I'm certainly not talking about my political views. I'm talking about the gaping right field hole in Boston's lineup. JD Drew is a free agent and will mercifully not be asked back. Josh Reddick is off to the Oakland Mausoleum - I mean Coliseum.

Today it was reported that Ryan Kalish, Boston's possible heir apparent, would most likely miss the first two months of the 2012 season after it was revealed that Kalish's shoulder - specifically his labrum - had been surgically repaired in November. Kalish has neck surgery in September.

Mr. Henry, check your wallet. You're going to need it again.

Oki Okay, Just Not In Boston.

2011-12-29T10:48:00.002-05:00

Another good move. Get rid of non-performers. Hideki Okajima has agreed to a minor league contract with the Yankees.

You're Joshing Me, Right?

2011-12-28T23:18:00.000-05:00

Actually, I'm not surprised, only pleased that I wrote a catchy headline to suck you in.

Today Boston justifiably dealt right fielder Josh Reddick and two minor leaguers to Oakland to acquire 26 year-old two-time all-star As closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney.

Bailey, if he remains healthy, can be the man in Boston. As critical as I've been of JD Drew over the years, Josh Reddick was not the answer. If you followed Boston closely in 2011 - and I did - it became apparent that Reddick was quite a bumbler in right field. I applaud Red Sox management for dealing a still valuable young prospect for a proven closer and another outfielder. Meanwhile, the Oakland fire sale, as they move inexorably closer to a move to San Jose or Sacramento, continues.

A healthy Bailey joins closer Marc Melancon on the back end. Did I mention a couple of posts back that Boston needs starting pitching? Oh yeah, that's right. I did.

The Bailey move certainly ices former setup man Daniel Bard as a number four or five starter. I think Bard can be a solid starter. He has four pitches that essentially couldn’t be used in a setup or closer role so his potential as an effective starting pitcher are in his favor. He's young and is much better than when he broke into the bigs. It's getting interesting and I'm starting to sit on the edge of my chair. In six weeks pitchers and catchers will report and I'll be reborn. Sox!

A Staff Infection?

2011-12-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

Bobby Valentine has quickly rounded out the remainder of the Red Sox coaching staff. I have to admit, I pay more attention to the players than I do the coaching staff but I'll give this a whack because, well, I think they deserve it.
Tim Bogar, once Boston's first base coach (he was OK but not in a critical box like third base), then their third base coach (oh lord, personally I thought he was awful) has been installed as Boston's bench coach, essentially Valentine's second in command. I work in IT. The only frame of reference I have is messing up 33 percent of my project implementations and as a result being promoted to Vice-President. Bogar is a good guy. I'm just not convinced that tenure is the sole criteria for promotion.
Bob McClure has been named Boston's new pitching coach. In a radio interview last week, McClure said he was ready to "kick ass and win." McClure comes to Boston from Kansas City. Somehow the words kick ass and Kansas City just don't long in the same sentence nor do McClure's words inspire confidence. Ok, so maybe we can go with his personal career pitching stats: .511 winning percentage and 3.81 ERA. Well now, that makes me feel so much better. My mother maintains that even though he's a catcher, Jason Varitek would be a much better choice as pitching coach. Can I argue?
Alex Ochoa (the hitting coach for Boston's Class A affiliate Salem) and Jerry Royster (who came up in the Dodgers system as a player shortly after Valentine did, has served as an interim manager in the Majors and is a prototypical baseball lifer) will man the first- and third-base boxes, respectively, and Gary Tuck remains in the bullpen.
My perspective is no doubt colored by "the collapse". This year, I'm from Missouri. Show me!

The 999 Plan

2011-12-17T16:45:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not talking about the once hot now decidedly not Herman Cain political manifesto. This is about not only the 999th post on the blog but about a host of other nines that are focusing the white harsh spotlight on Red Sox management.
First, it takes nine players to field a team and I'm not feeling so good about one through nine right now. Secondly, in the wake of the winter meetings in which Boston did absolutely zero, the Sox are making some ninth hour deals. It's not the 11th hour mind you but the activity - or lack thereof - makes me wonder as we approach baseball's midnight hour. The final nine feels like "Revolution 9", a Lennon-McCartney (mostly Lennon) theme that was influenced by George Harrison and - yes - Yoko Ono. As such, the effort was interesting but fell far short of the best Beatles music. Likewise, Sox management is falling short. And in this land of bizarro AL East alternate reality, the Yankees have done even less than Boston. Go figure.
To summarize, since the winter meetings concluded Boston has made some necessary on the bubble moves:
1. They released the news that Daniel Bard is being slotted for the starting rotation but have left the door open for him to become their closer. They're hedging their bets because...
2. Boston sent injury-plagued shortstop/third baseman Jed Lowrie and pitcher Kyle Weiland to Houston for closer Mark Melancon. Melancon, a 2006 Yankee draftee who has since had Tommy John surgery, was changed to a closer by Houston last year, converting 20 of his 25 save opportunities with a 2.78 ERA over 74 1/3 innings. 74 innings does not inspire confidence. We can complain about Papelbon all we like but the fact remains that he was, for the most part, a consistently dominant force in Boston and replacing him is going to very difficult.
3. The Sox also inked a deal with Kelly Shoppach, bringing him back to Boston as a backup catcher. Shoppach and Ryan Lavarnway will compete for the backup catcher spot behind Jarrod Saltalamacchia. This effectively shuts the door on any possibility of Tek's return.
4. Finally, they signed Twins utility infielder Nick Punto, essentially as a more durable and better defensive replacement to Lowrie.
That's a flurry of activity in a short period of time. The real work, however, lies ahead. Boston needs more starting and relief pitching if they expect to make a dent in their 2011 third place finish.
Get busy Ben. The natives are already restless.

This Is Why Gammons Is Still One Of The Best

2011-11-30T20:26:00.002-05:00

To get the inside track on what the ramifications of Bobby Valentine's signing means to the Red Sox, read Peter Gammons' excellent article here.

Won't You Be My Valentine?

2011-11-29T23:12:00.000-05:00

By all accounts the courtship is over and Bobby Valentine will soon be named the 45th manager of the Boston Red Sox. Valentine is on a flight to Boston from Tokyo now and should be in Boston tomorrow afternoon. Expect a press conference and the official announcement shortly thereafter.
Now before you go wringing your hands over Valentine's career .462 winning percentage need you be reminded that a guy named Francona had a career winning percentage of .440 with the Phillies before coming to Boston?
It's the essence of sports. Teams collapse, a fall guy is justifiably or unjustifiably let go (for the record, Francona got railroaded in my book) and the new guy has to prove himself. Valentine is a smart guy and a solid baseball man. Good luck Bobby.
Now go get some players!

Please Not Lamont, Please Not Lamont, Please Not Lamont...

2011-11-27T18:14:00.000-05:00

Boston has narrowed down their manager search to just two candidates - Gene Lamont (please, please, please...no!) and Bobby Valentine. If it has to be between these two, Valentine is by far the better candidate because he's a smarter manager who can handle the Boston market and the players.
This ball club needs an aggressive manager. Valentine fits the bill. Lamont gives me fits.

Here's the tale of the managerial tape.

Age
Valentine: 61 (acts 51)
Lamont: 64 (acts 84)

Managerial Record
Valentine: 15 years, 2,189 games, 1,117 wins, 1,072 losses, winning % .510, 3 pennants
Lamont: 8 years, 1,116 games, 553 wins, 562 losses, winning % .462, 0 pennants

Demeanor
Valentine: Pistol
Lamont: Dud

TV Character Most Like
Valentine: Mark Harmon

Valentine

Harmon, NCIS

Lamont: Pat Buttram

Lamont

Buttram (Mr. Haney, Green Acres)

Ellsbury May Be MLB's AL #2 MVP But Is #1 in My Book

2011-11-21T20:50:00.000-05:00

Justin Verlander is a stud. A class act and a Virginia boy from Goochland High just down the road from where I currently live. I love watching him pitch. He is a locked in dominant machine who says to batters, "Get in the box and raise your stick because it's coming hard and nasty." If you're the batter and you hesitate, Verlander will punch you out in less than two minutes. He is by far my favorite pitcher in baseball.
Jacoby Ellsbury, who finished second to Verlander, STIILL deserves to be the American League MVP. I'm happy to bring out the old saw again. Pitchers who get to impact the game every fifth day just don't belong in the same conversation with an every day player who did what Ellsbury did this year.
Ellsbury was durable, consistent and powerful. He played in 158 of 162 games in 2011. He scored 119 runs, smashed 212 hits and knocked in 105 runs while hitting 32 dingers and batting .321 with a .367 OBP.
In the field he committed zero errors in the most demanding outfield position in baseball. That's 1.000% when everyone else in his position fielded at .986%. And it's the way he did it. He took away hits that many center fielders wouldn't even get to and was still perfect.
I love Verlander. My MVP is Jacoby McCabe Ellsbury.

The Boston Bumbles

2011-11-20T07:50:00.000-05:00

This morning I was going to rant about the Red Sox' continued off-season bumbling but Dan Shaughnessy did such a great job of expressing my frustration in his Sunday Boston Globe column, I simply need to provide the link. Click here. My work is done.

Someone Please Tell Me Why I'm Supposed to Be excited About This?

2011-11-19T08:53:00.000-05:00

Agent: Wakefield will 'absolutely' pitch in 2012
Veteran's preference is stay with Red Sox, regardless of role

If you are a long-standing Red Sox fan the experience of watching Tim Wakefield get hammered for six straight games last year in his attempt to bag win number 200 induced a special kind of pain. From my perspective the pain was two-fold.

First, I personally felt badly for Wake. Watching a once proud warrior who essential became unable to wage war anymore marked time for me. Wakefield once regularly befuddled hapless hitters. Knuckleballers aren't dominant; they're discombobulators. Wake was among the best at the half science, half black art of throwing the floater that stung like a bee. He now rarely has command of the little pitch that could and it was tough to sit through.

Secondly, Wakefield's pursuit of 200 became a bungling move by Red Sox management and a selfish pursuit on Wakefield's part. Ultimately, it tore at the fabric of an already ragged pitching staff and put Francona in a box, essentially tying his hands and rendering him unable to insert anyone else - Julian Tavarez springs to mind - who most certainly wouldn't have dropped six starts in a row. Boston's 2011 season would have been decidedly different if just two of those six straight losses were wins.

Which brings me to my point. The Red Sox can't afford to have Tim Wakefield on the roster as a starting pitcher Or even the hint of a spot starter) anymore. The pitching staff needs retooling from the bottom to the top. Wakefield's continued presence eats up one of those spots. The only way in which I see him returning is by Boston's firm commitment to never use him in the starter's role again. As a knuckle baller, Wakefield can possibly baffle for an inning or two in middle relief if needed but that's about it - and that's if he's on that day. Otherwise, a changing of the guard is demanded and Wake is one of the unfortunate sacrificial lambs.

If this post feels a bit snarky then I'm showing my true colors. Wakefield's presence, especially in Boston, feels much more personal than team oriented at this point. Wake has 186 career wins in a Boston uniform, which makes him seven wins shy of both Roger Clemens and Cy Young as the winningest pitcher in Red Sox history. I feel that's what driving his behavior. It's not healthy for the organization and ultimately may besmirch his stellar reputation as the guy who would do anything for the team. True, he has said he'd prefer to be in Boston regardless of the role. I'm just not buying that assertion.

Wakefield was 7-8 with a 5.12 ERA in 33 games last season, 23 of which were starts.

The Bold and The Beautiful

2011-11-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

The Beautiful
Heidi Watney is leaving NESN after four years as the Red Sox in-game reporter. Men all over New England are in mourning. After the 2011 season and the fall's continuing uncertainty, Watney may have proven to be one of the better reasons to tune in during the 2012 campaign.
Watney is returning to her native California to become a sideline reporter for the Lakers (ick). It's no surprise after her contract was picked up late by NESN last year and apparently was not unanimous.
Watney's reportage became increasingly polished during her four-year stint in Boston but I'd be a lying sack of testosterone if I didn't admit that her eye candy appeal was, well, very appealing.

The Bold
OK, there's actually nothing bold about Boston's moves or lack thereof to date, which only lends credence to the assertion that this blog is nothing more than a Heidi Watney love fest. Ben Cherrington and David Ortiz's agents (yes, that's agents with a plural - no wonder the guy has to make so much money) have had "productive" talks.
Meanwhile, Bobby Valentine's name has again surfaced as a possible managerial candidate. Lew insists that Valentine is a strong candidate who will want more control than Red Sox management will be willing to give up, just as they denied both Francona and Epstein full control.
In the meantime, Tito has signaled that he's taking a year off, a convenient but smart move given 2011 and the fact that almost all prime managerial openings have now been sewn up.

Reading Between The Lines

2011-11-13T07:43:00.000-05:00

Oh wait, I don't even need to read between the lines on this one. I just need to read the lines. Sox new GM Ben Cherrington on talks with David Ortiz and his agent. "We've got resources available and they're not unlimited," Cherrington said. "We're going to be able to do some things this offseason, but they're not unlimited. If you commit a big chunk of that to David, it affects what you do elsewhere. We've got to make good strategic decisions on how to use those resources and where on the team we can make the biggest impact, but clearly, we'd like to have David on the team."

Bringing Ortiz back for the kind of money and deal he's looking for would certainly impact Boston's ability to peruse a quality right fielder. After Josh Reddick's production continued to drop as last season wore on and his defensive inadequacies were discovered to be not inconsequential, this negotiation puts Boston between a rock and a hard place. They need a quality right fielder and they need a solid DH of which there are a limited number of both.

Meanwhile, Boston's managerial search continues. A complete rundown can be found here.

My top quick picks.

Eric Wedge, Seattle Mariners

Dave Martinez, Tampa Bay Rays

Ryne Sandberg, Philadelphia Phillies (triple A)

Jim Hickey, Tampa Bay Rays (pitching coach)

Joe Torre, MLB. Bring him back. He's still got one more good run in him.

Front runners as chosen in a Boston Globe poll.

Pap Pops Off to Philly

2011-11-11T17:33:00.000-05:00

It was inevitable. Jonathan Papelbon negotiated a new contract two years ago with the Red Sox. At the time he said he was looking for a long-term deal and big money. That's not the way the Red Sox roll when it comes to bullpen and closer personnel. Boston's fate with Pap was sealed then and there.

Today, pending a physical, it was announced by multiple sources that Papelbon was going to Philadelphia for a four-year $50 million deal with the Phillies. It's no surprise, especially after the Sox 2011 flame out and Papelbon's ninth inning collapse against the Orioles that helped to seal their ill-fated deal on the last day of the season.

After his sub-par 2010 season I was ready for Boston to move him. Even in light of the ignominious fashion in which his 2011 season ended I had changed my mind about Pap. He's still one of the best closers in baseball and in 2011 he was, for the most part, stout. Now Cherrington and company are faced with either handing the ball to a shaky Daniel Bard or casting about for a new closer.

I predicted Papelbon's departure in many posts this past season, predicated on his 2009 deal and public declaration that he was looking for a better offer. Boston's implosion made it all the easier for Pap to move on to greener pastures. It's a sign of the times. A once dominant force in the AL East who has had a great run for nearly a decade and in the process bagged two world championships is now staring down the barrel of mediocrity and further player attrition.

Jacoby Ellsbury, after being stung by teammates and, to some degree, Sox management during his injury-plagued 2010 season, I surmise will be the next domino to fall. Ellsbury is contracted through 2011 at a $2.4 million salary and will be arbitration eligible in 2012-13. If he performs at the same level in 2012 as he did last year he'll be one of baseball's hottest commodities. It's not that Boston won't compete for his services. To the contrary, I suspect they'll do nearly anything to retain his services. It's just that the bad taste in his mouth from 2010, the colossal collapse of 2011 and agent Scott Boras' continued fomentation of dissent as he whispers in Ellsbury's ear that a massive payday is just around the corner will prove too compelling for Ells to stay in Boston, especially if Boston has a mediocre season this year.

Everyone wants to turn the page on Boston's 2011 implosion, Tito's sacking and Theo's abdication. The trouble is, the book is still sitting right there on New England's collective coffee table.

The First Log Gets Thrown Into The Hot Stove

2011-11-09T21:03:00.000-05:00

My mother will not be happy...

Red Sox monitoring markets for Pap, Papi

Closer reportedly still in mix with Philly; DH's options clearer

The End Of The World As We Know It. Baseball Is Over.

2011-10-29T08:44:00.000-04:00

The corollary to the old adage "good pitching beats good hitting every time" might go something like this: "poor pitching gives ballgames away and turns a manager's hair gray." If that's the case, Rangers' skipper Ron Washington might just keep his baseball cap on all winter before reaching for the Just For Men next spring.

Credit the St. Louis Cardinals. They were 10 1/2 games out on August 25 and squeaked into a Wild Card berth on the last day of the season after a wild and improbable win streak and an Atlanta Braves collapse that was near Red Soxian in it's breadth and depth. The Cards kept their foot on the gas and pressure on opponents throughout the playoffs. In what will surely be remembered as one of the greatest World Series games ever played they won a game six thriller in 11 innings that gutted the Rangers and forced Friday night's game seven.

Critics and baseball cognoscenti denied the fact that a huge momentum shift took place about 12:30 am EST Friday morning when Series MVP David Freese hit the homer to center field to win game six. I don't believe that. I believe the seeds of the game seven Texas loss, in which a parade of Rangers pitchers couldn't find the plate with radar but improbably could find the buttocks, rib cages and shoulders of Cardinal hitters, were sown 20 hours before at the end of game six.

Up until the bottom of the fifth inning, Texas hung in. They grabbed two quick runs against Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter, who was pitching on short rest. In the bottom of the first. St. Louis broke back with two of their own in the bottom half of the frame. After the first Carpenter settled in and stiffened. Matt Harrison nearly matched Carpenter through four innings, giving us just one more run but left the game after four innings. That's when it all fell apart.

A quintet of Ranger relievers simply couldn't pitch well enough to win. In a two-run fifth the Cardinals sent nine men to the plate and scored two runs without ever getting the ball out of the infield. It went like this: ground out, walk, hit by pitch, ground out, intentional walk, walk, hit by pitch, strike out. Without having to swing the bat St. Louis tacked on two more runs to make it 5-2, added an insurance run in the seventh and Texas never got off the mat. And so ends a season for the Rangers in which they are starting to look like MLB's answer to the Buffalo Bills - always a bridesmaid and never a bride.

My buddy Matt sent me a text message near the end of the game last night saying that he was always a little sad when the World Series concluded. I agreed. With all it's consuming, maddening, lengthy and sometimes tedious twists and turns, baseball continues to fascinate and entertain fans that love to play that nightly chess match in their head. My pieces will be off the board for a few months but not for long. Now for an offseason of intrigue as the Sox look for a new manager and, I pray to the baseball gods, make some major house cleaning moves.

What A Game, What a Game.

2011-10-28T21:01:00.001-04:00

Yes indeed, what a game Thursday night and what a game is the game of baseball.
The Rangers and Cardinals both committed crucial errors that led to runs. The Rangers lost the lead five times. The Cardinals wouldn't quit. It looked like Josh Hamilton was going write the Rangers' storybook ending but it went all for naught. Texas was one pitch away from their first World Championship three times.
Ultimately, a Cardinal goat - David Freese - who had earlier dropped a little league pop up that allowed Texas to score two runs that never should have been, hit a straight-away bomb to center field to win it and force a game seven for the first time since 2002 when the D-Backs beat the Yankees in seven. In baseball mad St. Louis, Hugh Jackman interrupted his one-man show three times to update the audience with the score, the final exclaiming, "We're going to game seven." It's hard to imagine Jackman getting more applause at the end of the performance than he got by uttering those words.
And by the way, tonight's game seven on October 28 is the date the Red Sox won it all in 2007 against the Colorado Rockies. That's a far cry from the steaming turd balls they consistently served up in September.
Go Rangers! Go Cards! Watching a World Series simply for the love of the game with no expectation but to hope like hell for a great series is all that a real baseball fan needs. Texas and St. Louis have delivered a much needed splendid Fall Classic tailor made to keep my baseball fires burning even as I crawl out from under a gigantic wet blanket of Red Soxian proportions.

Dribs, Drabs, Bits, Bites and Random Crazy Thoughts

2011-10-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of www.bostondirtdogs.com

It's been nearly a month since the Red Sox managed to face plant themselves on the alter of baseball ignominy but this time for almost anything else but their baseball play. True, their 7-20 mark down the stretch was a franchise and, some would say, Major League Baseball low mark. It was an abysmally poor showing. But when it all went down in Baltimore with Papelbon on the mound who would have thought that ending up in third place and getting bounced from the playoffs all in one night wouldn't have been the worst thing to happen to the Red Sox in 2011.

The inside the clubhouse Peyton Place drama that has unfolded over the past 30 days makes the on the field performance look like a cheap off Broadway version of The Killing Field. Think about what's happened. Tito gone. Theo gone without a deal in place. If the Red Sox and Cubs can't come to terms on how Boston will be compensated by November 1, Bud Selig is going to step in and settle it. How bad does it have to be when the guy who reinstated George Steinbrenner, instituted the World Series home field advantage rule based on an all-star game win and in 2008 had America's past time open the regular season in Japan - 6 am eastern, 3 am west coast - is the right man to make the call on player and cash compensation for your club when your GM leaves? Sox pitching coach Curt Young gone after one year in Boston (and none too soon). First base coach Ron Johnson fired. Lackey, Lester and Beckett gorging on fried chicken and beer. Papi musing about going to the Yankees on ESPN and then quickly reversing himself. Scott Williamson putting his '04 Championship ring up for sale (OK, that one's a stretch and little ridiculous but you get my point).

Quick exits, media spin, denials, betrayals and outright chicanery have been the order of the day as players, management and the front office all scurry and cover their asses. I mean come on people. This is cats lying down with dogs, Israelis hugging Palestinians madness.

The Patriots are 5-1 and atop the AFC East. The World Champion Bruins are just getting their season cranked up. The Celtics are - er, well...wait 'til next year. Yet all we can do in this baseball obsessed universe - and make no mistake Boston means baseball, period - is to talk about Tito getting fired and who will be the new manager, Theo heading off to Chi-Town in an attempt to make history again and cement his place in the Hall of Fame and to wonder just how many brain cells Lackey, Lester and Beckett killed while ballooning on Popeye's best and getting repetitive stress syndrome in their thumbs.

Now Lackey is gone for the 2012 season after it was announced today that he would undergo Tommy John surgery. I say this with all the love in my heart. I could not have been more gleeful when I heard this news. Having him out of the rotation and the clubhouse in 2012 will force Boston to make moves that without a doubt will make them better and make Lackey all the more dispensable.

Ben Cherrington was introduced today to the media as Boston's 11th General Manager. He promised change. Bring it on. With the exception of Demarlo Hale, who soon may also be gone, the coaching staff from Francona on down has been gutted. Boston has about three or four untouchable players. Otherwise, everyone is on the line. It will take near revolutionary anarchy to eventually bring about order in both the organization and clubhouse. As we head into the winter of our discontent, prepare for one of the strangest and wildest off season and spring training combinations in Red Sox history.

Malcontents, Maelstroms and Memories Lost. What's Going On In Boston?

2011-10-14T00:10:00.000-04:00

The documentation surrounding the implosion of the Boston Red Sox organization grows more grotesque by the day. For a Sox fan, yesterday's Boston Globe article detailing the insubordination, drinking and general debauchery that came to mark the Boston clubhouse is a sad coda to a meltdown of, well, Redsoxian proportions.

Terry Francona became a sacrificial lamb. Theo Epstein predictably bolted for not necessarily greener pastures but let's just say anywhere that wasn't Boston. As the Epstein story starts to unfold it doesn't take much reading between that lines to ascertain that he was never given full rein in Boston by the controlling and egotistical John Henry, which was likely a primary driver for his departure. Boston's once envied position as both a baseball destination for premium players and their passionate relationship with their fan base has been grievously fractured. Trust has been broken. The natives are restless. Sox management and players will be forced to take a long look in the mirror and figure out what and where they want to be in 2012. The team's grand collapse and eventual devolvement likewise screams for change on a grand scale. These are not moves to win. These are moves to restore order and perhaps change the game for the better.

Change number one: Cut out the cancer

John Lackey, Josh Beckett and Kevin Youkilis should be gone long before the team breaks for spring training in 2012. Curt Schilling said on Sports Center last night that if Lackey were in a Red Sox uniform on opening day he would be booed as mercilessly and hatefully as any member of the New York Yankees ever has been.

David Ortiz was thoughtful and earnest in an ESPN interview last night with Colleen Dominguez. When asked if would ever consider becoming a member of the Yankees Ortiz said, "That's something I gotta think about. I've been here on the Red Sox a long time, and I've seen how everything goes down between these two ball clubs. It's great from what I hear. It's a good situation to be involved in. Who doesn't want to be involved in a great situation where everything goes the right way?" When Ortiz, the eternal optimist with the smiling face can't take it anymore, some serious poo is about to fly.

Lester and Buchholz can be salvaged but should be read the riot act. In the first half of the 2012 season, they either become the 1-2 punch that will anchor a new staff or face being dealt by the July trading deadline. Management can have the same conversation with Carl Crawford. At the same time, open immediate and direct communications with Jacoby Ellsbury and do what they have to do to secure him to a long-term contract - with incentives (see below).

Become Billy Beane With A Twist

Beane's Moneyball concept that birthed the Sabermetrics revolution stood the baseball world on it's head. Through innovative statistical modeling, Beane was able to accurately assess the best value players. He assembled a winning team and changed baseball forever. Then everyone else figured out the formula and the teams with the most money won and the Oakland A's of the world returned to mediocrity.

I feel as though another seismic event needs to take place not just for the Red Sox but possibly for baseball. It will require a management team with both vision and deep pockets because they're going to lose money and talent for a while. Then again, if they set the first domino in motion and others see it there way, it could profoundly change the game for the better. It's high risk. It's also fair.

My concept it a lot more simple than Beane's. As contracts come up for renewal, institute a pay for performance culture in the Red Sox organization. Guaranteed money in a sport with no salary cap by definition is a recipe for spoiled prima donnas with bloated salaries pushing around managers and coaches who make 1/10th of the salary whether they perform or not.

The concept is pretty simple. Every player gets a base salary based on past performance. The better your past performance, the higher your base salary. Rookies get a base salary on a sliding scale based on their draft position. The higher the draft, the higher the base salary. No signing bonus, no guaranteed money. Nothing; except incentives.

For veteran players vital career statistics can be averaged and run against a formula that takes into account their age, strength of new division or league and size and configuration of a potential new ballpark which they'll call home. A commensurate set of statistics can be run for pitchers or, say, players being bought or retained for their defensive skills. These statistics and formula's drive the base salary.

For instance, meet the team's expectations for homers you hit, batting average expected, hitters you strike out or ERA goals and guess what? You've just earned your keep.

Exceed any of those goals and you get a bump. Make the All-Star team and you get a bump. Get your team into the playoffs and you get more money. Get into the World Series and you and your teammates ALL get more money. Become the MVP of the World Series and get more money. Win the World Series and you get a lot more money. Win the Cy Young, the batting title, the Triple Crown or any other major baseball award and you and your family are not only going to Disney World, you can buy part of it.

I get it. Baseball is a business and owners of successful teams stand to make obscene amounts of money. Top tier players who put those fannies in the seats and perform above and beyond expectations are making the organization - the business - profitable and deserve a lot of money for driving the business. At the end of the day, a ballplayer's athletic ability is not what's being paid for per se. They are paid to drive the business of baseball through their athletic ability.

This tactic would also cut out one of the lowest forms of baseball life; scumbag agents like Scott Boras, who's sole purpose in life is to drive client salaries ever skyward because, well, he loves his cut of the action. With statistics and incentives in place agents in large part have the gun they are currently able to hold to owner's heads taken out of their hands.

Are there many more complexities than I care to go into or of which I am unaware? Sure. I'm just a simple armchair observer that has an idea because I'm tired of watching money being stolen, ticket prices soaring and Joe Everyday fans getting frozen out of the chance to see their team actually play a game in the favorite ballpark. And yes, essentially bribing players to be their best every day and then some is a win/win/win for players, fans and owners.

Yes, the player's union and agents will howl. There could even be a work stoppage but the logic is undeniable. If you do well, you get more money because you are more valuable to the team and the business of baseball. Besides, they're smart people. They'll figure it out.

Be Direct and Inspire

Tell Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez to join forces with the spiritual leader of the team, Dustin Pedroia, and create a new regime built on an ideal of hard work and doing things the right way.

If it's true that from chaos can come clarity then things shold be crystal clear in Boston by spring.

Oh Yeah, This Is Gonna Happen...

2011-10-11T20:55:00.000-04:00

REPORT: THEO EPSTEIN ‘ON CUSP’ OF LEAVING RED SOX FOR CUBS

This Has Nothing To Do With Baseball And Everything To Do With Life

2011-10-08T00:24:00.002-04:00

On Wednesday night my wife and I shared a wonderful dinner with a friend at her house. The consumption of a little wine before and during the meal, as you might guess, resulted in free flowing and easy conversation that put us all in especially good spirits.

Our friend had just returned from a vacation in Eastern Europe, visiting Prague in the Czech Republic and Budapest, Hungary. Always a witty and vivid raconteur, she regaled us with some of the more memorable aspects of her trip. We laughed a lot.

After dinner my wife went home as my friend and I settled in to make some changes to her website. There were few changes. There was one page, however, that we changed enough in the application so that I needed to reference her website to make a comparison. I fired up my Safari web browser. Apple's homepage is my homepage. There, looking me straight in the eye was Steve Jobs and the words "Steve Jobs, 1955-2011". I sat in stunned silence, trying to absorb what I intellectually knew was both inevitable and imminent and yet unbelievable. Time passed, seconds as minutes. My friend said, "I am so very sorry", knowing me and the depths to which I was about to sink. Then she said, "I have some single malt scotch." I said, "Get it."

I love my family. I love sports. I love technology. I love Apple. This is not a fanatical embrace-my-platform-or-shut-up love. My experience is one born of watching Steve's arc of genius and marveling at his vision, ability to execute, passion and tour de force showmanship and quite simply being consistently blown away by the result.

I was the earliest of the early Apple adopters. I bought a 128K Mac in 1984 with a credit card that I had no right swiping. I worked on the machine all day at my job and brought it home for years to freelance half the night, eventually pushing enough boundaries to be featured in a chapter of a seminal desktop publishing book of the '80s. I had unwittingly tapped into a revolution. As a result, I have spent much of my life in technology and under the umbrella of Apple products that have profoundly positively impacted my family and me.

Over the years, my passion for Apple products has taken me places that I would be hard pressed to trade for any other experiences. I moved my family from New Hampshire to Richmond, VA and with colleagues built a network, platform and small business that became much bigger that was entirely comprised of Apple computers and solutions. I was able to build a technical team at a Fortune 500 company and support users that I loved because my formal training and technical experience allowed me to understand how the nexus of technology and artistic pursuits worked. During that tenure I was lucky enough to get an invitation from Apple in 2003 to attend the QuarkXPress conversion to OS X announcement in Cupertino, held in the very same room that Tim Cook, recently appointed Apple CEO, announced IOS 5 and Apple's iPhone 4S one day before Steve's death.

After a brief hiatus climbing the corporate ladder, a journey which drove me away from the things that I loved, I was laid off by my company, returned as a contracted project manager which was entirely unsatisfying and, just recently, was rehired by the same company as part of a team that manages collaboration technologies that include iPhones, iPads and Droids with more products to come. In short, I have come home again.

And now one of Steve Jobs' journeys has ended and another begun. Over the span of my lifetime I have been blessed to watch a contemporary burn like a white hot supernova and in the process introduce consumers to ground-breaking innovations in computing, movies, television, music, wireless devices and smart phones and tablets. Steve Jobs' name is literally on hundreds of patents.

It sounds crazy for a middle-aged man to grieve so terrifically about someone he didn't actually know. I am grateful that my life has been blessed by Steve, Apple products and a way of computing that is sublimely elegant in both user experience and technical ease. True genius: Apple filled a gap consumers didn't even know existed.

Steve Jobs Quotes:

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me… Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful… that's what matters to me."

— The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 1993

"A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."

— BusinessWeek, 1998

"Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?"

— Pitch to John Sculley to join Apple, 1985

"I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what's next."

—NBC Nightly News, 2006

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

—Stanford Commencement, 2005

"The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. I don't mean that in a small way. I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don't think of original ideas and they don't bring much culture into their products. I have no problem with their success—they've earned their success for the most part. I have a problem with the fact that they just make really third-rate products."

—Triumph of the Nerds, 1996

"Nobody has tried to swallow us since I've been here. I think they are afraid how we would taste."

—Businessweek, 1998

"Look at the design of a lot of consumer products—they're really complicated surfaces. We tried to make something much more holistic and simple. When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more layers of the onion off, you can often times arrive at some very elegant and simple solutions. Most people just don't put in the time or energy to get there. We believe that customers are smart, and want objects which are well thought through."

—Newsweek, 2006

"I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates."

—Newsweek

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

—Stanford Commencement Address, 2005

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

—Stanford University Commencement Address, 2005

And The Other Shoe Falls

2011-10-04T22:37:00.000-04:00

Cubs ask permission to speak to Epstein

This Pretty Much Says It All

2011-10-02T15:36:00.000-04:00

Breakdown!

2011-10-01T01:56:00.000-04:00

Not even the Red Sox website
can put lipstick on this pig.

It's all right if you love me

It's all right if you don't

I'm not afraid of you running away

Honey, I've got the feeling you won't

There is no sense in pretending

Your eyes give you away

Something inside you is feeling like I do

We said all there is to say

Baby Breakdown

Go ahead and give it to me

- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Breakdown

The lyrics align creepily with both Boston's colossal collapse and the strange and sad events of the day at Fenway Park on Friday that culminated in the announcement by Terry Francona this afternoon that he no longer will be the manager of the Boston Red Sox. Francona asserted that it was his decision. I don't believe it. Both WEEI and veteran blog contributor/friend Lew DiTommaso rode this story in to the ditch and both conspiracy theorists concluded:

1. The first early morning meeting at Fenway was the one in which Francona was actually sacked by Sox management.

2. John Henry - Lew has determined that the egotistical Boston owner is a weasel - caught wind that fans sniffed out the truth, that the spin was getting away and reaction was turning ugly.

3. As a result Boston brass and Francona met again early this afternoon and scripted Francona's "It was my decision" press conference.

OK, so technically Francona wasn't fired but the Red Sox chose not to pick up his 2012 option. You don't need to read between the lines on this one because the words were clearly already on the wall in capital red letters: YOU'RE FIRED! I'm surprised Sox management didn't invite Donald Trump to the proceedings.

Red Sox management will rue the day that this event came to pass. Tito was perfectly suited for the job. He knew how to handle high-strung, big-market players with equally big egos and paychecks as well as the Boston media. He was high-functioning in Boston's sports fish bowl. His calm demeanor only worked against him once in eight years as Boston's second winningest manager - the month of September 2011.

Many of his players down the stretch needed a righteous ass kicking and that's just not Tito's style. Watching the Red Sox in September was not like the spectacular Dentian, Booneian and Buckernian flameouts of the past. It was more like having a healthy friend suddenly become ill, end up on life support and knowing that the plug was going to be pulled while his family frittered away the days backbiting. The karma was too funky, the downward spiral too steep and the personalities too complex and negative to overcome.

The rumors are already starting to circulate and I suspect may soon be validated as truth that the bummer troika of Beckett, Lackey and Youkilis was clubhouse cancer.

Dustin Pedroia today tweeted that his 'Heart's Broken' for Terry Francona, saying that players needed more accountability. "Tito is family to me. It's hard for all of us," Pedroia said tonight. "I would run through a wall if he told me to." After Pedey and David Ortiz, you'd be hard pressed to find players publicly singing Tito's praises. That's just bizarre. The guy was at the helm for two World Championships and was loyal to and protected his players to a fault.

Now the well has been poisoned. Boston fans should get real and understand that The Red Sox are about to enter a fallow period of mediocre or even losing seasons. Does the departure of the manager signal a death knell for that Sweet Caroline feeling? Not necessarily but it can become both a lighting rod and catalyst for some tough realities.

First, the massive blunders and overspending by management for players like Daisuke Matsuzaka, John Lackey and Carl Crawford have weakened Boston's farm system and psyche. You really can't go out and buy championships. The games are played on the field by players making plays that win games. When they become complacent or cynical toward their manager there's no place to go but down. The players on this team bear no small burden when you weigh the factors that led to Tito's departure.

Boston has also damaged their farm system, giving up a few prime prospects to get players like Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez' lack of pop through the entire second half of the season and an uncanny inability to get dramatic game-changing hits was the most depressing .340 season in recent memory.

Based on the past two seasons of here an injury, there an injury, everywhere an injurious injury, the organization needs to take a long look at team conditioning that will produce players the don't break down or become so fragile that the club looks like a M.A.S.H. unit come September 1.

The fallout from the sum total of these sins coupled with some bad timing with key player contracts will prove to be more destructive then one may think.

With all this in play, Boston will no longer stay a desired destination for some of the league's elite players and at least one marquee player will deal the Sox a blow that will be felt for many years to come. The eight year romance with Red Sox Nation is over and will need to be rebuilt. The Sox cache´and mystique are tarnished. This year the team reverted back to a group that makes the fan base feel like pre-2004 losers. That is a very bad omen.

I've dusted off my crystal ball for this so prepare for a bumpy ride.

Catcher:

Rating: B

The Crystal Ball Says: Salty can be a solid to better than average catcher if he stays healthy. He has proven to be coachable. Boston will need to find a solid backup with Tek out of the picture.

1st Base:

Rating: B+

The Crystal Ball Says: Gonzalez will have to have more pop for an entire season and learn how to relax and get big hits in big situations to earn his keep.

Second Base:

Rating: A-

The Crystal Ball Says: Pedey's a stud. Period. Yes he was streaky this year but is still the best all-around second baseman in the AL.

Shortstop:

Rating: B-

The Crystal Ball Says: Marco Scutaro had a great September and some pretty solid numbers in 2011. He's not the answer over the long hall and can break very bad from time to time both at the plate in the in the field. I don't trust him. If Jose Iglesias could only hit higher than his cap size.

Third Base:

Rating: D

The Crystal Ball Says: Youkilis will be traded if they can get something good for him, like a durable third baseman. Mike Aviles and Jed "Captain Glass" Lowrie are not the answers. Lowrie will also be traded before the 2012 season begins.

Left Field:

Rating: F

The Crystal Ball Says: Carl Crawford will get better but will never be the game-changing stud for which Boston paid so dearly. Never was I more psyched to see a player in a Boston uniform and never was I so profoundly let down.

Center Field:

Rating: A+

The Crystal Ball Says: Boston fans will be crushed when Jacoby Ellsbury, realizing that he's been on the best Boston team's he'll ever be on, is a thing of the past. With his star going super nova this year and Scott Boras whispering in his ear, Ellsbury is sure to shout "Show me the money!" and some desperate team out there will be only too happy to Crawfordize him. This move will gut the team and fans emotionally for years to come.

Right Field:

Rating: F

The Crystal Ball Says: The great feeling fans will experience after Boston's first huge overpayment, J.D. Drew, finally walks will be short-lived. Josh Reddick proved to be an awful fielder this year and his average, power and production just kept dropping so that he eventually became a distant memory.

Pitching:

Rating: F

The Crystal Ball Says: It's almost too much to cover. Let me cut to the chase.

Bullpen:

Papelbon is already gone. He wants a long-term deal and a big pay day. After his final appearance against the Orioles, Sox management will be less inclined then ever before to accommodate him. This will prove to be a blunder. Pap will move to another AL team and shut down Boston regularly.

Daniel Bard needs to get back his mojo. Until then the heir apparent to Pap apparently is not ready for prime time.

Matt Albers: Gone; Bobby Jenks (remember him): Gone; Dan Wheeler: Gone; Alfredo Aceves: Keeper. What a year he had in 2011; Scott Atchison: Eh, I'm tired; Felix Dubront: Who cares; Michael Bowden: Peddle him in a multi-player deal so he can be disguised as a pitcher; Franklin Morales: Keeper. Decent left-handed specialist; Tim Wakefield: This is the year he knows the jig is up. He'll retire.

Starters:

John Lackey: At all costs, deal him or cut him loose. He's a terrible, whiney teammate who doesn't produce.

Josh Beckett: Keeper. I wish he was more like the Florida Marlins Beckett. He'll need to lay off the Ho Hos and Ding Dongs next year and be better conditioned.

Jon Lester: He's got some soul searching to do. He's great on paper. Statisticians and the media love him. He's painful to watch and was awful down the stretch.

Erik Bedard: He seems like a likable guy. I'd like him a lot more if he won. He's gotta go.

Clay Buchholz: Put some meat on your bones and get in better shape. A little muscle and mass might stabilize terminal micro-fracture-itis.

Andrew Miller: I feel bad even calling this guy a starter. He's a mechanical mess. Deal him.

Diasuke Matsuzaka: Gone. Please, if there is a merciful God, don't let him be on the roster in 2012.

David Ortiz: He'll be renewed and will either continue as he did in 2011 or spectacularly tank.

And Another Thing!

Boston has continued their tradition of awful third base coaches by sticking with Tim Bogar. He sends 'em when he shouldn't and hold 'em up when they should go.

Curt Young is no John Farrell. The Boston pitching staff suffered a multitude of commissions and omissions at Young's hands. He should be relieved of his duties. Thanks for playing Curt. Next!

Sox Lose in 9th 4-2, Rays Win in 12th 8-7. When Is Pap's Tee Time?

2011-09-29T00:29:00.000-04:00

Wow. Great news...

Tampa Bay is in. The Red Sox are out. The Rays came back from a 7-0 deficit against the Yankees. The Sox blew it in spectacular fashion after taking a 3-2 lead into the ninth inning against the Orioles. Tampa Bay deserves to be in. Boston, from the front office to management to players on the field, deserve scorn and pity.
This will be broken down at a later date. Right now, the only things that are broken down are the Red Sox and my spirit. What a gargantuan collapse. What a nightmare. There's not enough Pepto on the planet to calm this upset stomach.
On the bright side, I'll get plenty of sleep during the playoffs.

Boston Red Sox Blog Spot

Looks Like Oil Wasn't The Only Thing Lubricating Dennis Boyd

To Arbitrate or Not To Arbitrate, That is The Question.

OK, We're Ready For Baseball...Well...

Every Wish Granted Has A String Attached

Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart...At Light Speed

Jenks Knifed

You Just Gotta Love Peter Abraham

Right Leaning

Oki Okay, Just Not In Boston.

You're Joshing Me, Right?

A Staff Infection?

The 999 Plan

This Is Why Gammons Is Still One Of The Best

Won't You Be My Valentine?

Please Not Lamont, Please Not Lamont, Please Not Lamont...

Ellsbury May Be MLB's AL #2 MVP But Is #1 in My Book

The Boston Bumbles

Someone Please Tell Me Why I'm Supposed to Be excited About This?

Agent: Wakefield will 'absolutely' pitch in 2012Veteran's preference is stay with Red Sox, regardless of role

Agent: Wakefield will 'absolutely' pitch in 2012

Veteran's preference is stay with Red Sox, regardless of role

The Bold and The Beautiful

Reading Between The Lines

Pap Pops Off to Philly

The First Log Gets Thrown Into The Hot Stove

Red Sox monitoring markets for Pap, Papi

Closer reportedly still in mix with Philly; DH's options clearer

The End Of The World As We Know It. Baseball Is Over.

What A Game, What a Game.

Dribs, Drabs, Bits, Bites and Random Crazy Thoughts

Malcontents, Maelstroms and Memories Lost. What's Going On In Boston?

Oh Yeah, This Is Gonna Happen...

This Has Nothing To Do With Baseball And Everything To Do With Life

And The Other Shoe Falls

Cubs ask permission to speak to Epstein

This Pretty Much Says It All

Breakdown!

Sox Lose in 9th 4-2, Rays Win in 12th 8-7. When Is Pap's Tee Time?

Agent: Wakefield will 'absolutely' pitch in 2012
Veteran's preference is stay with Red Sox, regardless of role