One Year Later, the Red Sox-Dodgers Deal Still a Mistake for LA

The Dodgers are the best team in baseball right now. It's almost a year since they acquired Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Josh Beckett from the Red Sox. Both the Red Sox and Dodgers have improved dramatically since that deal. The Sox lead their division, the Dodgers have played .800+ baseball their last 50 games. So both teams made a good deal. Right?

No.

Last year's colossal salary dump was good for the Red Sox. It gave the team freedom to spend on role players, and it banished Josh Beckett from the clubhouse. For the Dodgers, they took on massive payroll and what have they gotten from it? Beckett has been a bust. Carl Crawford has hit 5 homeruns this season. He's hitting .291 and has stolen 11 bases. He's back to being a decent player, but hardly worth the $20 million he gets paid. He's knocked in 21 runs. I know he's a leadoff hitter in the NL, but 21 RBI? Really?

Adrian Gonzalez is doing well. He leads the Dodgers in average (.296), homeruns (16), and RBI (77). He leads these categories because Hanley Ramirez (.348 BA), and Yasiel Puig (.346) don't have as many at-bats.

Before Puig burst from his chrysalis in June and began his methodical campaign of destruction in the National League, the Dodgers were 23-32. They were 13-13 in April, despite Adrian Gonzalez's 18 RBI and .398 OBP that month. They were 10-17 in May despite Gonzalez's 22 RBI, 5 HRs, and .886 OPS.

In other words, Adrian Gonzalez, even when hitting well, wasn't enough to win. The team needed Puig. And pitching. And Hanley Ramirez. And pitching. Pitching is why this team has won as many games as it has.

Clayton Kershaw is 12-7 with a 1.72 ERA. He's thrown 10 straight Quality Starts, dating back to late June. 22 Quality Starts in total.

Supporting him are Zach Greinke (12-3, 2.91 ERA, 9-1 in his last 10 decisions) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (12-4, 2.95 ERA). As a team the Dodgers have 71 Quality Starts. Their team ERA since the All-Star break is 2.25, best in the Majors. And in August it's 2.05. They've converted 93% of save opportunities since the All-Star break. That's why their winning.

How unimportant is Adrian Gonzalez to the Dodgers' success? August has been his worst month of the season (.317 OBP, .390 SLG, .707 OPS, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 4 walks, 13 strikeouts). The Dodgers are 17-3 in August. Gonzalez did well in April and May and the team lost. He's slowed down in August as his team has sped up. He's just not that important to them.

Then again, Carl Crawford is doing well in August (.380 OBP, .791 OPS), so maybe he's the reason the Dodgers are kicking so much ass.

Or maybe it's Kershaw (1.23 ERA in August). Puig (.886 OPS in August). Greinke (4-0, 0.96 ERA in August), Ryu (3-1, 2.03 ERA in August), and the rest of the Dodgers who were NOT acquired in last year's mega-trade.

On the field, that deal didn't hurt them. Both Gonzalez and Crawford have certainly helped, albeit at a ghastly price. The deal hasn't helped them that much, though. And certainly not as much as other deals they've made. Here are the transactions that have mad the difference for the Dodgers:

June 2006: Drafting Clayton Kershaw
June 2012: Signing Yasiel Puig as an amateur free agent (making 29 GMs kick themselves)
July 2012: Trading with the Marlins for Hanley Ramirez
December 2012: Purchasing the contract of Hyun-Jin Ryu from South Korean team Hanwah
December 2012: Signing Zach Greinke as a free agent

So the Dodgers did make some important deals in 2012. The Gonzalez-Crawford-Beckett deal was perhaps 5th or 6th most important on that list. But they had Gonzalez and Crawford when they sucked in April and May. It wasn't until Puig emerged, Ramirez got healthy, and the pitchers gelled that the team started winning. Gonzalez and Crawford have marginally helped in that winning, but the Dodgers could have acquired marginal contributors for much less than the $42 million those two cost per season.

The addition of Gonzalez and Crawford has been meaningless to the Dodgers' success.

So in conclusion, last year's deal between the Red Sox and Dodgers was still, in and of itself, a bad deal for the Dodgers. It only seems good now because of the other deals the Dodgers made. Those deals are why they are as red hot (or blue hot) as they are.

One Thing That Bugs Me About the Big Red Sox Trade

From a baseball standpoint, the Red Sox freeing up salary and roster space makes sense. Fixing the problems with this team required more than just a few tweaks and some small additions. And to build a new foundation, the old rotting foundation needed to be completely removed.

From a business standpoint, the move made sense. The fans were sick of this team losing, and utterly disgusted with their attitude. So much so that a Facebook group with over 11,000 likes has been spawned, urging fans to boycott the team after only 4 current players attended Johnny Pesky's funeral. The fans were fed up, and the Sox were in danger of losing customers.

It's the business standpoint that bugs me. Lucchino and the Sox made this drastic move in order to keep people interested in the team, not to win. So while I wholeheartedly support and celebrate the decision, the motivation behind the decision irks me.

The goals of winning and selling aren't mutually exclusive. But when the primary goal of a team is to sell a brand, then things can go wrong. You wind up signing Carl Crawford for too much money. You go nuts and bid $51.1 million on a Japanese pitcher. You make bogus lowball offers to popular free agents, then leak stories to the press after they sign elsewhere. You fire a manager and do nothing else, and declare the team's problems solved with a new disciplinarian skipper.

Look at the Patriots. They're not afraid to make unpopular moves. They'll let Wes Welker sit out, they'll say goodbye to Richard Seymour, trade Randy Moss in the middle of the season, and give absolutely nothing to the media in a press conference.

And when they make these unpopular moves, they don't trash their former players. They don't wage PR wars. They don't try to present themselves as wanting to keep those players.

It's all about winning in Foxborough. Personnel decisions are made with winning as the only goal. Not the case at Fenway. Fenway includes selling and spinning in the equation, making decisions in an effort to build a winning ballclub AND market the brand. And that's a problem. That should be handled by marketing and promotions staff. Not baseball operations.

Could you imagine Bill Belichick or Cam Neely, or Danny Ainge trying to balance winning games/titles with building a brand? Why do Larry Lucchino and the Red Sox attempt this unprecedented and unsound balancing act?

As the Red Sox rebuild themselves, they need to do so with winning as the only goal. Sign players to win. Make trades to win. The goal of winning should be handled by the baseball side of the organization, and should be the only goal. And the goal of selling should be handled by a completely separate wing. There should be no overlap, no meeting point, no Larry Lucchino.

The Red Sox have pushed the reset button, but if they continue to play the same way it'll once again be "Game Over."

Red Sox Clean House: Trade Beckett, Gonzalez, Crawford, and Punto

The people spoke, and the Red Sox listened. They traded Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto for the Dodgers. The Sox also sent $12 million in cash, but will save $270 million in salary due to this deal. The Dodgers sent first baseman James Loney and four prospects to Boston.

This move, by itself, does not immediately help the Red Sox. It does, however, open up the payroll and roster to allow the Red Sox to improve.

Getting rid of Josh Beckett is a positive on and off the field. Beckett has been a lousy pitcher, and an utter shitbag off the field. Good riddance.

I don't think Adrian Gonzalez was traded because he sent a text to owners. I think he was traded because his contract was big, but he still has some value to a team like the Dodgers.

Gonzalez's production will be tough to replace, but lately he's reminded me of Phil Kessel. The numbers are great, but you watch him play and aren't that impressed. When David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were at their peak in Boston, they got big hits in big situations in big games. Gonzalez's big hits are few and far between.

There aren't any top 1B available in free agency this off-season, but Gonzalez's meaningful production can be replaced from other positions. And don't forget, the Red Sox get more production from DH than most teams.

Carl Crawford looked good since returning from injury. But his contract was ludicrous. Even at his absolute best, he wasn't worth what he was getting paid.

After getting surgery, Crawford had potential to be a good, productive, solid player for the Sox. But I'd rather have the cash to go after someone who has more concrete potential to be more productive. Someone who gets on base, has some power. Someone more likely to perform here.

I'd also rather spend that money on pitching.

On paper, this is a crappy trade for the Sox. But paper is only good for drawing pictures and wiping your ass. The Sox got rid of a horrible pitcher, and three bloated contracts. They lost Nick Punto, too, but what does that matter?

The Sox now have the freedom to fundamentally reshape this team. They can keep Ortiz and Ellsbury (if they want to). They can hang on to Cody Ross. Build a rotation and a bullpen. They have more prospects in the stable to make a trade for a starting pitcher.

So the Sox aren't better right now, but they now have the capability to be better than they were.

Red Sox Mouthpieces Try to Dismiss Meeting

I was listening to WEEI's broadcast of the game last night. Dave O'Brien and Joe Castiglione couldn't figure out why the July 26th meeting of players and Ownership was a big story. The two repeated the "nothing to see here" statements John Henry and Dustin Pedroia gave about the meeting: that such meetings are held throughout the season, and that nobody was lobbying for Valentine to be fired. O'Brien then remarked that "several facts" from Jeff Passan's article were "in dispute."

I switched to NESN. The Red Sox own most of NESN, by the way. Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy expressed a similarly dismissive attitudes toward the story. "I'm past it" Remy remarked. Neither felt that the story was noteworthy. And both agreed that the Red Sox' problems are all on the field, and that the buzz around this meeting was just noise about nothing.

These are the voices of the Red Sox Propaganda Machine. These are the dupes, the suckers, the inner circle of Boston Sports Media that is under the influence of John Henry and Larry Lucchino. These are the yes-men, the suck-ups, the naive, the blind, the fools.

Listening to them, I was reminded of Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf, a.k.a. Baghdad Bob.

Team meetings do happen. And these kinds of meetings between Ownership and players don't seem to be a new thing for the Sox. But here is why this most recent meeting is a significant story:

1. What caused the meeting to be held
A text message from Adrian Gonzalez complaining about Bobby Valentine leaving Jon Lester in a game too long. That's apparently what provoked this meeting. Why are players texting Owners about gameday decisions at all? And why are Owners responding to them by giving them a forum to bitch and moan?

I wonder what that text looked like:

"OMFG we h8 BobbyV. He left J-les in the game 2 long. He needz 2 go. Yolo."

2. The divisive nature of the meetings
The Owners met with players, then met with coaches, then met with Valentine. All separate meetings. Why? Player-only meetings are commonplace, but don't typically involve Owners. And why isolate Valentine so much that even his assistant coaches have a different meeting?

How does dividing the team foster unity? And how does letting players go over their manager (and General Manager, let's not forget that the relative lack of Cherington in this story is interesting in and of itself), support the leadership hierarchy of the organization? The players ignored the chain-of-command, went over Valentine's head, to the side of Cherington's, and right into Larry Lucchino's text message inbox.

3. The leaks about the meeting
If this truly were a normal meeting, then why did Passan get leaked information about it? Why did he get multiple sources telling him about problems in the clubhouse and a tense meeting in which players ripped Bobby Valentine?

Maybe Passan was given faulty information. But that'd be a story too. If players and coaches are feeding lies to the media, then that implies the same thing that the original story about the meeting implies:

That something stinks with this team.

That's the story here. Something is rotten and it's stinks to high heaven.

Sox Have More Woes with O's

I'll never forget that it was in Baltimore that the 2011 Red Sox ended their season. And even though it's mid-August, the Sox seem to be trying to end their 2012 campaign in Charm City as well. This season the Sox are now 3-8 against the O's, who seem to have hired the right ESPN analyst to manage their team.

Aaron Cook had a weird start. He cruised at the outset, retiring the first 9 Orioles he faced, not allowing a hit until the 6th. But it was in the 6th that it all unraveled. He was inducing groundballs in the first 5 innings, then the Orioles figured out how to get under the ball and lift it into the air.

The Red Sox lineup threatened, but never struck a knockout blow. Even the 2 runs in the 5th could have been more with the heart of the order up and runners on.

Then Adrian "text message" Gonzalez got ejected in the 8th. He seemed to be upset that Oriole reliever Pedro Strop pitched to him very quickly after Gonzalez had just stepped into the box. Gonzalez appeared to say "I wasn't ready," and home-plat umpire Mike Everitt effectively said "That's not my problem."

Moments later, Gonzalez continued to argue from the dugout and Everitt tossed him. Bobby Valentine then came out to argue, and was soon ejected.

I wonder how many texts John Henry and Larry Lucchino got from Gonzalez, begging them to hold a meeting with the umpiring crew.

It's a team of whiners. They're spoiled children that throw temper tantrums.

And now they're 7 behind the Rays and 8 behind the Orioles in the loss column. They're in danger of being ejected from the Wild Card race.

Clay Buchholz pitches tonight against Chris Tillman. The tall 24 year old righty has been solid most of the season, with a few ugly starts mixed in. However, the Sox have a good history against him. Carl Crawford is 7 for 14 off Tillman, with a double and 2 triples. Hopefully Buchholz pitches well, the Sox get 4+ runs off Tillman, and they can salvage a win.

Photo Credit:
Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Mutiny on the Red Sox

You've probably already read or at least heard a summary of Jeff Passan's article about Red Sox players being upset at Bobby Valentine, complaining to Ownership, and a meeting being held in a New York hotel. Here's the sequence of key events:

July 22nd: Jon Lester is left in a game against the Blue Jays, despite struggling mightily. He allowed 9 runs in the first 2 innings but remained in the game, pitching into the 5th. He allowed 11 runs total.

Adrian Gonzalez, on behalf of himself and others, texted Red Sox Ownership (John Henry and Larry Lucchino). They complained that Valentine embarrassed Lester by leaving him in the game too long.

July 26th: In New York's Palace Hotel (on an off day before a series with the Yankees), the owners call a meeting of players. The players expressed their grievances. Some did not want to play for Bobby Valentine. Others felt that Valentine had become a scapegoat. Some players did not attend the meeting.

Since this meeting, the Red Sox Front Office and Ownership have all publicly declared that they "stand behind" Bobby Valentine. The Red Sox are 8-10 since the meeting.

I hate everyone involved in this story. I hate Bobby Valentine for being an egomaniacal jerk. I hate the players for whining and moaning. I hate the owners for catering to the players whining and moaning. Everyone stinks.

Lots of people are defending Bobby Valentine, or at least not blaming him for these problems. But he is partially responsible. He's a polarizing guy. He's talkative. He doesn't have a censor. He rubs some people the wrong way. None of this is new. This is who he has always been.

Adding Valentine to the Sox clubhouse was like adding hot sauce to a dish in an effort to make it less spicy. It doesn't make sense. He and his relentless personality only complicates the problem.

The owners have declared their support for Valentine through public statements. It's just words, though. Empty words. If Ownership supported Valentine, they wouldn't give the players an audience for their complaints.

Anyone watch The Office? Remember when Dwight goes to Jan (his boss's boss) in an attempt to oust Michael (his boss). What does Jan do? She tells Michael, and lets Michael handle the discontent. That's what the Sox Owners should have let Valentine do. Instead, the Owners meddled, and didn't let Valentine do his job.

You can't stand behind someone, then step in front of them and interfere in their job. Either let Valentine manage or fire him.

The players on this team should be ashamed of themselves. I was indifferent toward Adrian Gonzalez before today. Now he seems like he's a leader of complaints.

Part of Passan's piece mentioned a cell phone picture circulating among Sox players. Dustin Pedroia is smiling and giving a thumbs up. In the background lies a sleeping Bobby Valentine (or at least a facedown person that is allegedly Bobby Valentine). The caption reads "Our manager contemplating his lineup at 3:30 p.m."

Dustin Pedroia needs to move on and realize that Francona is gone. I know Valentine is a joke, but he's still the manager.

Then again, Pedroia challenged Valentine on Kevin Youkilis at the start of the season. And Valentine backed down. How can you respect Valentine after that?

Bobby V is a bad manager. That's why no MLB team gave him a job since 2002. He tries too hard to do too much. He tries to be a psychologist and keep pitchers in games so they build confidence. He thought he was a physician when he concocted a rehab plan for Crawford that involved playing a maximum 4 games in a row at a time. He thinks he's an inventor, a preacher, a motivational speaker, a philosopher, a dietitian, and a publicist.

At the same time, the Ownership aren't letting Bobby Valentine do his job. The heirchy of power in a baseball organization should be simple:

Manager: decides who on the roster plays and when they play
GM: decides who is on the roster (draft, trades, signings, releases, promotions)
Front Office: authorizes funds for payroll, decides general direction of the team, interacts with other parts of organization (promotions, ticket sales, customer service, et cetera)

With the Red Sox, everything is confused:

Manager: decides who plays
GM: usually decides who is on the roster
Front Office: fields complaints from players, decides how much GM spends (not just how much they're allowed to spend), dictates how manager and GM should act, manipulates the media to give a favorable impression of the team, tells ticket office to lie about number of tickets sold

Larry Lucchino needs to stay in his office. Part of being a boss is delegating. When you delegate responsibility, you can't do it halfway and only give someone partial responsibility. When you appoint a GM, you have to let the GM do his job. Otherwise dysfunction follows.

Then we get to the players. They're whiny, spoiled, disgruntled, and they don't seem to care much about winning.

A baseball team doesn't have to be 25 best buddies. But the prime goal of all 25 players should be the same: win.

Pedroia's prime goal is to get Valentine fired. Gonzalez's is to make sure Jon Lester's feelings aren't hurt. Beckett's is to drink. Lackey's is to drink more than Beckett. Ortiz's is to get a big contract for 2013. Matsuzaka's was to win the World Baseball Classic. Ellsbury's goal is probably to get out of here.

What's the solution:
Limit Lucchino to desk activity. Fire Valentine and hire a low-key, no-nonsense manager who'll do no more than fill out a lineup card and decide when to take pitchers out of a game. Release Beckett. Release Lackey. Don't re-sign Ortiz for anything more than $8 million. Trade at least 1/3 of the remaining babies. Give younger players a chance to make this team.

Everyone is at fault here. Everyone sucks. They need to either be removed, or have their roles significantly adjusted. And if you pay money to see this team play, you're a sap.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Beckett Makes Me Want to Drink Like My Name Were Josh Beckett

In my opinion, I think it's a better investment for the Red Sox to pay Josh Beckett to not pitch for them than it is for them to pay him to pitch. He just sucks. There's nothing redeemable about him as a pitcher or as a person. This off-season, the Red Sox should try to trade him for nothing, even pay most of his salary. And if there are no takers, just release him and eat the contract.

What is his positive contribution to this team? I can't see any.

With this team, it's gotten to the sad state that you just have to admit "Baltimore is better."

The Red Sox were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. Beckett allowed a pair of homeruns. Mike Aviles struck out 3 times and has become a useless part of the lineup. Alex "text message" Gonzalez was 0 for 3 with RISP.

This was a big series. I know Wei-Yin Chen vs. Josh Beckett is a bit of a mismatch in favor of Baltimore, but I'm disappointed the Sox couldn't pull it out last night.

They're now 7 games behind the Orioles in the loss column. And 7 games behind the A's. And 5 behind the Tigers, and 4 behind the Angels.

The good news is that the Red Sox' worst pitcher has already pitched in this series, so it can only get better from here. Aaron Cook faces Miguel Gonzalez. Gonzalez is coming off back-to-back starts that were very good, and the Red Sox don't have much history against him. That's usually bad for the Sox.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Beckett: The Worst of What Red Sox Do Worst

Whatever clubhouse problems Josh Beckett may or may not be a part of, the simple on the field facts are that he has undeniably and unequivocally sucked this season. Yesterday afternoon he gave the Sox 5 innings, 8 hits, 8 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 3 homeruns. And that ERA of his is once again flirting with 5.00 (4.97 to be exact).

Among starting pitchers that have enough innings to qualify, he is 86th in ERA. Only 12 starters have worse ERAs.

How long does this guy continue to get the ball? How long until he has a roster spot? How many pitchers out there can give the Sox what Beckett gives them, only for less money, and with less drama?

This loss typifies the Sox season. One part of the team did very well (the offense), but their efforts were sabotaged by other parts of the team (Beckett and the bullpen).

Adrian Gonzalez hit 3 doubles, each time knocking in a run. Cody Ross hit a homerun and knocked in 2. Will Middlebrooks hit a 3 run homer. 9 runs should be enough to win.

But Beckett dug a huge hole for his teammates. And when they were finally clawing their way out of that hole, the bullpen dug it deeper. Clayton Mortensen didn't do his job. Then Alfredo Aceves allowed a sacrifice fly that gave the Rangers the lead. He nearly allowed a 2 run homer after that.

Aceves wasn't meant to be the closer on this team. But they let a pretty good one go. Then they signed one who has a history of injuries. And he got injured.

There are good pieces on this team. And there are bad ones. The bad pieces counter the good pieces and the result is a .500 team. It's like running a faucet on full hot and full cold. The result is a tepid stream of mediumness.

It's only August, but looking forward to the 2012-13 off-season I'd prefer that the Red Sox focus on removing the bad pieces that infest this team, as opposed to adding more good pieces. This team is sick. The top priority should be to get rid of the viruses, the bacteria, and all that ails this team. Then the good pieces can be healthy and thrive.

The Sox are in Cleveland for 4 games. The Indians aren't a good team, and the Sox need wins. This is an opportunity for them to win. Although we've seen them fail to take advantage of such opportunities.

Felix Doubront faces 8-11 Ubaldo Jimenez, who had a good June, but has struggled the rest of the 2012 season.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Red Sox Win Thanks to Home Cooking

There are two types of players on the Red Sox: those who have exceeded expectations and kept the team afloat, and those who have disappointed and been a drag. Last night the Red Sox won because a starting pitcher exceeded expectations, and also because one of those previously disappointing draggers stepped up and contributed.

Aaron Cook went 7 innings, allowing only 1 run that was due entirely to defensive miscues. While the infield was shifted, Will Middlebrooks made a mistake in covering the wrong base. Adrian Gonzalez compounded the mistake by throwing to the uncovered 3rd base. Either that or Middlebrooks went to the Chad Ochocinco school of route running and wasn't on the same page as Gonzalez.

Fittingly, that run-scoring play was on a groundball out. Because Cook induced 15 of those, and only allowed 6 fly-outs. So even though he didn't strike anyone out, he kept the ball low, and the White Sox couldn't lift it off the ground.

Cook, then Vicente Padilla, kept the White Sox from scoring long enough for Adrian Gonzalez to get his clutchest hit of the season. He blasted a deep homerun to left-center and blew the game open in the 8th.

It was Gonzalez's first homerun since June 24th, the day Youkilis was traded.

This was the type of win I like to see from the Sox. They've gotten some good outings from Aaron Cook, and finally highly paid stars like Gonzalez are taking advantage of the opportunities given to them by the hungry role players.

David Ortiz extended his hit streak to 11 games, and his walk streak to 10 games. Then he injured himself rounding 2nd base on Gonzalez's homerun. I think he's listed as day-to-day with a Classic Baseball Injury (CBI).

Pedro Ciriaco was 3 for 4 with a double and is currently hitting .464.

Carl Crawford returned to the lineup and was 1 for 3 with a single. He scored twice and drew a walk. He only walked 23 times last season.

The Red Sox made Dylan Axelrod look like a Cy Young candidate, but that tends to happen when they face someone they have little experience facing. And that also makes this win even more satisfying because it was a game that easily could have gone the other way.

The Red Sox need Jon Lester to start pitching like Aaron Cook. Lester is on the mound tonight, facing Philip Humber. Humber is 3-4 with a 6.01 ERA and hasn't had a Quality Start since May. Adrian Gonzalez and Jarrod Saltalamacchia have done well against him in the past.

This is a great chance to secure at least a split in this series.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Red Sox Finish Homestand the Right Way

At the outset of this homestand, I wrote a post about how the Red Sox were beginning a 16 game stretch against mediocre and less than mediocre opponents. I argued that despite injuries to starting pitchers, the Sox could and should take advantage of the schedule and win some games. They've done that so far. They finished their homestand 7-2 and now embark on a West Coast trip to play two of the worst teams in the American League.

Jon Lester wasn't great today. He allowed 7 hits in 7 innings, and didn't walk anyone. But a pair of those hits were homeruns. He gave the Sox an opportunity to win, which is nice, but I expect more then just "nice" from Lester. I don't expect him to be Ace-like every time out, but with Beckett and Buchholz down, he should be slightly better than he's been this year. He's 5-5 with a 4.53 ERA. And in June, he's 2-1 with a 4.00 ERA. Today he allowed 4 runs in 7 innings. Good. Not great. He's capable of doing better.

You can't ask much more from the lineup today. They jumped on Ricky Romero early and often. The game was over after the 1st inning when it was 6-1 Sox.

Since it was a blowout game, Adrian Gonzalez of course added to his RBI total. He had 3. Mike Aviles was 2 for 4 with a single and a double. He knocked in a pair. Gonzalez and Aviles are now tied at 43 RBI.

Cody Ross was 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and a double. His 14th double of the season. His .578 slugging percentage is the second best on the team behind Ortiz.

Speaking of David Ortiz, I saved the best for last. In the 5th inning he hit his 399th career homerun. Unfortunately, he didn't get #400 in front of the Fenway crowd. Odds are he'll hit that milestone in Seattle or Oakland. The Mariners have allowed the 5th most homeruns in baseball despite playing in a pitcher-friendly park.

Ortiz and the Sox are in Seattle for 4 games. The series starts tomorrow night at 10 as Franklin Morales opposes Felix Hernandez. Ortiz has homered once off King Felix before.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Patience Pays Off for Red Sox

It took the Red Sox lineup a while to wake up last night. They were utterly silenced by Aaron Laffey Taffy who was making his first starting appearance since 2010. Daisuke Matsuzaka and the bullpen were able to keep them very much in the game, and the Blue Jays bullpen eventually crumbled. The Red Sox are now back in sole possession of 4th place.

Daisuke doesn't seem like he's had Tommy John surgery at all. I'm not sure how good that news is, but considering the health of his fellow SPs, I'll take a 5.2 inning, 100 pitch Matsuzaka Special. And he only walked 1 batter. He's struggled at the beginning of his starts, then settles in and is nearly unhittable.

If he gets that 1st inning down, he can go deep into games and give the Sox an even better chance at winning.

Will Middlebrooks had another error. That's bad luck for him. I don't think this is a post-Youkilis trend manifesting itself. He's not a great fielder and I don't care. He can hit. He had an RBI sac-fly last night.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his 14th homerun of the season. He and Middlebrooks each have 35 RBI. Adrian Gonzalez has 40. He got his 40th last night with an RBI double in the 8th.

The Sox can end their homestand 7-2 if they beat the Jays this afternoon. They need Jon Lester to pitch like Jon Lester. That's because they'll be facing 8-1 Ricky Romero. Romero's benefited from good run support. He has a 5.82 ERA in his last three starts. So if Lester can shut down the Jays, the Sox can get a few off Romero and win.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

A Great Chance for the Sox to Win

There are 96 games left on the schedule. And if the Red Sox want to play more than 96 games, they need to win now.

Yes I know they they're enduring more than their share of injuries. They're missing an MVP candidate in the outfield, a starting pitcher who is capable of brilliance, a closer, more outfielders than there are outfield spots, and so on.

There's also been reports of strife and division within the clubhouse. There are coaches who weren't appointed by the manager, a manager who wasn't appointed by the GM, owners who use the media to manipulate popular opinion. There are trade rumors, there is fracturing between pitchers and hitters, between Francona supporters and those loyal to Bobby V.

And there are excuses. Umpires, the wind, the schedule.

The excuses and explanations must stop. This is a time for them to stop whining and start winning.

The Red Sox are starting a 16 game stretch against some of the weakest opposition in the Majors. Three against Miami (33-33 and 4th in the NL East), three against Atlanta (35-32, 3rd place), three against Toronto (34-32, 4th in AL East), four against Seattle (29-39, 4th in AL West), and three against Oakland (31-36, 3rd place).

They can and should win most of these games.

With Beckett out of the rotation, Lester and Buchholz need to pitch well every start. Buchholz has been doing that lately. Lester's been good but he needs to be great. The Sox need these two guys to be at their best.

Matsuzaka needs to continue what he did after the 2nd inning on Friday. And Doubront needs to be as solid as he's been.

Offensively, the stars of the lineup need to play like stars. I keep getting emails from the Red Sox urging their fans to vote for Pedroia to be in the All-Star Game. He's hitting .160 in June. The whole "relax" attitude he has shown is cute and funny, but he needs to hit. Now.

Youkilis also needs to hit. He's on a .128 clip this month.

And Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .232 in June. He only has 5 extra-base hits.

The stars on this team aren't playing like stars. The second-tier talent has carried them. And without those contributions from the second-tier talent, the Sox would be well below .500.

In the next 16 games, the Sox have an opportunity to do some damage. The injuries hurt, but what's killing them is their best players not playing like their best players.

After this stretch, the schedule gets tough. They face the Yankees, Rays, and White Sox. If they don't take advantage of the lesser opponents they have now, they might be out of the playoff race this time next month.

Sox Forget to Bring Their Talent to South Beach

The best news out of this game is that Mark Melancon's scoreless 8th inning brought his ERA down to 33.00. Beckett labored in the 1st, and the offense did nothing. This was a team loss. Apart from Scott Podsednik, everyone in a Sox uniform can share responsibility for this defeat. Which is the 7th loss in 8 games for the streaky Sox.

The Sox managed 5 hits. Podsednik had 3 of them. Pedroia had a double and Ryan Sweeney hit a single. And of course, none of these hits came with runners in scoring position. That's exactly what the opposition would be expecting.

The Sox offense has been streaky this season because it's been supported by secondary players. Guys like Mike Aviles, Cody Ross, and Daniel Nava have taken up the slack as Youkilis and Gonzalez have struggled, and Ellsbury has been injured. But now reality is starting to sink in. Aviles is mired in a 2 for 17 slump (.118). He's hitting .228 in June. He was very productive in April with 5 homers and 17 RBI. He was solid in May with 15 RBI. But in June he's slowed to a crawl.

It's hard to believe that the Sox will continue to perform this poorly on offense. But I'm sure by the time they heat up, the starting pitchers will start to struggle. Then Aceves will blow a few saves. There might be a few overlapping games when starters, relievers, and hitters are all clicking. But for the most part, this team is seemingly built in layers of mediocrity to prevent any lengthy stretch of consistent play.

The 1st inning summed up the Sox' shortcomings very nicely. They had 2 on with 0 outs, and couldn't take advantage of the opportunity. Then in the bottom of the inning, the Marlins scored a run thanks to a leadoff triple. Then they did some damage with 2 outs. They took full advantage of Gonzalez's poor fielding and inexperienced throwing in right-field. They wound up scoring 3 runs in the inning. And that was more than enough.

As a sidenote, how long until John Henry and Larry Lucchino hire some dancers to shake their stuff on the Green Monster? Or maybe install an aquarium between the bullpens at Fenway? How about a petting zoo on Yawkey Way?

Buchholz faces Mark Buehrle tonight. Buehrle has struggled lately, and some of the Sox have hit well off him in the past (Ortiz has a .345 average against him, Pedroia's is .375, Podsednik's is .364), so maybe they can score a few runs.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Nationals Sweep Sox

The good news is the Sox only have 9 more games against teams from the Maryland/DC part of the country (they're 3-9 against the Orioles and Nationals). The bad news is, the Sox are below .500 again, their offense has cooled off, their bullpen looks shaky, they can't seem to win at home (14-19 in Fenway), they're 6 games behind the Rays, 5 games out of the Wild Cards (with three teams to leapfrog over), and the Yankees are red hot.

At least the weather's been nice lately.

There is one other piece of good news, and that's the starting pitching. Jon Lester struck out 9 yesterday in a very typical Jon Lester start. He went 7 innings, allowed 3 runs, and gave the Sox a very good chance to win the game. If only they could get a hit with runners in scoring position. Which they didn't. The Sox were 0 for 8 with RISP.

David Ortiz provided the only real offense. He was 3 for 4 with a double and a homerun. The other 2 Sox runs came from groundouts. Dustin Pedroia grounded into a fielder's choice in the 3rd and Scott Podsednik had an RBI groundout in the 7th to tie the game at 3-3. Podsednik has been decent with the Sox, who lately seem to be able to find productive outfielders with their eyes closed. He's hitting .368.

Unfortunately, Alfredo Aceves blew another game. He gave up a 2 out RBI double to Roger Bernadina. Aceves went on a nice run in the middle of May, but since blowing a save against Tampa Bay on May 27th, he's 0-3, and has allowed 7 runs in 9 innings. He does not appear to be a steady, reliable Major League closer.

Jonathan Papelbon has converted 16 of 16 save opportunities and has a 2.22 ERA.

When David Ortiz called a player's meeting a month ago, part of what was discussed was that the starting pitchers need to pull their weight. They've been doing that. Lester was good yesterday. Daisuke wasn't bad (especially for a rehab start) on Saturday. Buchholz was brilliant last Thursday. Beckett was great last Wednesday. The Sox only won 1 of these games.

Now it's the lineup's turn to pull some weight. Ortiz can't do it all. Pedroia is in a 3 for 24 (.125) slump since returning from his thumb injury. Adrian Gonzalez is slugging .419, about .100 lower than he should be expected to slug. Kevin Youkilis did well when he first returned from the DL, now he's in a 4 for 25 (.160) drought. Will Middlebrooks hasn't had an extra-base hit since May.

Hopefully a trip to Miami can help turn things around. The Marlins are in 4th place, and Beckett is on the mound for the Sox tonight. He might need to hit a few homeruns on his own to give himself a reasonable amount of run support. He faces 3-4 Josh Johnson. Adrian Gonzalez is 4 for 11 in his career against Johnson, so maybe he'll get a few hits tonight.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Bullpen Blows Game Against O's

Lester was good, not great, but good enough. The Sox scored a few runs. But the bullpen blew it. Twice. Atchison laid an egg in the 7th. Then Aceves lost it in the 10th.

The bullpen is one part of this team that I have almost no confidence in. There are some good hitters on this team, and the role players have exceeded expectations. And the starting pitching has potential to improve. But the pen is worrisome. They're just not reliable, not trustworthy.

Alfredo Aceves has been put into a role that he didn't expect to be in. And he hasn't done well. He was a life-saver for the Sox last year. But relievers are notoriously inconsistent from year to year. Maybe this role is too uncomfortable for Aceves. Maybe he won't be very good in any role. All I know is he has a 5.02 ERA, 3 losses, and 3 blown saves.

The bullpen isn't a complete mess. But they are going to blow games like this, more than just occasionally.

Maybe Daniel Bard will wind up in the bullpen. I think that's the best place for him, and it's the best for the Sox. He can close, Aceves can set-up, and everyone else's workload gets lighter.

On the bright side, Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been a more than adequate player. It's nice to once again get offensive production from a catcher. It's sort of a bonus. He's hitting .279 (better than Adrian Gonzalez), he's slugging .593 (.186 more than Gonzalez), he hit his 11th homerun (7 more than Gonzalez), and knocked in his 27th RBI (2 less than Gonzalez). And unlike Gonzalez, he's getting big hits in important situations.

The Sox have lost two straight now, and 3 out of 5, so they can't let this snowball. Beckett is pitching tonight and it's his chance to stop a losing streak before it happens. The offense also has to remember how to get hits with runners in scoring position.

Beckett faces Wei-Yin Chen who is 4-2 with a decent 3.75 ERA. He's been very good this year at giving the Orioles a chance to win in his starts. If Beckett brings his A game, he can outclass Chen, even if Chen does well. If Beckett has his C game, it's all up to the Sox offense. And that bullpen.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Red Sox Reach .500... Again

The Red Sox can't seem to pass the .500 mark. They're 0-5 the game after they reach .500.

The Rays finally took a series from the Sox. The Rays' pitchers quieted the Sox' bats. The Sox only scored 10 runs in their weekend series. And while Saltalamacchia won Saturday's game with a walk-off win, Alfredo Aceves returned the favor to Tampa Bay by blowing a save. His 3rd blown save of the season.

Jonathan Papelbon has yet to blow a save this season.

People have been praising the Red Sox bullpen. But such praise is merely selective memory. In the last 20 games, the bullpen has been decent. The 20 games before that, not so much. Looking at the guys that are out there, none of them are guys I'd classify as tough-situation-relievers. When the game is on the line, how confident are you when Padilla or Albers comes jogging in from the bullpen? Be honest.

The Sox scored some runs off Doug Fister yesterday, and that's not easy to do. They got 11 hits off him, including 3 doubles and a homerun. It was Saltalamacchia's ninth. He has 5 more homeruns than Adrian Gonzalez, in 69 fewer at-bats, and for $19.6 million less salary. He's been a nice and surprising offensive contributor.

The Sox got another very respectable start from Doubront. Prince Felix went 6, allowing 2 runs off 4 hits and a walk. He struck out 6. He's 5-2 on the season, which means he's the winningest pitcher in the rotation. He's the only Sox starter with an ERA under 4. Again, a nice and surprising contributor.

I enjoy rooting for the Felix Doubronts and Jarrod Saltalamacchias on this team. They try. They care. They're playing to the maximum of their potential. And they're the reason this team is .500 and within shouting distance of a playoff spot.

As I said at the start of this post, the Sox are 0-5 when they've had a chance to be over .500. Technically, I suppose it's 0-6 since they lost their first game (when they were 0-0). I'm not overly optimistic that they'll improve on that mark, as Verlander is on the mound for Detroit. Bard is pitching for the Sox.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Another Lost Weekend for the Sox

Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis went 2 innings, allowing 0 runs, 2 hits, and stuck out 2. Adrian Gonzalez and Jarrod Saltalamacchia were struck out by a first baseman. A first baseman got a pitching win against the Sox. That's how bad things are.

The Red Sox lost all three of their games to the Orioles, but it felt like four due to the length of Sunday's loss. In fact, the Fenway Park grounds crew is still cleaning up all the runners the Sox left in scoring position during the series.

I gave Clay Buchholz a pass for April. He's started slow in the past, so he gets a Mulligan for that month. It's May now. No more free passes. It's time to send him down I-95 to Pawtucket and let him work out his problems there. He's making too many mistakes. I wouldn't mind giving him one more start in Boston, but it has to be a good start. Not just decent, not just solid, I'm talking 7 innings, 2 runs, 5 hits good. Otherwise, it's Triple-A for Clay.

In extra inning losses, the tendency is to look at all the scoring opportunities that weren't capitalized on. The Sox went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position. One more hit in those situations and the game ends in 9 innings or 12 innings or 15 innings. But it was the starting pitching that cost the Sox the game. It was Clay's 3.2 innings. That's why Darnell McDonald was on the mound in the 17th, because the bullpen had pitched 12.1 innings of relief at that point. And had only allowed an unearned run.

If Clay pitches better, the Sox don't even get into an extra inning situation. They can win in 9 innings. Even if they do go extras, McDonald doesn't have to pitch for another 3 innings.

Will Middlebrooks hit a Grand Slam, and has done well since his call up. But what the hell is he doing not running down the line on a ball that's 50/50 fair or foul? Who does this 23 year old, #64 wearing kid think he is?

It's the type of attitude that a large number of the Sox seem to have. Middlebrooks will fit right in with that crap.

Then the other half of the team is pushing too hard. Aviles was caught-stealing twice. Pedroia was caught also. The Sox are 8 for 13 when trying to steal based, which simply isn't good enough. These caught-stealing outs are free outs given to opponents. It's better to stay at first than to steal second base 60% of the time and get thrown out 40% of the time. The out is much more valuable than the base.

Speaking of pushing too hard, why the hell was Aaron Cook allowed to go back into the game on Saturday? He got his legs sliced up, then comes back out for his next shift like it was Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Don't get me wrong, it was extremely refreshing to see a pitcher with guts (as opposed to Josh "the Blister" Beckett, who Cook was replacing that day), but we also saw other parts of Cook's internal anatomy that day. And I think the Sox risked too much by letting him resume the game.

The Sox need pitching, but they need it for 5 more months, not 5 more innings in a game in May. They shouldn't have let him go back out there.

I know the Sox are plagued with injury right now. But every team endures injuries. The problem with the Sox is that their healthy players aren't doing their jobs. Buchholz, Lester, Beckett, Aceves. Adrian Gonzalez never seems to get a hit when the Sox really need him to get one. Darnell McDonald's ERA is lower than Mark Melancon's. More than 22 runs lower. Not a single starting pitcher has an ERA below 4.45. Sox starters have a combined ERA of 5.72.

You don't win without starting pitching. Poor starting also exposes an overworked and undertalented bullpen.

Maybe a trip to Kansas City will give the Sox a chance to collect some wins. Doubront faces Jonathan Sanchez tonight. Who isn't very good.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Red Sox Preview: Infield/DH

The bulk of the Sox' offensive production will have to come from the infield. That shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Adrian Gonzalez had a satisfying 2012. However, he struggled against the two most important Red Sox opponents: the Yankees and Rays. He hit .183 against New York and .131 against Tampa Bay. For the Sox to compete in the AL East this year, they need one of their top hitters to perform in big games against these key opponents.

Expect another season with around 30 homers, 110+ RBI, and an OPS well above .900. The question is, when (and against whom) will he hit those homers and knock in those runs?

Dustin Pedroia had another good season last year. And unlike most of his teammates, he didn't flounder in September. It'll be interesting to see how he adjusts to Bobby Valentine. Pedroia was probably Francona's biggest ally in the Sox clubhouse.

But Pedroia doesn't seem like the type who'll let a manager affect his effort levels. That's why he's the most likable player on the team.

The Sox traded the .299 hitting Marco Scutaro because...

Um...

Well all Scutaro did was hit well, play solid defense, play through injury, and was willing to accept whatever role the Sox wanted him to fill. And that's just not the type of player we want in Boston. Especially when the Sox can trim $6 million off their payroll by trading him to Colorado for a minor league pitcher.

And the Sox used that freed up money to invest in...

Um...

Well anyway, Liverpool are in 8th place in England.

Mike Aviles will be the shortstop in Boston. For now. He'll be paid $1.2 million. He hit .317 in 101 at-bats for the Sox last year. He's a capable hitter. He doesn't strike out much and he can steal the occasional base. He's not as good offensively as Scutaro. And defensively, he's something of a liability.

After finishing 3rd last year, the Sox downgraded at short-stop, just like they downgraded at closer. The Sox have made no significant upgrades at all this offseason. Where's the outrage?

Speaking of rage...

Kevin Youkilis will be at third base. It'll be interesting to see how his personality interacts with Bobby Valentine's. I doubt it will negatively impact Youkilis' production. Although he hasn't been able to recapture his impressive 2008 and 2009 numbers. This is the year the Sox need him the most. How well Youkilis does will have a considerable impact on the lineup. He can either extend the quality in the middle of the order, or be the beginning of the bottom.

David Ortiz is overpaid. I wouldn't mind if the Sox weren't on a strict budget this offseason. $14,575,000 is a hefty sum for a guy who takes 4 or 5 at-bats a night. He did well last year, except he wasn't hitting for much power in September. Which is when the Sox needed a power hitter to knock a few out of the park. He had 1 homer in that final month. Along with 5 doubles.

Although maybe an official scorer screwed him out of a double or two. Actually that probably didn't happen because Ortiz would have loudly bitched about it.

He's 36 years old, so it's time to expect to see his numbers turn downhill. What we don't know is how steep that slope will be. He'll always be a patient hitter, so his OBP probably won't suffer much. Last year he had 70 extra-base hits and I'd say that's a good target for 2012.

He's 22 homeruns away from 400, and I think he'll get there this year, but just barely.

One thing I like about the Sox lineup is that the players are versatile. Ellsbury and Pedroia can be at the top, but can also fill slots in the middle. Gonzalez, Youkilis, and Ortiz can be shifted around that middle depending on match ups and who's hot or cold.

But if one or two key hitters slump at the same time, the entire lineup gets cold. There's not enough quality at the bottom of the order to make pitchers work hard every inning. I think you'll see similar overall numbers to last season, with close to 900 runs scored. But there will be floods and droughts. They'll put up 14 one night then struggle to score 2 the next.

Overall, the Sox are once again loaded with more questions than answers. The rotation is top-heavy at best, the bullpen is one injury away from disaster, and the offense has multiple holes. I expect 85 to 90 wins, and maybe that 2nd Wild Card berth.

I do not expect an extensive playoff run.

SOX JOIN THE .500 CLUB

It's May 16th. And even though the weather's a bit raw, the baseball season is well under way. Summer is approaching. And for the first time all year, the Red Sox are .500.

Remember a few weeks ago, when we were all talking about 100 regular season wins? And now we're skipping in the streets about having as many wins as losses.

It seems kind of silly. Then again, sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx in order to reach this plateau makes it extra special. And the Yankees are only 2 games above .500. As much as the Sox have struggled, they're only 3 games behind the Rays. With 122 games left to play.

Pitching has propelled the Sox to .500. But hitting provided the final ounce of propulsion. They've finally started to hit with runners in scoring position, kind of, and finally started hitting homeruns. Youkilis' 3 run homer in the 3rd was vital to the Sox' effort last night. Ortiz's and Salty's provided the necessary insurance to win.

To be blunt, the Yankees simply aren't that impressive. They've got plenty of names that were intimidating in the late 1990s, but now are just prima donna headcases that seem to distract more than contribute. And how much money is Jeter going to get to hit .260? It's not as if he was underpaid before this season, either. What an overrated, greedy bucket of garbage.

The Sox have finally cracked .500. They'll start a homestand that might be impeded by this unseasonable rain, though. Matsuzaka faces Chris Tillman of the O's tonight, weather permitting.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

DICE-L

I really thought Daisuke was going to turn the Sox' fortunes around last night. He's always done well against Cleveland. And they tend to be free swingers. I was wrong.

He wasn't awful. But in typical Daisuke fashion, even when he does well, he fails to do well for long enough. And while it was the bullpen that ultimately lost this game, Daisuke gave the bullpen a chance to lose it, by only going 5 innings.

And during those 5 innings, he nibbled. And he nibbled. He threw a joke of a 90 MPH fastball right down the middle to Choo, and it was crushed. He nibbled some more. He walked batters. He hit a batter. He allowed 10 baserunners in 5 innings.

But he didn't lose this game by himself. Not by a longshot. Ellsbury struck out 3 times and went 0 for 5. We're still waiting for him to hit. Youkilis went 0 for 4, continuing his struggles. And Varitek messed up a defensive play, turning what should have been an out into a Cleveland run. His mistake of not tagging Buck at the plate was inexcusable for a veteran and a "Captain."

Then the bullpen. That's worrying me more than anything else right now. The starting pitching is what it is. The offense will inevitably improve. Guys like Ellsbury and Youkilis are not sub-.200 hitters. They'll come around. The bullpen, however, has been nothing but a disaster so far. Dan Wheeler was supposed to be the 2nd set-up man alongside Bard. He's allowed 2 homeruns already. And Reyes was supposed to add depth. He's only added mass, and a heavy ERA.

A few bright notes from last night: Gonzalez hit his first homerun with the team. And Crawford got on base, then ran, stealing his first 2 bases of the season.

The rotoation starts all over again, and maybe that's what this club needs. Lester faces Fausto Carmona, who allowed 10 runs in 3 innings against Chicago. First pitch at 12:05 this afternoon.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo