Robinson Cano Leaving AL East (written after Cano signed with Seattle)

I was literally a second away from publishing a post bashing Jay-Z and Robinson Cano for trying to make the Mariners bid against themselves for Cano's services. Cano had been offered $225 million over 9 years, then Jay-Z reportedly demanded $252 for 10 years, and outraged Mariner ownership stormed away from the proverbial table. The Yankees had offered Cano $170 million for 7 years.

And just as I was on the verge of clicking "publish," I heard that the Mariners and Cano had agreed to a 10-year deal worth $240 million. And that makes sense based on the other numbers. Cano gets less per year, but gets an additional year.

It's an insane deal. Cano is a great player, a potential Hall of Famer, but this pays him until he's 40. Many baseball contracts are becoming insane. It's only a matter of time before we see $300 million deals for top players. One day we will see a $400 million deal.

Making the deal more insane is that Cano has only hit 30+ HRs once in his career. He's never slugged .600 or had an OBP over .400. He's only slugged .550 or higher once (.550 on the dot in 2012), and only had an OBP of .380+ twice. He turned 31 in late October so he's at his peak right now. And he's a damn good player. But if he didn't play second base I don't think people would drool over him as much as they do. Because his numbers are not shattering.

But the Mariners are much, MUCH better with him. And the Yankees are much worse without him. And the Yanks also look quite dumb for giving Ellsbury $21.9 million a year but not giving Cano $24 million a year. Cano was the entire Yankee offense last year. And now Ellsbury is their best hitter. Taking Cano out of the 2013 lineup and putting Ellsbury's numbers in, Ellsbury would have led the Yankees in average, OBP, SLG, and OPS. Cano has hit almost as many homeruns in the last 2 seasons as Ellsbury has his entire career.

Anyway, I'm just happy Cano is out of the AL East. That's really all that matters.

In 156 career games against the Sox, Cano hit .308 with 21 homeruns and 104 RBI. I don't mind him moving to another division. Not one bit.

BORAS > HOVA: Jay-Z Costs Cano Millions (written before Cano signed with Seattle)

If you're a baseball player and you want to make the most money possible, why do you hire anybody but Scott Boras? The guy gets his clients paid. He may not be as cool as Jay-Z, but he shows his clients the money.

I don't know why Jay-Z decided to go into the world of sports agency. I think he watched a few episodes of Entourage and wanted to be the sports world's Ari Gold. And if the rumors out of Seattle Friday morning are true, it seems like he doesn't know what he's doing.

According to sources, Robinson Cano's representation had been able to convince Seattle to offer him a 9-year deal worth $225 million ($25M/year). Then Jay-Z wanted more, and demanded 10-years at $252 million. By the way, that's the same deal A-Rod took, which left a bad taste in Seattle's mouth. Mariner ownership reportedly flipped out, ending negotiations.

What Jay-Z did was ask Seattle to bid against themselves. The Yankees have stayed firm with their offer of $170 million over 7 years ($24.3M/year). Nobody was close to Seattle's offer. And I have to say that it's more than generous. Yet Jay-Z demanded more.

Imagine being at an auction, and you bid $225 for a Robinson Cano autographed baseball, and the next highest bidder was $170. Then the auctioneer demands that you increase your bid to $250. Even though you've already bid the most and nobody is close to your bid. That's BS.

I just can't imagine Boras making a team feel so blatantly disrespected. Boras is conniving, scheming, sneaky. And I'm sure owners don't enjoy dealing with him. But he is a born negotiator. He's too clever to do something as brash and dumb as this. Cano's representation essentially told Seattle to get on their knees, open their mouth, and swallow whatever they put in it.

Don't forget, Cano's camp initially wanted $300 million for 10 years. I think Jay-Z literally pulled that number out of his ass. That number was not based on market value, or relative contracts, or anything real. It was a big, loud, flashy number. There was no substance behind it, just lots of noise and self-promotion. Exactly like Jay-Z's music.

Photo Credit:
Getty Images, Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE

Magic Sox

I officially have a boner for this team. I am excited, eager, a little sweaty, and generally pumped about this team.

They weren't supposed to win this game. Ryan Dempster vs. Felix Hernandez. Down 5 runs in the 9th. And I was fine with that. The Sox won the 15 inning game the night/morning before, and losing to Hernandez is completely excusable. We had all printed a pass for the Sox when and if they lost this game.

The Sox were not fine with accepting that pass. They took advantage of a bizarre 9th inning which saw an opposing manager use the wrong arm to signal a pitcher, and a very hitter-friendly strike zone from home plate umpire David Rackley. Perhaps that was karma from the blown call at home plate against Tampa Bay on Monday.

And not only did the Sox win, they won in 9. They didn't get involved in another draining extra inning game. They finished it in 9 and preserved their energy for Arizona this weekend.

Once Hernandez left the game, with a comfortable 6 run lead, Shane Victorino hit a homerun. It didn't seem to mean much at the time. It would wind up meaning quite a bit.

Daniel Nava started off the 9th with a walk. Lavarnway singled, Holt doubled, Nava scored. Then Ellsbury walked. Mariners interim manager Robby Thompson wanted a righty to face Victorino and Pedroia. But on his way to the mound he tapped his left hand. The umpires caught this and forced the Mariners to put a lefty in. Victorino singled to knock in 2, Pedroia singled to make it a 7-6 game. Ortiz struck out against the lefty, then Thompson finally got to put in the righty he initially wanted. Gomes singled to tie the game, Drew walked, and Nava finished the inning he started with a fly-ball to deep center. Once it left his bat there was no doubt the game was over.

From 7-2 down to 8-7 up in 1 inning. Simply magical.

The Sox continue to do well at home. They're 22 games above .500 overall, 17 of those games are at Fenway (37-20 record).

The Sox start a 3-game series with Arizona tonight. Lester faces 23-year old righty Randall Delgado. This is a chance for Lester to be Ace-like, or semi-Ace-like, and continue the momentum the Sox have built this week. Or it's his chancy to be Lester the mope, and ruin everything.

Photo Credit:
Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Red Sox Won This Morning

I have a feeling that the playoff races in the AL will come down to a very small number of games. So it's vital that the Red Sox are able to win games like last night's/this morning's. Especially with Felix Hernandez starting for Seattle tonight.

You can't say enough about the Red Sox bullpen in this one. After Tazawa blew the lead in the 8th, the pen combined for 7 shutout innings and worked its way out of jams. After the pen worked so hard, I think tonight I'd leave Ryan Dempster in as long as possible, even if he's struggling, just to give those relievers a break.

The Sox offense was shut down for 7 innings last night. Between Dustin Pedroia's 2-run homer in the 7th and Brandon Snyder's double in the 14th, the Sox made 20 outs between hits.

But as this team has done all season long, when one group struggles, another group picks up the slack. The offense wasn't scoring, but the bullpen wasn't letting Seattle score. And finally the Sox worked some walks in the 15th and with 2 outs Stephen Drew knocked in the game-winning run.

And let's not forget John Lackey's night. It was a solid 7 inning, 3 run performance, scattering 8 hits, striking out 6. Last year had he allowed 8 hits, he probably would have let up 5 runs in 3 innings. This year he's able to work through outings and come out with a result. He's a completely different person on the mound.

With Tampa Bay losing 7-0 to Arizona, the Sox are back in first place by half a game.

As I mentioned earlier, King Felix goes for the Mariners tonight. Maybe the Sox can get him out of the game and get to Seattle's depleted bullpen.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola

I'm Sick of Jon Lester

The Red Sox are once again a likable team. They have plucky, determined players who are playing at 100% of their ability, in some cases more than 100%. And with few exceptions, the players themselves are easy to root for.

One person that still draws my dislike is Jon Lester. I am so tired of his act. It isn't just his poor performances on the mound, it's how he carries himself and how he dismissively excuses his failures.

When he struggles he becomes a diva on the mound, glaring at the umpire like a little kid in the grocery store checkout line who was just told by his mother that he can't get one of the candy bars from the side shelf. He pouts, he snaps his glove angrily, and then he'll throw the same pitch in the same location and whine about it again.

Do you think umpires appreciate that act? Do you think umpires get their assignments and see they're behind the plate for Lester and think good things about him? Maybe that's why you don't get those borderline pitches, Jon. Maybe the umps are sick of your mini-tantrums.

Lester fails to admit that he isn't that good anymore, and hasn't been for a long time. He seems to attribute every bad outing to a series of bad calls or a few lucky swings. But his quality is clearly not what it once was.

Hitters make much more contact against him than they did in 2010 and 2011. He strikes out fewer batters (225 in 2010, 182 in 2011, 166 in 2012, and he's on pace for about 176 in 2013). He allows more hits (166 in 2011, 216 in 2012, and a pace for 215 in 2013), and opponents hit much harder against him (14 HRs allowed in 2010, 20 in 2011, 25 in 2012, pace for 25 in 2013). From 2009 to 2011, he allowed 31 doubles every year. In 2012 he allowed 49, and in 2013 he's on pace to allow 51.

And instead of admitting that he has, over a significantly long stretch of time, struggled, he'll build himself up. He pumps his own tires. After last night's 5 inning, 5 run, 9 hit, 2 walk outing against the 3rd worst offense in baseball he said:

"I felt like I threw a lot of good pitches tonight. Maybe a handful of balls found the middle of the plate, they did a better job of fouling balls off to get to those pitches. It goes back to I felt like I threw the ball better than what the line score says."

No, Jon, you didn't. You fell apart last night. You needed 112 pitches to get 15 outs. You threw first-pitch strikes to only half of the 26 batters you faced. And while the Mariners did foul off 28 pitches, they hit 18 into play, 2 for doubles, 1 for a homerun, and 6 more for basehits. The M's hit .240 as a team, and last night they hit .375 off Lester, with an OPS of .961.

And that homerun came after your team had tied the game for you, against the great Felix Hernandez. And boom, to lead off the bottom of the 5th, you serve up a homerun. That's not what good pitchers do. And good pitchers don't pat themselves on the back after such outings and ignore their shortcomings. They acknowledge them, they take responsibility, and they work on them.

Lester is a throwback to the 2011 Collapse. It's never his fault. Other members of that incredibly unlikable team have either left town or reformed (see: John Lackey). Not Lester. His diva antics are the same on the mound. His performances are worse. His refusal to take responsibility is a vintage 2011/2012 attitude. Either he needs to change it, or the Red Sox need to change their roster.

Photo Credit:
Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

The Red Sox Are at Rock Bottom

I hope everyone had a fun Labor Day weekend. Speaking of which, watching the Red Sox has become a labor. After yesterday's 4-1 loss in Seattle, the Sox have dropped 7 in a row. They're 9-22 since the start of August. 9-22. That's .290 baseball. They've been outscored 60 to 16 on this West Coast trip.

The rotation has deteriorated to the point that it's hard to call some of these guys starters. They're more like low-grade middle-relievers that happen to be the first pitcher on the mound. Aaron Cook has nothing. Felix Doubront has nothing. Daisuke Matsuzaka has had a few brilliant moments, but more painful ones. Clay Buchholz hasn't been bad, hasn't been good.

The offense doesn't exist. Dustin Pedroia is red hot (and collected his 1,000th career hit yesterday) but the rest of the lineup is a hole-ridden patchwork of underachieving disappointments and role players that have regressed to the mean. Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting .262. Ryan Lavarnway isn't showing any of the power he showed last season.

If you're able to watch this team without drinking, or using the broadcast as some sort of drinking game (take a sip every time Bobby Valentine smiles, pound a beer every time Don Orsillo giggles uncontrollably. take a shot when Jenny Dell mispronounces something), you must have the patience of a saint. Or you're a masochist.

This team sucks, blows, stinks, and sucks.

Jon Lester faces Blake Beavan, who is a cartoon creation of Mike Judge. Thankfully the game starts at 10 so you can fall asleep or pass out without enduring another 9 innings of torture.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Runless in Seattle

The Mariners suck. The Red Sox split a 4 game series with a team that sucks. By itself, that's not a big deal. But considering the inconsistency the Sox have displayed this season, it's another frustrating weekend. The Sox don't take advantage of the opportunities they have.

They got good pitching performances all weekend. Then again, the Mariners really do suck. I'm surprised they're not no-hit once a week.

Felix Doubront Doubront labored yesterday, but the bullpen was able give the Sox a chance. On Saturday, Beckett went 6 innings and allowed 2 runs in his return from "injury." On Friday, Aaron Cook only needed 81 pitches to go 9 innings. That's 9 pitches an inning for those of you who forgot your multiplication tables. Not a single pitch he threw was swung on and missed. That's ludicrous.

But the Red Sox didn't generate much offense themselves. 9 runs in 4 games. 9 runs in 39 innings. The Red Sox seemingly forgot how to get hits with runners in scoring position. An inconsistency which has plagued them all year. And last September.

On the bright side, the Sox are half a game out of the Wild Card. And the Orioles are falling from the sky.

But to be a true contender, they have to take advantage of their opportunities. They had a 4 game series against one of the worst teams in the American League and they split 2-2. It's not a disaster, but it's hardly worth celebrating.

They travel to Oakland tonight to face the 38-42 Athletics. Matsuzaka faces Jarrod Parker. The 23 year old Parker has pitched pretty well. He's 4-3 with a 2.57 ERA. In June, he was 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA. I have a bad feeling that the Sox bats won't wake up until Tuesday.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

King Felix Rules Over Red Sox

Felix Hernandez is a really good pitcher. I know we all know that, but without regularly seeing him, we sometimes forget how good he is. He's an Ace. And comparing him to the likes of Beckett and Lester fully demonstrates how much those two guys aren't Aces.

In 9 innings the Red Sox managed 5 singles. Hernandez didn't allow a walk, and he struck out 13.

The only chance the Sox had to win this game was to get Hernandez out of it. And that would have required more than 9 innings. Scott Atchsion allowed the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.

On the bright side, Franklin Morales continues to be sensational. He went 7 innings and only allowed 3 hits. All singles. He struck out 7 and walked 2. In his three starts he's only 1-0, but he's pitched 18 innings, allowed 4 earned runs (2.00 ERA), walked only 3 batters, and struck out 24 (12.00 K/9IP). He's striking out 8 for every batter he walks.

If every Red Sox starting pitcher were healthy right now, it would be difficult to justify removing Morales from the rotation.

There's no shame in being shut down by Felix Hernandez. The Sox can rebound tonight. Aaron Cook faces 2-9 Hector Noesi. Noesi has problems with walks and homeruns. So perhaps David Ortiz can get career homerun #400, or walk #998. That's right, he's 3 shy from 1,000 BBs in his career.

He's 1 for 2 in his career against Noesi. That hit was a homerun.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Beckett Gives Himself a Birthday Present

Since Josh Beckett was booed off the field last Thursday, the Sox rotation had made 4 very good starts in a row. If Beckett didn't make it 5 against a weak Seattle lineup, on his birthday, and in front of Tim Wakefield, then I think people would have spat on him as he left the field. In other words, there was no excuse to not pitch well today. He certainly hadn't been strained in his previous start. Hell, he'd only thrown 2.1 innings in May.

He did his job yesterday. He struck out 9 Mariners in 7 innings, making quick work of a lineup that has 0 players hitting over .300, and 2 hitting below .200. Only Ichiro gave Beckett a problem with a pair of singles and a pair of stolen bases. Beckett only threw 93 pitches in his 7 innings, and easily could have gone deeper into the game.

That was unnecessary. The bullpen was fresh thanks to Lester's CG on Monday. And the Sox had a 4-0 lead. With the way Beckett was pitching, and the way Seattle was missing, a 4-0 score looked like a 14-0 score. Ortiz hit his 8th homer of the season. Aviles had an RBI double. Middlebrooks had an RBI single. Aviles added another RBI double in the 8th to erase any doubt.

The Sox ended their homestand on a positive note, with 5 straight wins. They're still very streaky. They were streaky last year, too. Streaky is the mark of inconsistent starting pitching. Good SPs prevent losing streaks. Streaky teams might win 5 straight (the Sox have done that twice), but they'll also lose 5 straight (the Sox have done that twice, as well).

Even after winning 5 straight, the Sox are still 2 games under .500.

So they've made steps. They have more steps to go. Beckett and the Sox are very similar. Inconsistent and unpredictable. We've seen brilliance from Beckett before. That's never been his problem. His problem has always been consistency.

The Sox go down to Florida for a two game series against the Rays. This will be a good test for them. Tonight Buchholz faces 3-0 Jeremy Hellickson. Unlike Buchholz, Hellickson has actually earned his wins.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Lester Sinks Mariners

This was the type of start the Sox needed and Lester needed. Jon Lester scattered 8 hits, didn't walk anyone, only allowed 1 run, and went the distance.

He was efficient. He finished the game with 119 pitches, but 22 of those came in the 9th. He only needed 97 pitches to go 8 innings. He retired the first 11 Mariners he faced, and by the time Seattle started to make him work, the Sox were already up 5-0.

Daniel Nava was a big reason for that lead. He hit a 2 run homer in the 4th. Kelly Shoppach hit a solo shot later in the inning.

Nava has been hot since joining the team. He's 7 for 12 (.583), with 4 doubles, a homerun, and 6 walks. He's gotten on base in three fourths of his plate appearances. Pawtucket has given the Boston Red Sox some nice boosts this season.

I know that some have speculated that when Youkilis comes back, the Sox might keep Middlebrooks at third and put Youk in left. But which outfielder do you sit? Ross, Sweeney, even Byrd have all been solid. And now Nava.

The Sox are a better team than the Mariners, despite having similar records. They should beat Seattle. They did it once. It'd be great if they could do it again and end this homestand on a positive note.

But guess who's starting for the Sox today...

Josh Beckett. He'll face Blake Beavan, who is 1-3 with a 4.32 ERA and dealing with elbow problems that shortened his last start. So it's Beavan and Butthead (Beckett). Lame joke, I know.

It's a weird start time today. 4:00pm.

Photo Credit:
Jim Rogash/Getty Images