Winter Meetings

Yeah, we are going to pretend like I haven't neglected this thing for about six months.

The Sox made some strides today (and yesterday) on making a run for free agent Mark Teixeira. The bungling Angels haven't made a formal offer yet, and it's good to see Theo and company making a move. Who is the major competition as of today? The Washington Nationals who put an eight year, $160 million offer on the table. The Orioles and the Yankees are also expected to make a little noise for the 28 year old.

Of course, you couldn't watch ESPN this week without someone talking about Florida Gator saint/quarterback Tim Tebow or the Yankee's deal for C.C. Sabathia. Good for New York, they need to pick up a pitcher for their shitty rotation. The good news is that they just signed him to one of the dumbest contracts I've ever seen. Well, one this big anyway. In essence, if he's lights out for the next three years of his deal he can opt out and become a free agent. If he tanks, the Bombers are on the hook for seven years and $160 mil. However, if he is the former I don't see anyone outspending the Yankees. If I have to watch C.C. dominate the East, might as well watch the Yanks sell the farm.

The Angles claim to be serious about retaining Tex's services, however with no real plan to keep him I'm not convinced he'll be back in Anaheim. Besides, staying on with the Halo's means that he's destined to lose to the Sox in the ALDS every year from here to eternity. On the Boston front, American League MVP Dustin Pedroia, the little second baseman who could, was awarded with a shiny new six year $40.5 million contract to keep him in red and navy.

With the possibility of Texixeira landing at Logan, and players like Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell able to recover from nagging injuries in '08, the next year looks like it could yield some positive outcomes. Some days I'm still scratching my head as to how the Sox made it to Game 7 of the ALCS with all the issues they had with the injury bug. Hopefully we can overcome this year with our new "Hanging Sox" logo (horrible name) and retro alternate unis. Hurray marketing.

Can't wait to see the frat boy d-bags out in full effect with this lid...

See You Later

So much for today being a quiet off day for Boston. Coming off a sweep at home to the Angels and harsh words from Manny Ramirez saying that "Boston does not deserve a player like me," the Boston brass obliged and sent Manny packing in a three way deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Manny heads out to the West Coast to play in another league. Good luck Joe Torre. Never thought I'd say that. The Pirates will get two minor leaguers from the Sox in Brandon Moss and right handed pitcher Craig Hansen. LA will send Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris to the Pirates. The Sox will get Jason Bay from the Bucs.

Bay is a left fielder who will probably be able to actually play left field and bring some offense to the plate. The 2006 All-Star brings a career .281 average, 140 home runs and an .890 OPS to the Sox. It's not Manny, but I think it might do for the rest of the season. I guess the best question will be is if Manny did have a stranglehold on the the clubhouse and will this trade relieve some pressure and allow the Sox to get back to business. I guess time will tell.

All in all Manny had a great run in Boston. I loved him as a hitter, but that was about it. Having to answer for him as a fan was sort of a pain in the ass. "Manny being Manny" could only take you so far. He'll be missed from what he can produce from the dish, but I doubt he'll be missed for his antics. There are some noted Boston fans that have Sox blogs that will claim Manny was pushed out, but I don't believe the hype surrounding him being defaced to the fans so they (Epstein and company) wouldn't look like bad guys jettisoning a player who helped carry them to two World Series victories. Manny was never really the face of the franchise, as David Ortiz took over that role from Nomar when he was pushed out in 2004.

I remember posting some cut outs of Manny back in 2001 after the deal was made to bring him to Boston at my desk at work. I was incredibly pumped for him to come to Boston and make an impact against the competition and the Yankees mainly. It took a few years, but he was a big part of that run over the past few years. Little did I know the rest of the baggage he'd bring along with him. That I won't miss.

Oh, by the way some other American League teams are on the move before the trade deadline. The Angels traded for Mark Teixeria, the Yankees traded Kyle Farnsworth for Ivan Rodriguez (WTF???) and the White Sox traded for Ken Griffey Jr. While we were worried about getting rid of a headache, the rest of the top teams in the AL were looking for players to put them in position to win a World Series. Does this spell doom for the Sox to not make a serious playoff run? The next month will certainly be interesting.

Sox Win, Manny Goes Too Far

Wow, so this blog thing is getting away from me again. Well, between the new job (yes, it takes up that much time), dog (she takes twice as much time) and my small town deciding to not send me a sewer bill and turn my water off (don't ask) I will from time to time run out of time to post on here. But just like that bad case of the herpes, I just won't go away. Wow, too much info, right? Right. Let's move on.

Monday night, Lester rocked the Seattle lineup to sleep coming off some extended time off. Last night Dice-K kept his stride he's had over the past four starts and not earning cheap wins as he had been getting into the habit of doing previous to this month. He walked a few last night, but was still able to strike out more and kept his pitch count down to make it through the eighth.

Yes, Manny was arrested last night. For what you ask? Jaywalking. Yes, jaywalking in Seattle gets your harassed by a traffic cop, which in the state of Washington is the equivalent of stealing an old ladies purse apparently. Look, I'm not a huge fan of Manny other than what he brings to the plate, but this is a little ridiculous. Although the cell phone thing turning a pitching change was pretty funny, even the biggest Manny haters will have to admit that.

Tonight the Sox will but Clay Buchholz on the mound to try for the sweep out in the great Northwest. However, I'm sure most fans are looking forward to Friday night's showdown between Josh Beckett and the Sox against Nebraska alumnus Joba Chamberlain the New York Yankees.

Also a stat of note that was achieved last night. Surprisingly, Jonathan Papelbon became the first Sox player to get to 30 saves in three consecutive seasons.

Hey, Nice Comeback

With my finger on the On/Off button heading into the bottom of the 8th inning last night, I was all prepared to do something other than watch the Twins beat the Sox 5-2. Then I decided that getting off the couch wouldn't be a good idea because, well, I'm sort of lazy most of the time. Good thing I didn't.

It's nice to watch some other team's bullpen screw games up rather than the healthy dose of relief issues I've been witness to this year. Even with a three run lead, I was surprised to see Twins manager Ron Gardenhire bring in Matt Guerrier rather than All-Star Joe Nathan to preserve the lead after Jacoby Ellsbury's lead off double. Even in the next two at bats when Dustin Pedroia singled and pushed Ellsbury to third and JD Drew grounding out to score Jacoby, I was still waiting for the signal from the visitor's dugout to bring in Nathan. Even with the guy who won the game just the night before coming to the plate, Gardenhire stuck with Guerrier.

After Manny's homer I was certain that a pitching change was to be made. You have take your guy out when he's drowning like that, especially in the middle of a raucous Fenway crowd. Right? Nope, Gardy stuck to his guns with the score now tied, even less likely to bring Nathan in now I guessed. I couldn't help but laugh as the Sox took the lead off another double by Youkilis and the eventual go-ahead RBI hit by Brandon Moss.

The Sox and closer Jonathan Papelbon did try and make it interesting with Nick Punto of all people smacking a lead off double and eventually moving to third with only one out. Jason Kubel ended up striking out and Alexi Casilla grounded to Pedroia for the final out of the game. I don't believe the Sox won this game in as much as the Twins coaching staff mis-managed it away. I have to think that Nathan after not being used since Sunday would be capable of pitching for two innings to put the game away. Easier said than done, considering that Gardenhire has been making some poor game time decisions regarding the usage of his pen. Not that I care, a win is a win at this point with the Rays still up by a few games in the division. I'm sure Francona and company will take it any way they can get it.

Random Thoughts

- For those of you that watch SportsCenter, does anyone else think that the "TitleTown USA" contest they are running on their website is much better than last year's "Who's Now?" poll? This is what I hate about ESPN. They take the nickname from a community that is very proud of their team and it's rich history(Green Bay), and trivialize it by having places like Lawrence, Kansas as a finalist for TitleTown. Kansas? Really? Their football team has one good season by playing one of the weakest schedules in all of college football and go to their first major bowl since my Mom was in the 5th grade and now they're at this point?? I understand their basketball program is one of the cornerstones of men's basketball and just coming off their first title in 20 years puts them on the map, but labeling them "TitleTown?" Give me a break. The same goes for Knoxville, Tennessee. And Parkersburg, West Virginia.

- Memo to Brett Favre, please stay on your swamp farm down in Mississippi and shoot some more Wrangler commercials. If I were a Packer fan I would be pissed that one player (albeit a legend) had my entire organization over a barrel. While I was getting ready for work today ESPN analyst John Clayton was talking about how the guys who run the organization don't want to be responsible for running Favre out of town if he wants to come back. Hello! He left town on his own, right?!? I know the Packers are a unique organization, but what a bunch of pussies. General Manager Ted Thompson and company need to grow a sack and tell Favre that the Aaron Rogers era started the day he cried his way out of his retirement press conference. I'm not the guy to tell professional athletes when to retire, but if you say you're gone, then be gone.

All-Star Roll Call

In my exasperation after last night's 1-0 win over the Minnesota Twins, I failed to mention all of the players that were voted on to this year's All-Star team. As we know, the outcome of the game itself determines which league will have home field advantage for the World Series. The Sox haven't had much need for it during their championship campaigns sweeping the Cardinals in '04 and the Rockies in '07, although it could be argued that opening the series in Fenway for two games did set the tone for the next two on the road both years.

Along with the Chicago Cubs in the National League, the Sox will send seven players to the Bronx for the final All-Star game in Yankee Stadium, more than any other team besides said Cubs. I'm usually game for all the festivities surrounding the break, however this year will be ESPN's goodbye love letter to all things Yankees. I may need to keep a bucket next to my couch for when it gets a little deep.

The Sox will send two outfielders in JD Drew and Manny Ramirez, only one pitcher in the way of Jonathan Papelbon, one surprising (but not really) DH selection with the injured David Ortiz and position players Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia and Jason Varitek. I'm not sure how deserving Manny is for this year, however leave it to the fans to vote the guy in. I guess he gets points and entrance to left field (which is sort of a joke) for being a character.

Ortiz obviously won't play in an exhibition game while only taking his first BP since going on the DL June 3rd, but I'm sure his presence will be felt as it is everywhere while playing or not. I wouldn't expect to see Papelbon closing the game in a save situation as the nod would more than likely go to either the Twins' Joe Nathan, the "Mexecutioner" Joakim Soria of the Royals, or most likely Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels who just broke John Smoltz's save total record for the first half of the season with 35.

Sidetrack: A Simple Request

I encourage everyone to vote for Royals outfielder Jose Guillen for the final vote in player. Not because of his baseball acumen and playing ability, but because he's a giant asshole and does a good job of giving my hometown team's fans fits. It's a constant talk radio topic with Guillen either fighting with pitching coach Bob McClure, or telling the fans to fuck off and calling it motivation. The team sucks, and it's sucked especially hard for the past, well, couple of decades. The fans are complacent save for a few diehards and the community needs some sort of kick in the pants, even if it's from this jackass. I'm not defending Guillen by any means, the guy is clearly a jerk of epic proportions and has played for something like nine teams while only being 31 years of age. But the guy needs to be an All-Star in a Royals uniform, just for that reason alone.

In order to counter balance the picture at the top of this post, I give you my favorite stunt perpetrated by Sox fans at Fenway last year when A-Rod was going through a previous martial indiscretion while being photographed with the award winning exotic dancer in the category of "Best Man to Appear as a Woman Stripper." Enjoy.

The Hard Way

The Boston Red Sox, losers of their last seven of nine, entered into tonight's contest against the Minnesota Twins who are arguably one of the hottest and most surprising teams in baseball up to this point. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with the Sox seemingly going impotent against the Yankees this past weekend in the Bronx.

Luckily for the Sox, Dice-K had one of his better performances of the year. He was able to keep his pitch count down and battled his way to his 10th win on the season. One thing that was pleasing to my eyes tonight was the fact that no matter how hard Hideki Okajima tried to give the game away (as the bullpen has been doing this year) in the eighth, the Sox along with Okajima managed to see their way to the bottom of the inning with the games still knotted at 0.

Seeing that the pen has been a major disaster this season so far, Theo has decided to sent Justin Masterson down to the PawSox in exchange for Clay Buchholz entering back into the rotation this weekend. Sending Masterson down for the week to next 10 days isn't without a purpose. Epstein is planning on the young hurler having bullpen work take up 100% of his time while in Rhode Island with the idea he comes back to Fenway to help the floundering pen in the bigs. I think it's a smart move as the Sox really are sort of stagnant when it comes to arms for their middle relief. We'll see if it pays off likely after the break.

Speaking of bolstering middle relief, it's hard to say where or which direction the Sox will take, if any, before the trade deadline at the end of the month. I didn't think the Sox had a realistic shot at landing Sabathia, and I'm almost glad they didn't for the same reason I was happy they didn't sign Johan Santana. I'm still of the mind a trade for Dan Haren would have been a boon for the rotation now that Schilling seems to have been sent out to pasture, at least in Boston.

The next two nights the Sox will have their two best starters on the hill with Jon Lester getting the go tomorrow against Nick Blackburn and Josh Beckett closing the series against Livan Hernandez. The better game will probably be tomorrow night, but who doesn't want to see the battle of the dueling fatties on Wednesday? I know I do.

The New Style?

As if you didn’t know already, the Tampa Bay Rays are for real. I know some people who still think they are playing above their heads and are waiting for the reality that they are the Rays to settle in as they fade down the stretch. As much as I would like that, I don’t see it happening any time soon. I’m expecting that they battle all the way down to the wire or run away with the division if Boston can’t get healthy or New York can’t find their way.

Last night was the first game after the infamously embarrassing brawl started by Coco Crisp and Rays pitcher James Shields. For me, it was just flat out frustrating to watch given the fact that even though it was close for most of the night, the Sox just never seemed like they were in it. Plus the annoyance of the wondering if some Busch League antics were going to transpire.

So now with the Rays one and a half games in first, each time the put more distance between them and the second place Sox (gulp) it’s going to get more attention considering the Rays come All-Star Break are generally around 25.5 games back. If Boston continues to lose when the play at Tropicana Field I may give up watching Sports Center in the morning, as it will probably lead off each and every day with nothing going on in terms of anything interesting going on in sports.

The Sox are now officially on a slide being the owners of a three game losing streak. Hopefully they can get off the deck tonight against Matt Garza. They won’t get any freebees from him, so they’ll have to earn the W and try to avoid a forth straight loss and the prospect of being behind the Rays by two and a half games. Let’s see if Tim Wakefield can go back to his traditional modus operandi of owning the Rays in Tampa.

Is This Thing On??

Ah, long time no see, right? Well, a move into a new house and a career change will do that to you. Now that time is a bit more on my side I think I’ll be able to start getting back at it again. Yes, I’ve been keeping up with watching games and keeping tabs on how the season is going in my absence. I’m not convinced that the first place lead in the American League East is Boston’s to lose in any way shape or form.

To this point the Rays are still hanging around, the Yankees have just turned it around which means that no one has really wanted it enough to challenge the Sox for the lead. The Rays have flirted with it, however that’s as far as it’s gone and they haven’t been able to get over the hump the past couple weeks. It sort of reminds me of earlier this decade where the Sox would always win when the Yankees won and lost each time the Yanks lost to where they could never make up any ground. The 7,237 fans that show up each night to Tropicana Field when the Rays are in town must be frustrated.

All kidding aside, the baseball players formerly known as the Devil Rays look to be legit and not just a charming early season nuisance. They have a real rotation and stout line up that can put runs on the board. Last week they took the team with the best record and baseball and chewed them up and spit them back to the Windy City, which despite my greatest efforts to ignore, loved watching. I hate the Cubs, but mostly I hate their fans.

Next time I post, I’ll get into all the crappy things I want to bitch and moan about (Ortiz being out, Youk turning into a clubhouse moron). Excited? I know I am. While scoring games in my underwear whilst eating hot wings the past several weeks I’ve scratched some notes on things I’d like to have written about, but have not had the time to do so. So, here’s to getting back on board with my blog a few weeks shy of the All-Star Break. Timing was never my thing…

No-No on the Back Bay

No more than eight months after Clay Buchholz threw the 17th no hitter in Boston Red Sox history, Jon Lester tossed the 18th tonight against the Kansas City Royals. He's also the first lefty in half a century to accomplish the feat for the Sox as well. Also a statistic of note, this is only the second time in Royals history they've had a no hitter thrown at them. You have to go back to within the first five years of the franchise in 1973 when Nolan Ryan pitched one for the California Angels.

Lester ended up walking only two batters in the entire game, which included a ninth inning walk Esteban Herman who managed to find his way to third base via a pair of ground outs to third thanks to Tony Pena Jr. and to first by David DeJesus. Lester ended the game with his ninth strike out of the night against Alberto Callapso.

Hopefully tonight will serve as a confidence booster for the young lefty, as his start to the season has been a little inconsistent at times. Now with Buchholz on the DL, the Sox are going to have to rely on Lester a bit more while Dice-K and Josh Beckett shoulder the main responsibility in the rotation. Something Beckett has struggled with as well through the first 50 games.

Not to be outdone tonight and over the weekend's sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, the offense is lighting things up after returning home to Fenway. The Sox have scored 30 runs in the past four days and lead the AL with 253 runs. They also happen to be the only team in the AL currently flirting with .600 as well. It hasn't been taken care of by your usual cast of characters, even though Ortiz is starting to get his act together a bit while Lowell is finding his groove after returning from the DL.

Go down any list of stats for the Sox at the moment and you'll find that the only two everyday players batting above .300 are Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia and Manny Ramirez. Do I think more than three should be? Maybe, maybe not. I'm not quite so naive as to think you'll have a lineup with four of five hitters above .300, but last year did spoil us all a bit. Youk and Manny are pulling down amazing numbers besides what they are batting for average as well with an OPS of 1.003 and .920 respectively. Manny is still sitting at 498 and may not get to 500 at home while playing against a Royals staff that, for the most part, has been pretty solid the first month and a half.

The Sox will get to enjoy three more games against the Royals at home before getting out on the road for a normally sticky West Coast trip. Boston will set up shop in Oakland for the weekend before traveling up the coast to play the last place Seattle Mariners. After the trip the Sox will travel cross country the weekend after to play a four game series with Baltimore.

Sox Lose. Again.

And Manny forgets he's Manny and makes this play in left today. At first when he uh, had to jump off the wall I thought he gave the ball away to a fan in the stands not knowing how many outs there were.

I'm too depressed to write anything about how awful the Sox are pitching lately. Hopefully at Fenway this weekend they can beat up on the Brewers a little bit. Please, God?

Domed

The Sox traveled to Minnesota and got slapped around back to the east coast in convincing fashion by a surprisingly stout Twins line-up over the four game series, dropping three games to the Twinkies. The Twins spotted the Sox three runs in the top of the first inning tonight, but it only took Clay Buchholz three innings to give the lead back when the Twins went ahead on a Delmon Young sacrifice into a fielders choice. The Twins didn't look back and ended up with a 7-3 win.

After trying to battle back last night and coming up one run short, it looked like the Sox packed it in early in the game after Minnesota took the lead. It's not surprising, at this point in the season and in the series with the Twins you'd be kidding yourself if the team wasn't thinking about boarding a plane and getting the fuck out of Minneapolis. Probably in the next couple hours, the Sox will be on their way to Baltimore to play a quick two game series against the O's before heading home to Fenway on Friday for a weekend interleague matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers.

The next three starts will have Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Dice-K on the mound so hopefully run control won't be as big of an issue as it was in the Metrodome. In the midst of the losing effort over the weekend the Tampa Bay Rays have strung together a five game winning streak and have closed in the Sox lead in the East to half a game. Unfortunately, the Rays don't appear to be waking up anytime soon (to realize they're Tampa) and could possibly be hanging around until the end of the month or beyond, which may give the young team enough confidence to be a thorn in the side of most teams into June and beyond.

We're nearing the fifty game mark, and the Sox are playing streaky at best. Not quite the same consistency as last season, but hell, the first two months of last year were fairly unprecedented for Boston. The Sox are making a habit of winning five or six games in a row or even eight or nine out of 10, and then dropping four in a row or three of four like this past weekend. They've been hit with some injuries early on and some key slumps from some key players. Hopefully as the season lays itself out they'll be able to adjust and find a groove so they can make it back to the postseason (expected) and possibly another division crown.

Manny's March to 500 - Just a quick note, Manny hit his 498th career home run tonight in the first inning to bring him within two homers of the 500 mark, for all you math whiz's out there.

Showdown In Minny

After Jonathan Papelbon was unable to close on what looked like a great come from behind victory, the Sox dropped their opener with the Twins last night. The blown save was the second in a row for the normally sharp and seemingly inhuman Papelbon.

Tonight, the Sox sang a different tune while Dice-K earned his sixth win of the year. Over the course of seven innings, the second year Japanese pitcher struck out seven while only giving up two earned which is all the Twins were able to muster in the Metrodome this evening. With this past outing in the books Dice-K has racked up 47 K's on the season which puts him near the top in the American League.

Jed Lowrie hit his first major league career home run immediately after Coco Crisp hit his first home run since last season which put the Sox into a 2-2 tie, Lowrie's dinger proved to be the go ahead run for the Sox. Mike Lowell followed suit in the eighth to stretch the lead to 4-2 and Dustin Pedroia knocked in Lowrie to make the contest 5-2 in the top of the ninth.

It's nice to see that the offense is still coming from seemingly every part of the Sox lineup. Now with Lowell back in the lineup after coming back from the 15-day DL last week, things should be a little more consistent. Not that the Sox haven't been trying since the World Series MVP has been out. Boston is currently tops in the AL for runs scored with 198. Only the Arizona Diamondbacks have more in the majors with 204.

Tonight the Twins once again strung together a lot of good hits and put plenty of runners in position to make the game interesting. Tomorrow night will feature Tim Wakefield on the mound for the Sox who has gone 3-2 over the past three season against the Twinks. For tonight, credit the Sox 1-2 bullpen punch of Hideki Okajima and the (at least the past week) slumping Papelbon with closing out the game to seal a win up in the Twin Cities. So far on the season, Boston is 8-3 against the AL Central which only 3.5 games separate the first place Twins from the cellar dwelling Tigers. Hopefully the early season success against the Central can translate into a win tomorrow and even Monday night.

Texas Four Step

The Sox managed to go 10-2 during a stretch where I might have been happy with 8-4 or 7-5 since I posted last. Mike Lowell is still on the DL, David Ortiz is still batting like shit (but batted .281 in the last 7 games) and Josh Beckett will miss yet another start tonight.

After sweeping AL West cellar dweller Texas Rangers, the Sox will meet the antithesis of the Rangers, the Los Angeles Angels. The young David Pauley will get the start tonight in the stead of the ailing Beckett against the struggling Jered Weaver. Pauley has been called up from Triple-A Pawtucket and filled in not so nicely last year on a couple occasions when Shilling when down. He gave up 14 runs on 31 hits in only 16 innings, however he has started off nicely for the PawSox with a 1.17 ERA.

What did I miss? Well, I didn't miss much but I didn't post on here while the Sox quietly ripped off nine wins out of their last ten. They went 4-and-2 against the Yankees, swept the struggling Indians on a couple of comeback victories and swept the Rangers. Not bad for a team who's ace was not doing so hot and who's slugger was (is) slumping.

Tough Week Ahead

After getting swept out of the Rogers Centere like an expansion team last weekend, the Sox managed to take two of three from the struggling Tigers. The bad news is that World Series MVP Mike Lowell was placed on the 15-day disabled list in the face of one of the toughest weeks in the first half of the season. Coming up tonight is the Yankees, then in a strange twist of scheduling they Sox travel to Cleveland Monday for two games and then back east to the Bronx for two more games with their rivals Wednesday and Thursday.

If the Sox make it to a week from now below .500 I don't think I'll be surprised. The schedule this first month isn't quite as favorable as it was last year at this time. Ortiz continues to struggle (.083 average at the plate and a .434 OPS) as does Manny. Ramirez did drive in a couple runs yesterday, but in a 12 run game, you should be.

Kevin Youkilis and JD Drew continue to keep the team chugging along with a fairly stout performance yesterday and over the course of the first ten games. Drew has caught fire especially in the past series with Detroit after sitting out most of the first series with Oakland.

So here we go with the Yankees and Sox. I won't be able to watch any games until Sunday. This no cable/no MLB Extra Innings is fucking torture.

.500

Well, it ain't going to be the same start we had last year. I'm not sure which factors are leading me to this probably premature conclusion, all I know is that this team seems like they could be in for a bit of a bumpy beginning to the season. Today, however, was a day to celebrate, pass out World Series rings and welcome back the one and only Bill Buckner. That's how happy Red Sox Nation is these days. Hands Across America indeed.

Dusting off a former pariah and shipping him to Boston from exile in Idaho is a big step in a direction most long time Sox die hards didn't think would ever happen. The villain from '86 was back throwing out the first pitch after the current roster had, ironically enough, celebrated their second Series victory in four years.

I missed the entire Toronto series due to the fact I was stuck in house without cable painting all damn weekend. Good thing it was my house, or I probably wouldn't have been there in the first place. I did get to listen to classic rock and Royals games while they boys in blue were in Minneapolis, and while not the best substitute, I did my best to make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

Boston pulled themselves out of the American League East cellar today with a 5-0 win over the seemingly hapless Tigers into a third place tie with New York. The Yanks dropped a game against the buzzsaw (I laughed when I typed that) that is the Royals, who are currently in a first place tie in the Central (with Chicago no less!) while Detroit sits five games back in dead last. I still think I'm going to wake up and it's going to be last Monday. Speaking of waking up, someone please tell the Kansas City roster that they need to look down and read their jersey's and that they say "Royals" across the front.

As much as I would like to see my hometown team do well, I'm digressing from the team I actually follow like a religious monk. Briefly, Dice-K had another solid outing subbing for Josh Beckett as the team's ace. He did his typical Dice-K thing giving up five hits over 6 and 2/3rds while striking out seven. Ortiz and Manny continue to struggle for the most part, making me wonder how the rock solid core of this team will be able to hold on. Hopefully they can find a respectable groove in the next few weeks, or days before the Yanks come to town this weekend. While I move. Goddamnit.

One last thing. I hate the fact that the Sox have some of the dumbest celebrities around.

Steven Tyler - Grade A Douchebag; frontman to a band that hasn't been cool since 1978

Dice-KKKKKKKKK

Now that the fiasco that was purchasing my new home is complete, I can resume my normal duties with posting in this blog with some more consistency. Last night I took the liberty of staying up to watch Boston take a 2-1 lead in their series with the Oakland Athletics. That victory was mostly on the back of solid pitching from Daisuke Matsuzaka. Dice-K went six and two thirds of an inning giving up only one run and striking out nine. The rest of the pitching might was flexed by the primary set up man and closer in Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon, who actually came in at the end of the eighth inning.

David Ortiz continued his hitless streak of going 0-for-11 this season. Hopefully his search for his first hit can end tonight. After coming back from an injury you would hope this wouldn’t be the start of some confidence issues for Big Papi. Although I’m sure most people are must making a mountain out of a mole hill with this one. As far as the actual run production went, Jacoby Ellsbury drove in Kevin Youkilis in the fifth and Jason Varitek doubled in the go ahead run (Youkilis again) in the sixth to give the Sox the lead for good.

Notes
-Speaking of Youk, he extended his errorless streak into a tie with Steve Garvey for the Major League record. Youkilis has played in 193 games without a charged error. He also won his first Gold Glove in 2007.

-Last postseason’s most clutch pitcher Josh Becket is expected to start Sunday in Toronto against the Blue Jays. In his final rehab start in Fort Myers he went five innings, allowing one run on only two hits and no walks.

-The line up has already seen a few changes with JD Drew already showing signs of being an injury issue. Drew should be back in the lineup by the end of the week after recovering from a lower back strain.

-World Series Game Four difference maker Bobby Kielty has decided to stay with the Sox and will more than likely end up in AAA Pawtucket. After he found out that he wouldn’t make the major league roster, he was informed by his handlers that there were no other opportunities for him to play at that level. Big shock.

Tokyo Split

Now that the "season opener" series between Boston and Oakland is officially split, it's time for the teams to return to their homeland and try to return to the normal rigors of a baseball season. Thankfully, they will have the weekend to recoup from their jet lag and resume the second half of their series come April 1st when the baseball world will be spinning for real.

The Sox were pretty much pounded from the word go this morning. When your team doesn't put up much of a fight at 5:30AM it sort of sucks to be up that early, as I mentioned yesterday. Yesterday's buffoon for the A's turned out to be today's hero. Former Royal fuck up (not royal fuck up, but certainly not far off) Emil Brown blasted a three run homer off Boston starter Jon Lester in the bottom of the third to extend their lead from 1-to-0 to 4-to-0. DH Mike Sweeny went 2-for-4 and scored a run in "former Kansas City Royal Day" at the Tokyo Dome.

David Ortiz is 0-for-6 so far, and while this is probably not cause for panic, it is a little concerning he was unable to get his bat on the ball at least once the past two days. Manny gave the Sox their only run of the game in the 6th inning on a solo shot with two outs. Mike Lowell had another solid day at the plate as well, going 2-for-4 with a couple of singles in the 4th and 9th inning. Unfortunately, the lack of offensive effort beyond this was not enough to hang with the A's. Doesn't look like it matters what continent it's on, the Sox usually suck against the AL West on the road. At least we're getting it out of the way right away this season.

With all the downtime between now and next Tuesday Dice-K and Joe Blanton will return to the hill to face each other for the second time in a week. No word on who will be facing Rich Harden the day after. Josh Beckett perhaps? I'm not sure why, but I've got a worse feeling about the start of this season that I did last year. Even though the team is basically in tact from their World Series run in '07, something just seemed a little off these past two days. For now, my rational side will chalk it up to being on a trip most of them did not want to take.

Just really quick here, back in Fort Myers Bartolo Colon missed his assignment yesterday because of a toothache. I'm not kidding. Can we please just cut him already?

One Down, 161 To Go

With the first game of the 2008 season officially in the books, all I can say is that I can’t wait until the games are on at night here in the States. Being up at 5AM is officially too early in the morning if I haven’t already been up all night. However, I’m still alive, at work and happy that the Sox grabbed their first win of the year. It wasn’t easy.

Dice-K was roughed up immediately by the A’s in his return to Japan. He looked like he usually does, five or six innings of solid pitching with one inning that looks like he belongs in Double A. Mark Ellis got things started for the Athletics in bottom of the first with a shot to left center. Things quickly descended from there and I wondered why in the hell I got up after only about five hours of sleep. Matsuzaka proceeded to walk hitters, hit batters and throw wild pitches. At the end of the disaster that was the first inning, the Sox were lucky to get out alive only down 0-2.

The bats didn’t have any problems getting on base this morning, but they did have issues driving them in once they were on. The Sox were able to manage five hits before they did some damage to the scoreboard in the top of the sixth. After grounding into a fielder’s choice and grounding to first, Brandon Moss showed up and became a major contributor to the game doubling to right and scoring Manny Ramirez in the sixth and then homering in the top of the ninth to bring the Sox back to a tie with the A’s after entering the inning down 3-to-4 and pushing the game to extra innings.. Moss was a last minute addition after JD Drew was scratched for back problems. Hopefully a little Sake and massage with happy ending can get him back on the right track. I keep waiting for Drew’s injury bug to show up.

Ortiz went hitless and was intentionally walked in the 10^th but still looked better and more comfortable at the dish than he did most of the year at the plate last season. However, I did like how he evolved and adjusted last season after being unable to hit for power because of his knees and hit for average almost better than he ever had in his career. Manny came up big to get things started in the sixth with a two run double and did the same in the 10^th to seal the deal for the Sox. As long as one of the “Big Two” is coming up clutch, I don’t care which one, I’ll be a happy camper this early in the morning.

The one glaring concern was the amount of pitching the Sox had to throw at the A’s to walk away with a 6-4 win. Five pitchers in all were used over the course of the game after Dice-K left the game after the fifth. Kyle Snyder, Javier Lopez, Bryan Corey, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon all saw action in the last half of the contest. None of them looked especially sharp except for the two middle relievers (Lopez and Corey) and Okajima. Papelbon looked nearly horrid and practically gave the game away in the bottom of the tenth. And thanks for some shitty baserunning by former Kansas City Royal Emil Brown, who is a gigantic dunce cap, the Sox got the second out where Brown should have hit an RBI double with only one out. With two out and nobody on, Papelbon put two more runners on base before getting Kurt Suzuki to ground out to first.

Overall both teams about what was expected of them. The A’s took shots here and there to build a small lead at different points in the game, and the Sox battled their way back into it with some power hitting blended with some clutch pitching when it was needed. Yes, even after I spend the last paragraph blasting (sort of) the staff. Hopefully tomorrow produces another victory in less stressful fashion for me when I’m up at 5AM. Again.

Game of the Rising Sun

Tomorrow starts the 2008 season for the Boston Red Sox against the Oakland A's in Tokyo, Japan. The game is on at 5:05AM on ESPN2 and yes, I will be watching before I head into work. Dice-K will get the nod tomorrow morning squaring off against Joe Blanton. Hopefully he feels nice and comfortable on his home turf to secure a win for the Sox. Jon Lester will get the start on Wednesday morning wrapping up the first two games of the series against the A's before heading back to the West Coast of the U.S of A. to play the final two games of the series in Oakland. After that, it's straight into the meat grinder on the road in Toronto and then the head back to Boston to open the home schedule against highly touted Detroit and the rival New York Yankees. Yikes.

Boston To Boycott?

And the MLB still sucks. (But the picture I'm including in this post is pretty cool. I hope she's at least 18.) At least their brass that decided it would be a good idea to reneg on the $40,000 pay day bonus that was originally promised to coaches and staff members of the team does. The players have all voted unanimously that they will not get on the plane to Japan to play their opener against the Oakland A's if the MLB doesn't hold up their end of the bargain on these payouts to the staff.

This may initially appear to be a bunch of greedy, overpaid baseball players intentionally sitting out because something isn't going their way, but if you have half a brain you'd realize they are sticking their necks out for a group of people that aren't protected by one of the most powerful sports unions in history. The MLB pretty much promised them everything under the rising sun to get them to go over their to open the season. Why would you want to anyway? I'm pretty sure I'd be more worried about starting my season off the right way rather than spreading the goodwill of baseball all over the world at the expense of my well-being. Maybe I'm just a self-centered asshole.

The fact will be that no matter what baseball decides as an organization, the Sox will be on a plane to start their season on March 25th. Maybe if the players are really sore about it they could pay the stipend that the MLB is backing out of themselves. I'm sure they could afford it. I highly doubt this happens though. The problem with me is that this is no way to start off a season while looking to repeat last year's success. Curt Schilling is out for at least half of the year, Beckett is having issues getting out of training, Ortiz is coming back from knee surgery, Crisp vs. Ellsbury in center (although I don't really see this as a problem), Bartolo Colon and generally mediocre play so far. Questions in the starting rotation don't help a whole lot either.

The big problem here with this situation is that Bud Selig is a giant dickhead with ears. Always has been, probably always will be. The guy owned and ran the Brewers for Christ sake. What did you expect? Anyway, $40k for the hard workers in the Sox organization in the grand scheme of things for this little venture are peanuts compared to what they (Major League Baseball) are probably making off of it. This could split the team a bit, since it was not a unanimous decision to go to play in Japan in the first place, or it could bring the team together even more in the face of King Bud. The only thing that can happen now is to get the season underway and see where the chips will fall on the season. If everything comes together the Sox have the potential to at least win the division. If the situation splinters and these problems are compounded by more problems, I wouldn't bet against a collapse like in 2006.

Springtime Catch-Up

Wow, I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted on here but work has been a bitch lately and time is a commodity I don’t enjoy too much at the moment. I’m not even going to try to get caught up on everything that has happened so far (avoiding the scout in the hotel with his dick out for some underager that probably had Chris Hanson secretly watching in the bushes).

The biggest news out of spring camp is the fact that of Josh Beckett’s health. No, not his gut popping out in that picture either. For now the Sox are using extreme caution with another of their aces out for at least half the season in Curt Schilling. Beckett will not be making the flight to Japan to take on the Oakland A’s and the starting nod was given to Daisuke Matsuzaka today. It’s actually nice to see Dice-K get the opener in his native land in some sense. I’m sure he’ll get one heck of a polite reception.

The Beckett situation isn’t probably as bad as most would think, he’s already throwing without pain and could be getting back into a game by this weekend. Pitching Coach John Farrell said the projected dates for him are to get into the bullpen on Thursday and hopefully some game time by Saturday or Sunday.

Hey this just in! Bartolo Colon sucks! Surprised? I know I’m not. I know the Sox were fairly desperate and the move to acquire him may have been a knee-jerk reaction to losing Schil’ for most of ’08, but good God, is this the best they could come up with? Today’s goal for Colon was to make it through the third inning against the Yankees. Well, he didn’t even make it out of the first folks. I know it’s only spring training, but if this were to happen any time during the regular season it could be one of those mini-disasters that Sox fans would have a hard time getting over. The good news is that Bart isn’t letting the loss get him down, not one iota.

Colon said that all he wants is to stay healthy, God willing. After the game he said he felt “great.” Well, if getting a healthy ass kicking to the tune of 41 pitches (41!!) in 2/3rds of an inning gave up three hits and four earned while walking three and striking out two. Francona has said since camp started that Colon has a great attitude and arm strength, but it’s probably the only two good things he could come up with. Control is going to be a major factor in his possible return to the bigs, hopefully things don’t get so desperate that we have to take a flyer on him at any point in the season. If he’s ready and good to go, then fine, give him a shot. I don’t think I’ll be excited about it at any point though. When the Sox are in Japan, Colon will be pitching a minor league game. He’ll also be available for the exhibition series against Dodgers at the end of the month. Something to note here also, if he’s not on the 25 man roster by May 1^st he has a clause in his contract to where he can bow out.

Happy Fuckin' Friday

Maybe you've seen this video, maybe you haven't. Who the fuck knows. I figured it's a good way to kick off the fuckin' weekend. I fucking like Josh Beckett. He says fuck in press conferences.

In the Air

Ah, spring is finally in the air. Well, at least in Florida and Arizona where most players have checked in and reported to their respective clubs for Spring Training. Meanwhile, in Kansas City, it snowed and sleeted today and never got above 10 degrees with the wind chill.

There will be a battle a brewin’ in centerfield in the month of March. Coco Crisp plainly stated yesterday that if he does not start for the Sox in center he will want out of Boston. My stance is with Ellsbury waiting in the wings and poised to take the starting position and with SS Julio Lugo locked up for the next four years, I’d be inclined to make a trade if I were the Sox front office. But I'm not, and my opinion differs a bit.

This is not big news of course, trade talks for the speedy outfielder have been on the surface since the week after the World Series. I like the fact that he wants to start everyday. If he came into camp and said he would be happy sharing time with Jacoby, I’d question his motivation to be on the squad. I’m of the mind (and so is Terry Francona) that Crisp should start out of the gate unless Ellsbury can show that his playoff fireworks is something he can do consistently rather than it just being a hot streak. On the other hand, keeping him down may cost the Sox in the long run.

GM Theo Epstein is keeping a very diplomatic stance saying that Crisp was a major cog that propelled the Sox to their second World Series Championship in four years. Some of the plays that Crisp was able to make in the outfield were pretty spectacular and keep the Sox run prevention at the top of the league, so you have to give him his due in that department.

Guess who showed up to camp on time? That’s right, none other than Mr. “No Respect for the Game” himself, Manny Ramirez. Manny discussed a lot of questions very candidly. Most importantly, he addressed his future in Boston. The Sox have two options for retaining Manny for the next two years after the ’08 season is complete. That means that this could be his last season in a Sox uniform. I wouldn’t count on that being a possibility. The Sox will more than likely keep him through 2010 and cut him loose.

He can do one of two things. He can either retire which is what he has said he would prefer to do, ending his career in Boston, or he could finish out his years on another team. I’ve always been somewhat indifferent to Manny. I love his bat and yes, I even like his loose attitude. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it makes you scratch your head. He plays left field like the average 10 year old, but during the last seven seasons at Fenway he actually looks like he knows what he’s doing out there while he’s playing at home. You take the good with the bad. They don't say "Manny being Manny" for nothing.

The Sox future is also currently on display down in Fort Myers. Prospects that could have been playing in Twins pinstripes are still within the Boston system and ready to prove their potential. Of course Clay Buchholz isn’t really a hidden gem any longer after his no hitter last September against the Baltimore Orioles, but he still has something to prove this spring. I’ve been pulling for him to be the fifth starter, but you may see him in the bullpen or starting the year out in Pawtucket. Justin Masterson, a player who was reported as part of the almost package deal for former Twins ace Johan Santana will show Boston fans why it was probably a good idea to hold on to him. Am I saying he’s better or will be better than Santana? No, of course not. I’m not that fucking stupid. I’m just saying that the Sox were just in the game to drive the price of Santana up so the Yanks would overpay. It’s my theory and I’m sticking to it. Masterson has a ton of upside and could find himself in the show in the next couple of years. More to come on other future players as Spring Training goes on...

I'm ready for this. The last several months have been hell. No baseball, shitty performance from my football teams and the endless nights of the NBA. Thank God my new cable provider has the MLB Extra Innings package.

Schilling's Rehab, Lugo Surprise!

I’d try to do some sort of lame Amy Winehouse “Rehab” intro for the story with Curt Schilling, but I hate Amy Winehouse and her music so I’ll spare you. Today Red Sox brass met with the injured vet regarding which path would be the best for him to take. Someone who encompasses vast amounts of reason informed him that rehabbing and coming back for what should be his last hurrah with Boston is the best way for him to go. I’m of the mind that Schil rehab and try to work himself into the rotation around the All-Star break. How realistic is this? Probably not very.

There was some speculation of ill will between the two camps as the six time All-Star did sign a new one year deal worth $8 million last November. This was quickly quieted when the players and media converged on Fort Myers, Florida, site of the Red Sox Spring Training facility. John Henry was quoted as saying he didn’t feel duped by Schilling. Likewise Schil said he didn’t feel forced into something other than season ending shoulder surgery. All I can say is that I hope they don’t think they can rely on Julian Tavarez filling the hole. When he showed up to camp the possibility was news to him. He didn’t even know he was considered for the fifth spot. I don’t know if I should respect him for not paying attention to the media, or disgusted because he seems to constantly have his head in the sand. I hope they stop babying Clay Buchholz and let him actually compete for the fifth spot in the ro’.

This past weekend the Sox signed SS Julio Lugo to a four year $36 million deal. I’m not a huge fan of the idea of Lugo hanging around for that long as he’s only batted of .300 one time in his career. Of course, it’s not a forgone conclusion that he can’t have a few seasons up around .280 or .290 with a few more steals than his career average.

My problem is that with the obvious issues with Schilling, who spent time on the 60 day DL last season and will sit for at least the first half this year and not playing, why they didn’t feel the need to go out and try and pick someone up at least for the first half of the year. I heard rumors of Barolo Colon, which is incredibly stupid given that his fat ass hasn’t done anything on the mound in the past two or three seasons. With Buchholz, Kyle Snyder and yes, Tavarez they should be able to weather the storm.

Just a quick ending tidbit...I've heard rumors of the Sox going after Cleveland Indians ace C.C. Sabathia now that this season could be his last in the Forest City. My take? Stop, just stop it. I give it about a 5% chance the Sox even think about going after him. Why? I don't think the Sox are looking to secure another starting pitcher with a bloated salary. Simple as that. Right now with Beckett and Dice-K the Sox are going to turn to their farm system to produce the next wave of young talent.

Let the Countdown Begin

What has the last week brought to me on the doorstep of Spring Training? Curt Schilling possibly out for the season with a shoulder injury in his pitching arm! Hurray. Now the most hated man, according to me, is in the mix to take over the fifth spot in the Boston rotation. That’s right, Julian Tavarez has just backed up into the starting rotation once again. So, thanks for that Schilling. The organization wants him to rehab so he can play limited ball this year and probably force him into retirement after the season. Schilling wants season ending surgery so he can play in 2009. We’ll see who budges first.

Kevin Youkilis and the Red Sox brass avoided salary arbitration by signing the first baseman to a one year, $3 million contract. Last year Youk went .288 and had 16 home runs with 83 RBI’s. I find it funny on a few message boards that I read where fans will tout GM Theo Epstein as a god because of his ability to avoid salary arbitration with his players. Real tough when you have the second largest payroll in baseball.

Should I say something about Roger Clemens? I’m thinking no, it’s completely played out and I’m tired of talking about it and even more tired of other people talking about. Clemens’ wife should break him in half over her abs.

Roger Clemens is as guilty as a gay guy with a wheelbarrow full of buttholes, but I'm happy to see his name get dragged through the mud because he's a Yankee. I didn't really like Clemens back in the day when he played for the Sox, I just never really like him. I was sort of happy when he went to the Blue Jays, even after his 20 strike out performance in '96 as he was on his way out the door. Hopefully this thing gets wrapped up and buried soon, but I doubt it.

April: Please, Please Hurry

Last night was the end of the National Football League’s season. I for one couldn’t be any happier. My fantasy season sucked and my team (49ers) took a step backwards from 2006. As soon as everyone made them the “sexy” or “trendy” pick I knew it was the kiss of death. Also see: Dante Culpepper’s last season in Minnesota.

The Super Bowl marked the first time the ninth or tenth best team in the NFL hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Giants winning was nothing more than the St. Louis Cardinals winning the 2006 World Series. Bottom line, they just got hot at the right time. I can’t take too much away from them, but they did lose 17-to-41 to the Vikings. At home. They also went three and three in their division which included being swept in the regular season by the Dallas Cowboys. Of course they made up for this in the Divisional round of the playoffs by vanquishing the ‘Boys in Dallas. And what a price I would pay for rooting for that one.

This has been the Giants in a nutshell this year. You just never saw them coming and you never took them seriously. Eli Manning was responsible for more turnovers than any other player in the NFL this season by a pretty wide margin, but here we are, the day after the Super Bowl and another damn Manning is Super Bowl MVP. I’m officially in football hell. Eli’s not so bad (although I dislike him incredibly for putting an end to Nebraska's winning season streak, 38 seasons in a row, while at Ole Miss) it’s more Payton, but I’m still blaming Eli for being brothers with the biggest commercial whore since Sally Struthers. And that lame Oreo commercial. Fuck Peyton Manning, I'm surprised he wasn't on the podium when the Lombardi trophy was presented. Every time Eli does something, Peyton is there. Or his dad Archie.

I wanted the Patriots to win for two reasons. Number one was because it was Boston versus New York, and because my hatred for the Yankees runs so deep, it bleeds over into football teams that have nothing to do with it. Number two was because I’m sick of hearing about the fucking ’72 Dolphins. You know, the team that didn’t play a playoff team until they got to the playoffs that year. New England seemed to encompass everything that was great about a football team. If you buy into the SpyGate crap, you’re an idiot. Sorry, you just are. If you think Belichick and staff were the only one’s doing this, you’re an even bigger idiot. You aren’t a bigger idiot than the guy who was videotaping the Jets sideline and their coaches in the Meadowlands while wearing Patriots gear, however. So feel good about that. People talk about how it will be a long time before a team ever goes 19-0, especially in this era. I think it will take just as long for a team to achieve 18-0 again. It would make sense, since in order to 19-0 you need to go 18-0 first. Anyway...

So last night those old farts popped a few bottles of champagne and toasted to their success when offensive linemen were 6’1” and 240 pounds. Last night Don Shula was still the only coach in NFL history to guide a team to a perfect season, and Mercury Morris did some blow off Larry Csonka’s balls. Hurray for NFL football.

So, what have the Sox been up to? Glad you asked and I’m glad I don’t feel the need to write about football anymore. It's almost 70 degrees in KC today and I've got baseball on my mind.

The Sox are set for camp and there will be new faces and some familiar faces that won’t be seen during the 2008 campaign. Eric Hinske, who was a fan favorite because of his hard nosed style of play was cut in the offseason and is yet to find another team to sign with. I sort of liked Hinske when he’d come in and plow people over at the plate. The problem was he was so damn slow that 90% he’d be out at the plate. He’s also a player who needs to be in the lineup on a daily basis to be effective and get into a rhythm. Sort of like a Wily Mo Pena. Bobby Kielty was also let go after being picked up late last season. He had the “game winning” home run in Game 4 of the Series, but he basically picked up a free ring just because he rode the bench for two months. With Jacoby Ellsbury and Coco still in the fold, there isn’t enough room for him. Jesus Christ, just look at that guy…I’m glad he’ll be gone. Thanks for the homer, but good Lord.

So what about the guys you really know? The lineup isn’t going to see that big of a facelift, and as we saw last year it will change to Francona’s liking. So far this is what is projected for when Spring Training breaks.

2B Dustin Pedroia
1B Kevin Youkilis
DH David Ortiz
LF Manny Ramirez
3B Mike Lowell
RF JD Drew
C Jason Varitek
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
SS Julio Lugo (if he doesn’t get traded)

The starting rotation is probably going to look like this, again, not a big change.

1. Josh Beckett
2. Daisuke Matsuzaka
3. Curt Schilling
4. Tim Wakefield
5. Jon Lester

Did you catch it? No Julian Tavarez! Fuck yeah!

Oh yeah, there are also some new guys too.

As of last Friday, the Sox agreed to a one year $800,000 deal with veteran first-baseman Sean Casey. Talk about an appropriate name for a Boston player, he’ll be backing up Youk and Ortiz when needed. He’s basically replacing Hinske. He’ll likely play first when Youk is on third when Lowell has a day off and could even fill in for Ortiz at the DH spot. I like this addition if he blends well with all the personalities in the clubhouse. He’s a favorite among his past teams and seems like stand-up guy. His career numbers aren’t too shabby either right at 1,336 games he has a .301 average, 130 homers, 718 RBI’s and a .366 OBP. In his final season with the Tigers he contributed with a .296 average while driving in 54 runs with four homers.

In the next few days I’ll put up some of the other acquisitions up so I have something to write about before Spring Training gets going.