I just broke my own heart

It killed me to do it! But I had to. I just traded Jonathan Papelbon in one of my fantasy leagues. :( How could I you ask? I don't know. I wanted to cancel the trade offer as it sat there but before I could it was accepted. The person I made the trade with I knew was a Red Sox fan, like me, so Papelbon's name would have immediately got his attention. I would have rather given up any of my other closers (F-Rod, Wagner, Hoffman, Baez, Dempster) but I don't think that would have closed the deal. On top of it I had to also give up out of this world slugger Chris Shelton who has already hit 9 HR's 17 RBI and .455 average. I love getting players like Papelbon and Shelton who you expect to do well but can't guarantee. That's the fun of fantasy baseball for me. So why did I do it? What did I get in return? A hitter who's batting .260 with 0 HRs and just 4 RBI who has looked lost at the plate all season and is generally unhappy where he's playing. Manny Ramirez. I agree with the offer that I made but I wish it hadn't been accepted. Although I expect great things for both Shelton and Papelbon this year Manny is, on occasion, Manny. I agree the trade I made but my fantasy season will be a little less fun because I'm trying to win.

What's going on

Mike Timlin looks awful so far this season. The tired arm that was reported during the WBC has appeared to follow him into the regular season. He's not giving up earned runs but he's getting hit hard and walking batters. Right now the Red Sox have only pitcher I'm comfortable seeing come in from the bullpen and that's Papelbon. Foulke has been OK but he still has a long way to go to win back my confidence. If it wasn't for the Red Sox dominating starting pitching the Red Sox would be in big trouble. With the Red Sox lack of offense so far the Red Sox will have to rely a lot on the pen. Please hurry Craig Hansen. I have MLBTV on my computer and so far it's worked OK. But tonight with two outs and a runner on first it cut out on me. I didn't see Papelbon walk the bases loaded and Stern make that fantastic catch to save the game until it came on Baseball Tonight later. Papelbon at some point is going to give up some runs. At some point it's going to happen. I'm sorry I'm just trying to be realistic.

Francona's idiotic sacrifice bunting has got to stop. Wasting outs is just stupid. You score more runs with runners on first and second and none out then you do with runners on second and third with one out. Jerry Remy just said that that the last time had had two sacrifice bunt attempts in the same game was last April. Bill James must be having a heart attack. The Red Sox almost screwed themselves out of a big inning in the eighth while sacrificing until Youkilis came through with a double knocking in two runs. As I suggested Youkilis is really taking off in the leadoff spot. One of my favorite things about Youk is that besides his OBP abilities his other talents don't always stand out so he's always busting his ass be it to first base in the ninth yesterday or home in the eighth tonight.

The Red Sox have to be praying that Trot Nixon stays healthy moreso then he has in the past because Wily Mo is, honest to god, that awful in the outfield. How bad is he? I was wondering yesterday if the Red Sox would consider moving Manny to right when they have to play Wily Mo. It was in the Herald the other day that so far in Red Sox games Wily Mo hadn't gotten to 9 balls so far this season that an average outfielder would have gotten to. This is his defensive rep and it looks like that's not going to change.

Wow! Have you seen that show "Teachers" on NBC after "Scrubs" on Tuesday nights? It really, really sucks. Despite having two hot women on it. How could a TV network not have better shows then this to put on it's unbelievable. Still I'd watch this piece of crap before I'd watch a reality TV show like "Celebrity Cooking show" on at 8:00 P.M. If you watch this........I don't what I should tell you to do to yourself. Bravo NBC!

Oh congratulations to the Boston Globe's Bob Ryan who on Sunday coined the phrase Papelbontastic! The Webster's people should be adding this to dictionary right now.

Angel Rocha, of the Arizona Diamondbacks, a minor league pitcher became the first player to be suspended for 100 games for violating baseball's new steroid policy for a second time.Rocha had previously been suspended for 15 games last June 6.

Four minor-league players were suspended for 50 games for testing positive: Angels pitcher Karl Jelinas, Padres pitcher Matthew Varner, Mets pitcher Jorge Reyes, and Cardinals outfielder Yonathan Sivira. It's interesting to note that four of these players are pitchers. I hope Bud Selig and major league baseball are prepared to see the shear number of players that will be affected by this supposed steroid investigation. I doubt the public will ever find out the real results.

It's official! I hate David Wells! I don't normally root against Red Sox players but I hate him. Just go away already. Today's comments about his statement about how Bud Selig should resign after making the Yankees take down a sign apologizing for their stars at the WBC are just pure crap:

"I wish to apologize for my comments of a few weeks ago regarding commissioner Bud Selig,'' Wells said in a statement e-mailed from the office of his agent Gregg Clifton.

"While I disagreed then and still disagree today with commissioner Selig's response to a sign posted at the Yankees spring training stadium regarding the World Baseball Classic, my remarks were overly harsh and should not have been directed personally at the commissioner.

"Mr. Selig's job subjects him regularly to close scrutiny by all who work in and follow the game,''. "That job should not be made even more difficult by unwarranted personal attacks.''

Just leave! Please!

Albert Puljos is just amazing. But still hearing everybody talking about how great he is I'd take Alex Rodriguez over him. And I haaaaaaate Alex Rodriguez! But he's a just too good defensively, too good on the bases, and too good at the plate to ignore.

What more could you hope for?

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

One of things I've loved seeing this year is how much the Red Sox veterans have been interacting with the rookies. When Curt Schilling came off the mound in the seventh the camera showed him sitting next to Josh Beckett and explaining what he done in the previous inning. When Papelbon struck out Ichiro in the ninth the Seattle announcers said that Schilling had taught Papelbon that pitch last year. How about Willy Mo being called "Little Papi" in regards to how much he follows his fellow countrymen around and is trying to learn from him. When I tuned into the Yankee game I saw Randy Johnson sitting on the bench and not talking to anyone. I think he represents the Yankees because their entire attitude seems to be that no one can be as good as us. If you want to know why the Yankees don't have many if any good homegrown players (Wang and Cano aren't that good) that's one of the reasons why.

Good Game for the Sox

Everything pretty much worked out well for the Red Sox today except for Trot. As long as that's not serious then it was a red letter day. Beckett started off shaky but finished up strong throwing seven innings and only allowing one run. His four walks were a bit scary but he pulled through. Mike Lowell had a big game going 4-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. Maybe I was too harsh on him and he will work out. Keith Foulke gave up a two run homer that bounced off of Wily Mo Pena's glove into the bullpen. Foulke has been good in the setup role and hasn't been a problem in the clubhouse. Kudos to him. And then there was Papelbon. I want everyone to understand that at some point this he is going to allow a run. So far he's been perfect getting 4 saves without giving up a run. A good solid 5-3 win.

Trot's Hurt!!

Trot Nixon appears to have hurt himself in the fourth when he dove for a ball in the outfield. If Nixon is out for any kind of extended period the Red Sox will be in huge trouble due to Crisps' injury. I imagine Willie Harris would be the next guy to get called up if there is a DL visit in Trot's future. Nixon has been off to a great start hitting .300/.440/.600 with two HRs and 7 RBI. That kind of production will be difficult to replace.

Update: First reports are a mild left groin strain. That's good but those type of injuries sometimes stick around for awhile especially with Trot.

Bronson Ruth?

In his second start for the Cincinnati Reds former Red Sox starter Bronson Arroyo went deep again. The Reds have solo shots in every inning through the fourth so far with Griffey having knocked one out in the first, Dunn in the second, Arroyo in the third, and Dunn again in the fourth. As someone who owned Dunn last year in may fantasy leagues I was amazed how many of his home runs were solo shots. Maybe it's a team wide thing as this evidence suggests. More so bad luck.

Update: Wow the Reds are killing the Cubs Edwin Encarnacion hits a grand salm followed by an Austin Kearns solo shot given the Reds six homers in todays game. I wonder if the Cubs remodeled bleachers are having some effect.

See how much the sacrifice bunt sucks?

See how much the sacrifice bunt sucks? I know Alex Gonzalez can't hit and obivously so does he, as he was trying to sacrifice bunt in the second inning of today's game with a runner on second no outs and three runs in. Francona was in the dugout looking like he was thinking "Damn it Theo, John Henry, Tom Werner, Larry Lucchino, Bill James, Jason Varitek, and the ghost of Ted Williams told me the Red Sox don't sacrifice bunt before the eighth inning just two days ago what's Gonzalez doing?". So desperate was Francona to not allow a sacrifice bunt this early that he had Canada's own Adam Stern steal third. I don't think I'd ever seen a Red Sox player steal third before. Just kidding (almost). And after Gonzalez grounds out weakly who comes through with a double? Youkilis. See I told you! Everyone should listen to me. Seriously.

Update: Gonzalez does make a great defensive play as the ball richoets off of Lorretta to Gonzalez as he completes the double play. Great play, but seriously man stop trying to bunt!

In case you missed it

In case you may have missed it Mets third basemen David Wright is friggin awesome! Is there anything this guy can't do on a baseball diamond?

Youk steps to the plate

Terry Francona admitted this morning that Coco Crisp is likely to be out several weeks with a nondisplaced fracture at the base of his left index finger. The Red Sox called up outfielder Dustin Mohr to take his roster spot. With the right-handed Mohr and Wily Mo Pena and the left-handed hitting Trot Nixon and Adam Stern the Red Sox will put together some sort of rotation that should get them through until Crisp comes back.

But as big as the hole in center is the hole at the leadoff spot is just as big. The Red Sox will fill it by installing 1B/3B Kevin Youkilis into the leadoff spot. Youkilis 27 has been with the Red Sox now for five years since being drafted out of the university of Cincinnati. After showing great promise and an uncanny ability to get on-base Youkilis has flip flopped back and fourth between the majors and the minors. Youkilis first rose to fame in the book "Moneyball" where he received the nickname "The Greek God of Walks" due to his on-base ability. Youkilis, who isn't Greek, was to be the compensation pick for the Red Sox acquiring Oakland A's GM Billy Beane to be the Sox GM. A last minute change of heart allowed the Red Sox to retain Youkilis as Beane remained in Oakland.

This past offseason the Red Sox allowed free agents Bill Mueller and Kevin Millar to leave with the understanding that Youkilis would help to fill the void. Never a scouts dream player this will be Youkilis' first chance to fill an important offensive role for the Red Sox. So far this season Youkilis is hitting .385/.471/.462. This will be very interesting as Sabrmetricians have looked at Youkilis will lust almost as much as scouts have looked at him with disdain. This will be the ultimate battle of OBP.

But ignoring all that garbage Youkilis in my opinion should do very well in the leadoff spot and may have the Red Sox rethinking their lineup when Crisp comes back. The primary duty of a leadoff hitter is to get on-base and since Youkilis does this better then anybody not named Bonds he should give the Red Sox a great deal of run scoring opportunities. It should be fun to watch no matter what.

If you don't Youkilis on your fantasy team yet you should seriously think about adding him. He's gonna score a ton of runs at the head of that lineup. He singled in his first at bat today and he's going to keep on doing it.

Mixed Blessings

Coco goes down. Red Sox centerfielder Coco Crisp broke his finger and will miss up to ten days. His finger will be placed in a splint and when it's taken off it will be reevaluated. If it's just ten days then the Red Sox will be lucky. This morning reports had it at possibly a month. It's not known how it will effect his hitting.

In the big picture though the Red Sox did a good thing today signing David Ortiz to a four year contract with a club option for a fifth. Dollar figures haven't been announced. Since coming over to the Red Sox in 2003 Ortiz has become the face of the franchise. He's put up three MVP worthy seasons for the Red Sox and is great in the clubhouse and the public. Big Papi's heroics down the stretch last season and in the 2004 postseason are the stuff that makes legends. The fact that Ortiz doesn't play the field could help him stay healthy towards the back end of this contract so that's a good thing. One thing to scare Red Sox is that among Baseball Prospectus' most comparable players to Ortiz is Boston's former MVP Mo Vaughn, who I'm sure you remember the Red Sox refused to sign to a long term contract due to injury concerns. Those concerns proved to be correct after Vaughn got hurt in his first game with the Angels and was never the player he was in Boston. Don't get me wrong it was important for the Red Sox to sign Ortiz because sooner or later the Red Sox are going to find a taker for Manny Ramirez and his contract. Ramirez and Ortiz may be the best hitting duo since Ruth and Gehrig and while they could survive the loss of one of these players the loss of both would kill them. So keep the player who likes Boston and the team.

One thing that I don't like was Ortiz' recent attack against umpires. The Boston Globe reported on Sunday that Ortiz said:

"With the help of Red Sox video coordinator Billy Broadbent, Ortiz put together a video of all the pitches he took for strikes last season, and he said he was stunned by some of the pitches umpires called strikes, some of which the designated hitter claims were way out of the zone."

This is just a bad idea attacking the Umps. It's not even a specific ump and he's talking about last year. What is Ortiz expecting the umpires to do? To try harder when he's at the plate? That's not the way it works and Ortiz is only hurting himself.

Not to be outdone the Cubs just announced that they have signed slugger Derek Lee to a five year $65 million dollar contract. I imagine Ortiz' money will be roughly the same. This is a good deal for the Cubs because like Ortiz Lee has become the face of the franchise. Although he may not top his statistics from a year ago he is still their best player. Lee would have been a free agent after this season and would have gotten offers from the Yankees and Red Sox that would have exceeded what the Cubs gave him. Good deals for both Ortiz and Lee.

In case you've missed it the TV show the West Wing is coming to an end. After getting tired of the show two years ago I'm finally watching again. The sad cause of my renewed interest in the show was the tragic death of actor John Spencer, who played Leo McGarry, the former White House Chief of Staff and the current vice president canididate in the shows ongoing current presidential election. The show had been cancelled before Spencer's unfornuate death but that was officially the nail in the coffin. The show is airing new episodes which they are dealing with the death. Spencer had been on the show since it started and I've found that the loss of this actor and character is particularly sad. The preview for Leo McGarry's funeral next week particularly has me scared that for the first time since the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I may cry at a TV show. Cry at Buffy you ask? It was just, when vampire-with-a-soul, Spike's body was engulfed in flame and he died it was like a little piece of me died with him. Luckily Spike was brought back to life on Angel. (Don't mock me Buffy ruled!!!) It's proving to be one of the most interesting finial runs of show in recent history. TV will be worse off without this show unlike the other big NBC show that's coming down to it's final episodes; the terrible, horrible and awful Will & Grace which has sucked big time since first airing. I don't have a problem with the homosexual slant of the show I have a problem with it mocks and represents homosexuals. And besides that it just has never been funny. They can't cancel that show quick enough. But that's just my opinion.

Random Thoughts

Sorry I haven't posted in a while I've just been so thoroughlt been enjoying the baseball season this week. Baseball is awesome. Watching the Red Sox-Orioes game this afternoon a couple of different things caught my attention some good some bad. In the top of the sixth inning with only a 2-1 lead Oriole starter Rodrigo Lopez walked the bases loaded. Now granted this was Stern's first at-bat with the bases loaded in the big leagues so I could understand if he was little nervous. But...if the pitcher is walking the park you have to take the first pitch, instead Stern fouled off of the first pitch. Granted he did manage an infield single but that first pitch was the one Theo Epstein was looking out to judge Stern on. Taking that pitch is smart hitting. Also was that a sacrifice bunt I saw? In the fourth inning??
I hope on the plain ride back to Boston Theo sat Francona down and reminded him that that's not the kind of baseball the Red Sox play. There's a book on the shelves now titled Baseball Between the Numbers by the Baseball Prospectus Team of Authors that in a great chapter entitled "When is One Run Worth More then Two" in which it takes on the myths of the sacrifice bunt. The sacrifice it argues is pretty much useless until either the eighth or ninth inning because at that time you may be trying to win a game by scoring just one run. In any other situation be it inning, a pitcher batting or anything voluntarily taking that first out lowers your chances of scoring. What I'm saying is that a team with runners and first second and no outs is going to score more runs than a team with runners of second and third with one out. That is part of the philosophy that the Red Sox have built apon since John Henry and CO. took over. Those numbers that Red Sox and most of SABR community veiw as so important are important. Just tell Terry the Red Sox a manager who ignored the numbers and his name was Grady Little.

IT HAS BEGUN.................ALL HAIL THE AGE OF PAPELBON

The Boston Red Sox defeated the Texas Rangers 2-1 in the first start of Josh Beckett's Red Sox career. Beckett gave up a run in the first then battled through the next three innings until he turned it on in the fifth and dominated up till the eighth. Unforunately for the Red Sox Texas starter Cameron Loe was on as well shutting the Red Sox until the seventh inning when Trot Nixon knocked a two run homer to give the Red Sox the lead. Beckett's passion was evident throughout the game will hand-pumps and shouts after striking out batters. However what will be the big story in Boston tomorrow is the fact that in a one run it was newcomer Jonathan Papelbon pitching for the Red Sox in the ninth instead of closer Keith Foulke. It's true that the Red Sox got Papelbon up in the eighth when pitcher Mike Timlin was in trouble but make no mistake this more about Foulke's recent problems on the mound then anything else. Pitching in the ninth opening day Foulke did nothing to relieve Sox fans when it took a great defensive play from Coco Crisp to ice the victory. Francona at some point is going to have to tell the votile Foulke that this is going to be the way it is. He'll pick whichever pitcher he thinks can do the job best in the ninth. This isn't going to sit well Foulke, little does, but he's just pitching well enough right now to be in there. I remember when a similar situation occurred in Chicago when Foulke was still with the White Sox and Foulke bitched and pouted until he was eventually traded to A's where he was restored to his closer position and brilliance. Still when I remember Foulke I'll remember the great job he did in 2004 down the stretch and in the World Series. But times they are a changin.

One of the many reasons I hate ESPN

The ESPN announcers are continually referring to Barry Zito as the A's ace. Am I the only person who just sees this as bullshit? Last year the A's (fuck A-Rod, his grad slam and the Yankees) had three other starting pitchers with lower ERA's. Rich Harden is by far the A's ace and Zito is, despite his wrongly awarded Cy Young, the 3rd or 4th best pitcher on that club. But ESPN refuzes to acknowledge what many of their employees have been saying for years.

Look at it this way

Did I mention I hate the Yankees. Hopefully Bernie Williams knocking that run in will cause the Yankees to leave Williams as their DH for the entire season. Damon up with the bases loaded. Excuse me I have to vomit again. I hate them.

My god the Reds suck

I refuse to give the Cubs credit for today's win because they didn't win the Reds lost. My god what a terrible defensive display. Adam Dunn makes Manny Ramirez look like.....a passable outfielder. Go Barry Zito. Strikes out Giambi. I hope Randy Johnson gets absolutely bombed all season long. That shit about him not wanting to pay for his daughters school tuition screw him. I know there is more to it then that but as I said earlier I hate the Yankees. Back to the Reds sucking. Their pitching sucks. Their fielding sucks. But they do have some good hitters. Edwin Encarcion is an emerging talent at third put he simply can't field his position. Dunn should be the first basemen, because in case you missed it first base is the easiest defensive position. Johnny Damon still throws like a girl scout as now ESPN say how great he is. I'm not a big fan of ESPN either. Wow error Yankees. Surprise. Hardly. Did I mention I hate them. Back to the Reds. The fact that the Reds are starting Scott Hatterberg at first shows that they don't have a clue. The Reds finally resolved their problem with having too many outfielders last week by trading Will Mo Pena to the Red Sox for Bronson Arroyo. But they still ignored a big problem in that dunn's terrible in the outfield and Ken Griffey Jr. is no longer the centerfielder he was in the 1990's. They can score runs but they can't prevent them. I suspect new Cincinnati GM Wayne Krivisky was watching this game with his head between his knees as everything his former team, the Minnesota Twins (pitching and defense) was shown to be a problem for his current team. It's pretty likely that there will be some trades between these two teams.

I Hate the Yankees

Have I ever said how much I hate the Yankees. I want to vomit watching Johnny Damon lead off for them. Go Sox. The Red Sox beat up the Rangers today 7-3. Go Barry Zito as he struck out Damon. Schilling was on as he allowed only two runs and if he can put together a full season of this the Red Sox should be good. Jeter pops out to Swisher. Go Zito! Keith Foulke however looked like crap as every pitch he seemed to make was a rocket somewhere. I appreciate what Foulke did for the Sox in 2004 but at some point the Red Sox are going to have to make a change and put Papelbon in as their closer. Damnit Sheffield walks. It amazes me that Bonds is getting such a hard time from the fans and annoucers, but so far in this Yankees broadcast no one has said anything about Sheffield's and Giambi's admitted steroid use. God damnit they walk Rodriguez too, Giambi's being booed.