I Stopped Caring Months Ago…

About players who test positive for PEDs.

It may seem like I just so happened to decide today of all days to look past steroid usage. The day when Manny Ramirez was suspended 50 games for PED usage. Manny Ramirez formally of the Boston Red Sox. The same Boston Red Sox I have followed my whole life.

But surprisingly it wasn’t today.

I still cared when Bonds was clearly juicing. I still cared about the ridiculousness of Roger Clemens. But then something happened. My blood lust waned.

You would think A-rod’s rampant juicing would cause me nothing but pleasure. He’s of the hated Yankees. He’s a cheater etc.

But when all of the revelations about Alex Rodriguez came out I was mostly just…bored.

After all of the Clemens and Bonds allegations everything else just seemed frivolous.

Of course these guys are all on PEDs. Why wouldn’t they be? If you trained your whole life to be as good as you could possibly be at something and got to your peak and saw there were still people better than you, wouldn’t you do whatever it takes to catch up to them or surpass them?

I would.

Especially when it means more money, adoration and little to no chance of my employer or union giving a rat’s ass about it.

I think Alex Rodriguez is just as laughable and ridiculous as the next person. But I do not enjoy watching someone get ripped apart by the same forces that built them up.

Alex Rodriguez became everything every baseball fan in the World wanted. You wanted a superhuman baseball crushing machine. You wanted a monster capable of things that humans aren’t (or presumably aren’t) capable of.

Well, congratulations. You bought into it with everyone else. Sports entertainment fooled you. It fooled everyone. You looked the other way. I looked the other way. We accepted the unbelievable as true and ultimately all feel like idiots and as a result are anxious to crucify the perpetrators.

Look in the fucking mirror.

Anyone can blame Bud Selig or the players or the players union all they want for everything. But we all thought about it and came to the consensus in the mid 90’s that home runs are the most important thing in baseball (strikeouts are cool too if you can throw 102 mph).

Players adjusted accordingly.

Bud Selig ignored it.

Voila, PED era!

I took no particular pleasure in watching Alex Rodriguez’s name crumble. The guy is a clubhouse cancer anyway (juice aside) but I don’t want to be part of a society where we build people up on a pedestal for being the best at what they are and then tear them down when they aren’t doing things the way we want them to.

I also don’t get why this primarily only happens to this degree in baseball (definitely the most boring of all major sports).

Let me be honest for a second:

Clearly NFL players are ALL on roids. NBA players juice (LeBron James is suddenly the most muscular/fastest guy on the court every night?), NHL players blood dope and juice, soccer players blood dope and juice, cyclists blood dope and juice, horses are all injected with god know what, most writers do speed, 50-75% of Hollywood has a drug or alcohol problem, the Oscars are fixed every year, Biggie’s murder was a cover up by gangs and police working in unison, hardly any young people pay for music anymore and if they did The Shins, Arcade Fire, The Postal Service, Brand New and about 1,000 other bands would all have records that would have gone 5-10 times platinum, SNL has been running on fumes for the last 6 seasons…I could go on for weeks.

Everyone overlooks all of this. In spite of all of the blatant evidence to the contrary people just choose not to give a shit.

Well, I sort of knew Manny and or David Ortiz and or Kevin Millar and or BIll Mueller and or Johnny Damon were on PEDs at some point.

Shit isn’t surprising. Everyone. EVERYONE. EVERYONE is probably on them. Maybe not Michael Bourn since that guy can’t ge ton base to begin with…

But this is what happens when you decide to live in an imaginary happy place and ignore all (circumstantial) evidence to the contrary.

I mentioned my LeBron James PEDs theory on another blog in passing a few weeks back and someone said “That’s an awfully big assumption, what’s your proof?” And I said “I don’t need proof. I’m not getting burned again. Everyone is on PEDs until proven otherwise.” 

I know that’s shitty. I’m not trying to sell a book. It’s just how things are.

If you want to blame someone for it, blame yourself for being so naive.

Boston Red Sox Refrain From Price Gouging On Tickets…For At Least 1 Season…

Thanks for all your support Larry Lucchino. I’m sure these times are really hitting you hard. I bet you can barely afford that fifth floor you were going to add to your house…

As much as I appreciate the Red Sox not raising ticket prices, it really isn’t much of a gesture considering they a) don’t have Manny on the books anymore and b) didn’t win the World Series oh and c) Theo Epstein claims he is not interested in any of the 3 major pitchers available for next season.

I expect he will come to his sense and C.C. Sabathia will be in a Red Sox uniform by Christmas (this won’t happen for a lot of reasons).

The Red Sox clearly need to do something. You can’t fall in game 7 of the ALCS and come back the next year with the same exact team and same exact problems.

here are 5 things I want changed:

1. Jason Varitek (I’m fine with the Red Sox re-signing him at severely reduced pay and giving him the Sam Cassell treatment (making him inactive but having him at practices and on the bench in a sports jacket).
2. Julio Lugo (keep him on the bench. Indefinitely. Jed Lowrie is the wave of the future).
3. Mike Timlin (someone needs to take the old dog out back and shoot him).
4. Add a new starting pitcher or two. (they don’t have to be #1’s. I’ll take two #3’s or one #2 and one #4…but clearly Tim Wakefield isn’t an every 5 games type of pitcher anymore at this point in his career and because Josh Beckett is BOUND to get hurt and injuries happen routinely, it would be nice to not have to go through most of the season with a slapped together crew of guys with no experience and guys who mysteriously suck).
5. Add another bat. Either an outfielder or a 3rd/1st baseman. Someone with some power. There will be injuries to the corner positions and outfield and probably DH this year. Mark Kotsay wasn’t a good answer last season (all though, he was OK at times, he sort of sucked horribly during most of the playoffs).

If they can fulfill these 5 changes and also keep ticket prices what they are, I’ll be impressed.

But this just feels like one of those Jose Offerman-type offseasons…

American League MVP 2008. Josh Hamilton? Cliff Lee? Dustin Pedroia? Ian Kinsler? Carlos Quentin? Aubrey Huff? A-Rod?

Poor Ian Kinsler.

I really do think Kinsler would have won the MVP had he not been injured.

But shit happens.

And Texas sucks. As a team. As a group of hitters, they are exciting and enchanting gentlemen. As a team? Call me when you get a rotation and/or bullpen.

The thing is, this is one MVP Race that isn’t very cut and dry.

You’ve got ARod who sucked for a while, has been terrible in the clutch (more-so than usual even) and who won it last year with numbers far better than the ones he is currently putting up.

You’ve got Josh Hamilton who was on fire for a while but sort of fell to Earth a little bit.

You’ve got Carlos Quentin who has great power numbers…but that’s about it.

And you’ve got Aubrey Huff who one would never figure to be in the MVP race.

Then there’s Dustin Pedroia.

Before I get into how Pedroia is statistically amazing or how much he has carried the Red Sox since the Manny trade, let me state what the term MVP means to me.

Most Valuable Player means the player who has contributed the most to his team thoughout the season. A player who has been statistically amazing, carried his team through tough times and led them to the promised land.

The Most Valuable Player should never be a guy who is on a non-playoff team unless he is having a record setting season.

For example, if Josh Hamilton had 179 RBI right now with the same batting average and home run stats, I would say he should definitely be in the running. After all, he would have a legitimate shot at Hack Wilson’s record, he would clearly appear to be carrying his team by himself and statistics like that are hard to ignore.

But Hamilton only has 121 RBI right now. That’s not groundbreaking. That’s just a great season. He hasn’t carried the Rangers through their pitching struggles. His offense alone has not compensated for his team’s lack of pitching. The Rangers are nowhere near the playoffs. They might be a fun team to watch, but they aren’t going anywhere and would certainly be worse without Hamilton, but they aren’t necessarily better just for having him (if that makes sense).

I don’t see how you could consider Hamilton.

ARod, same thing. Unless ARod were to lead the Yankees back from the dead to a divisional championship or Wild Card playoff spot, against all odds. In which case I would say, yes, he is very very valuable.

Aubrey Huff is on the Orioles who apparently the Playoffs have filed a restraining order against, because it seems like the O’s are not allowed within 500 feet of the Playoffs.

That leaves Carlos Quentin. He might help carry the White Sox to a division championship. But let’s look at his stats:

Quentin has 138 hits. 96 Runs, 26 Doubles, 36 Home Runs, 100 RBI, 7 Steals and 80 Strikeouts. He is batting .287. .394 On Base Percentage. 274 Total Bases.

Certainly Quentin’s 36 Home Runs and 100 RBI are impressive. But I don’t think a guy should ever win MVP if he has a sub-.300 batting average. I’m sure Quentin will pick it up in September (the White Sox will need him to).

But Pedroia?

Dustin Pedroia has 191 hits (MLB Leader), 110 Runs (MLB Leader), 44 Doubles (Tied for 2nd), 17 Home Runs, 76 RBI, 17 Steals and only 47 Strikeouts. He is batting .333 (leads the AL), .378 On base Percentage. 290 Total Bases.

The hits and runs are absurd. Obviously Pedroia’s home run and RBI totals do not appear to be MVP worthy, but when you look deeper at his other stats, it is abundantly clear that his offensive output has been ridiculous.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Pedroia was batting 2nd most of the season and did not have nearly as many RBI opportunities as say Josh Hamilton or Carols Quentin have had. I think Pedroia could still finish with 100 RBI and 20+ Home Runs. But I do feel like those are thresholds he might need to cross in order to win over some voters.

Pedroia has been a monster for the Red Sox since Manny was traded. He has found a way to get them runs without Mike Lowell, without Kevin Youkilis and without a healthy rotation. This Red Sox team has been eviscerated by injuries all season and I doubted their toughness and grit before and after the All Star break.

But something changed after Manny was traded.

The Red Sox seemed to get more injured and when most teams would have folded after losing an icon, this Red Sox team buckled down and played hard.

This is why I was so happy to get Jason Bay. Why Mark Kotsay was a great pick up. Why Jed Lowrie will be the starting shortstop for the Red Sox next season and why Jacoby Ellsbury is not done yet (don’t give up on him).

And to be honest, I really do feel like it all goes back to 5′ 6″ Dustin Pedroia (there is no way in hell he is 5′ 9″).

I say this not just as a Red Sox fan.

I really do think if Pedroia continues to rip the leather off the ball the way he has the last several weeks, there is no one in the AL more valuable to their team than Pedroia.

When you factor in his defense versus ARod or his versus Quentin or Hamilton, it seems like it would be hard to not give him the MVP.

And when you look at Josh Hamilton or Milton Bradley or Ian Kinsler, you have to wonder how anyone could vote for any of the three of them over any of the others. They would probably split votes (Ross Perot Effect).

It is also worth mentioning, that if a team has 3 guys who are putting up offensive numbers that look to be of MVP caliber, how could that team be sub .500? Oh, right, because they have committed over 100 errors (that’s an average of more than 10 a starter people!) and can’t pitch worth a damn. 

Not all that valuable.

Let’s see if Pedroia has enough gas left to take advantage of a vulnerable inexperienced Rays team and lead the Sox to a division title.

If he can, I see no way he could lose.

2008 NFL Preview: NFC North

Detroit Lions

I mentioned earlier how little the NFL Preseason usually means.

I’m sure Matt Millen, Jon Kitna, Calvin Johnson, Jerry Sloan and the rest of the regulars at indeedindeed are hoping that in the case of the Lions, it means that they actually do have the best 1st, 2nd and 3rd string players in the league.

The Lions are 3-0 in preseason so far. I honestly don’t remember the last time the Lions started the regular season 3-0. They were 0-3 in 2002. I think they were like 0-6 in 2006…

On offense, the Lions haven’t really added anything noticeable for 2008. They still have the same team there. The same great receiving group (Calvin Johnson [above] will be even better this year, Roy Williams will be Roy Williams again and Shaun McDonald will continue to be a quality #3 option).

The biggest addition (really the only major addition) on offense was Kevin Smith. Right now onthe depthchart, the Lions have Tatum Bell officially listed as the starter, but Kevin Smith is supposed to be one of the most high impact rookies in the NFL this season according to USA Today. I’m never sold on a rookie half back being the savior of a one dimensional offense. Too much can go wrong.

There is the always exciting Jon Kitna returning to the fold.

One time I wrote that Jon Kitna is a horrible excuse for a quarterback. That isn’t exactly true…but he also isn’t someone you want to carry a young and talented offense.

He is 35. He has played 11 seasons in the NFL. Through 11 seasons, he has thrown 147 TDs. That isn’t bad when you consider he was a backup for several of those seasons. Unfortunately for Kitna he has also thrown 146 INTs in those 11 seasons. Yikes. Guy has played 11 years in the NFL and has a +1 TD/INT ratio. Clearly he is Rex Grossman’s idol.

Kitna has passed for over 26,000 yards in his career, notching over 4,000 yards per season in 2006 and 2007. That is impressive for someone who is old. But this is a result of the Mike Martz era. Not a result of Kitna being a rogue leader who does whatever he can to make things happen.

The thing is, Kitna isn’t a horrible quarterback. In spite of the +1 career ratio andthe age, he is still probably around 16th or so in the league. Maybe even higher. Because a) at this point in history no one can throw a football the right way anymore, b) young guys get so little time to prove themselves that old guys (Todd Collins, Kurt Warner, Jon Kitna) find themselves not only employed, but also decent options simply due to their seasons of experience and ability to handle the pressure and c) the quality of quarterbacks overall seems to have fallen off the charts in the last 7 years or so. Maybe it is due to the expansion of the league. Too many teams and not enough talent. Maybe it is defenses getting better…

When I was younger the NFL had Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon…etc. There seemed to be a decent to great QB on almost every team. Now it is laughable who most teams trot out at starting QB.

Anyway, in this NFL, Kitna is clearly a valuable starter.

But without improvements, the Lions will have the same exact offensive problems they had in 2007.

On defense, the Lions did not improve their starting defensive line. They still seem horrible unbalanced (a decent right side with Cory Redding and Dewayne White, both young and quick and a HORRIBLE left side Chartric Darby and Jared DeVries).

Their linebackers are solid. Ernie Sims and Paris Lenon are both good linebackers and Alex Lewis is serviceable. What I question is why they don’t run a 3-4 and plug in a rotation of the younger linebackers on the bench. Chartric Darby doesn’t impress me at all and I think the Lions might be stronger on defense if they used him as someone the 2 good D line could get rotated out for. Anthony Cannon and Buster Davis would probably add more to the pass rush (and coverage) than Darby if they used a 3-4 instead of a 4-3.

The Lions did add Brian Kelly to their corners. He should be all right in spite of his 32 years. Dwight Smith is a solid DB that they brought in from Minnesota. Gerald Alexander had a nice rookie season last year and Leigh Bodden was another great addition from Cleveland.

Clearly the Lions felt that their greatest weakness last season was their coverage. I respectfully disagree (a running game would have helped, as would a better D line). However, I said in my AFC East column that there are few teams with a really good secondary, barring health concerns, the Lions probably have one of the best secondaries (on paper) in the league in 2008.

Of course a secondary is only as good as the pass rush in front of it….where they need a little work…still…

If the Lions try to be slightly more balanced on offense and they do end up mixing things up with the linebackers and occasionally using a 3-4 (WHICH SUITS THEM FAR BETTER) they could be a decent team. That’s a lot of ifs. And those ‘ifs’ are directly related to the coaching. The coaching being where most of my concerns are.

If the secondary is as good as advertised and if the Lions don’t have the worst coaching in the NFL and use a balanced offense (at least a SLIGHTLY balanced offense) they might not be half bad in kind of a weak division.

My definitive prediction is a 9-7 record for the Lions in 2008.

Minnesota Vikings

Does Adrian peterson make anyone else nervous?

He reminds me of Bo Jackson sort of.

To me, Bo Jackson was like Icarus, he was so great that he flew too close to the sun. I fear Adrian Peterson will share his fate.

When Peterson hurt is knee last season I was really worried that it was going to be this horrible career-ending tradgedy. I’m not kidding. He’s so talented that I feel like I wouldn’t be surprised at all if something horrific happened to him, if that makes sense.

The Vikings have the honor of having one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL on their team in Steve Hutchinson. The rest of the O-line is decent to pretty good.

Chester Taylor is the other half back and Taylor is nothing to scoff at either (something tells me Taylor will get a big payday as a starter somewhere when his contract is up).

But the receivers? Scoff away.

They have Bernard Berrianwho was never all that great with Chicago (and you can make the argument that this was a result of having shitty QBs all the time, more on this later) but he is young and has statistically improved each season, Sidney Rice who is only 21 and still unproven, Robert Ferguson (who has never been all that great) and Bobby Wade who is decent but not great as a #4.

That is not exactly a stellar receiving crew, but you get the feeling that they would be fine with an ok quarterback. I feel that someone like Marc Bulger would work wonders with these guys. Obviously Peyton Manning or Tom Brady would make them look like Hall of Famers and someone like Jon Kitna would be all right with that crew a solid O-line and a great running back….

Unfortunately for the Vikings (and their fans) they have Tarvaris Jackson as their starting quarterback.

Tarvaris Jackson is still a work in progress. The thing is, if he doesn’t get better by about week 9 this season, The Vikings will abandon all hope on him and let Gus Frerotte take the reins.

I can’t believe Gus Frerotte is still playing. Oh, and by the way Jon Kitna, Frerotte has played 14 seasons, he has a +11 TD to INT ratio!

The Vikings have a solid secondary as well. With youngster Cedric Griffin, new addition Madieu Williams, Antoine Winfield and and older but still decent Darren Sharper rounding things out.

The Vikings are another team that primarily uses a 4-3 on defense and has sort of a mixed bag on the defensive line. No real superstars but no complete scrubs either.

Their linebackers are something to behold though. Chad Greenway had a great rookie season and if he continues on the same path he will be quite a linebacker. E.J. Hendersonis great and Ben Leber is definitely solid as well.

The Vikings did a nice job adding to their secondary. This could be a defense that causes some serious issues.

The question is, can they develop a passing game?

I understand and agree that Adrian Peterson is almost unstoppable. But won’t defenses just starting putting 7-8 guys in the box on every down? If the Vikings can’t throw the ball how are they going to get on the board? Peterson may be unstoppable, but he can’t get 40 carries a game every game.

if this team had even a decent quarterback (someone who is like the 20th to 15th best in the league) they would be really really really good. Like NFC Championship without batting an eye good.

But they don’t…so…

My definitive prediction is a 10-6 record for the Vikings in 2008.

Green Bay Packers

How much mercy do I show a fan-base that cares about one indecisive star player than an organization?

NO MERCY.

What Green Bay Packers fans who have sided with Brett Favre (the ones that demanded that jets games be shown in Green Bay) have done is that they have sided with Manny Ramirez.

Remember when I wrote about how Manny Ramirez had to be traded for the good of the Red Sox? I meant it.

I wish Manny no particular harm with the Dodgers, but the Red Sox were my team long before Manny signed with them and will be long after he is retired. A true Packers fan would be outraged that Favre had the audacity to drone on and on in his press conference about how things had changed and how he wasn’t mentally preparing himself 100% anymore AND THEN had the audacity to COME BACK TO THE LEAGUE.

Do you want a guy who is half-assing it on your team?

All Packers ownership and management issues aside (which it sounds like there are plenty of), Favre was holding them hostage. He demanded a trade. He’s just selfish.

GET OVER IT GREEN BAY. He was a great player for you. Fine. Retire his number when he retires. Tell your grand-kids how great he was then. But right now, he is the enemy. And switching allegiance to another team for a player is the second most bandwagon move you could pull.

Now that I have that off my chest, this Packers offense is basically the same except with a big downgrade at QB in Aaron Rogers.

Rogers will not be that good (because he needs some playing time to develop) but the Packers still have a really great receiving group with Greg Jennings, Donald Driver and James Jones and Donald Lee at TE and behind the quality O-line, Ryan Grant emerged as a legitimate starting half back last season.

If Aaron Rogers can learn the offense and be a game manager/not make horrible decisions, the Packers should be all right to score points.

The defense is riddled with injuries right now. Whether they carry over into the season or not is anybody’s guess.

Ryan Pickett is a notable addition on the defensive line (even though he is hurt now and has a history of injuries). The rest of the d-line is unchanged.

The Packers still have a great linebacker group (unchanged from 2007) featuring Nick Barnett and AJ Hawk.

The Secondary is still good as well.

There have not been a whole lot of changes to the Green Bay roster. Just one big one.

Andthey didn’t win it all with Favre, so I’m inclined to believe they cannot win it all withthe same team this year with an unproven quarterback.

Don’t be surprised if the Packers start the 2008 season 0-7 (it would only take a Falcons win over them as a stretch…the rest are quality opponents). Also, unlike the Jets who SUCKED in 2007, the Packers have the pleasure of having a pretty difficult schedule in 2008 due to their 2007 success.

My definitive prediction is a 4-12 record for the Packers in 2008.

You know how you can tell when your offense is doomed?

When you have a quarterback controversy between one guy who has been on yoru team as an on and off starter due to baffling inconsistency and another guy who indirectly replaced the first guy 3 years ago but was so inconsistent that you went back to the first guy andhe led you to a Superbowl where he folded like a rusty lawn chair so the next year you went back to the second at late in the season.

Rex Grossman (sexy Rexy) and Kyle Orton (Jack Daniels) are those two guys.

Because the NFL does not award points to teams for players having sick moustaches, Kyle Orton is in trouble.

But there is good news Bears fans, the Bears made two major additions to the receivers this year.

That’s right! Management brought back Marty Booker as your number 1 option! yeah, the same Marty Booker that had 100 catches on your team in 2001. Him! He’s back! And he’s only 32 and coming off four consecutive seasons of 55 receptions and 700 yards or less! Yeah. He’s still just as good as he was in 2001. His best days are not behind him at all!!!

But Marty Booker isn’t the only new target for Sexy Rexy and Jack Daniels to throw INTs past, oh no, the Bears also brought in Brandon Lloyd! Yeah, the same Brandon Lloyd who has always been sort of an underachiever. That one.

At least at running back the Bears have added Matt Forte, who might turn into a nice option. They also have Adrian Peterson. No, not that Adrian Peterson. The other one. The one who doesn’t look like a young legend.

I’m not sold on this offense.

I even hate Robbie Gould. Robbie Gould cost me $250 in 2006. I will never forgive him. JUST PUT IT THROUGH THE UPRIGHTS YOU JACKASS!!!

On the plus side, the Bears defense is still the Bears defense. Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher will still make opposing quarterbacks hate their lives. So…there is that.

But this is a one-sided football team with two guys competing for the quarterback job. And let me assure you, the competition will last all season.

If Orton and/or Grossman were just sub-par QBs who threw the ball away under pressure and didn’t HELP the other team, they would be fine. The Bears would win some games, the defense will fill in the gaping offensive hole. Intentional.

But I sincerely believe that both Orton and Grossman do more to hurt the Bears than help them. They would almost be better off just putting Devin Hester in at quarterback and running shitty dump pass plays, options and laterals all season. Actually, I think they would be much better off if they did that. As stupid as it would be…

My definitive prediction is a 6-10 record for the Bears in 2008.

Daisuke ‘Teflon Enigma’ Matsuzaka Continues To Win. Prefers Runners On Base. Is Sort Of Inexplicably 14-2.

Before Daisuke Matsuzaka came to America there was hype like you wouldn’t believe.

It was hype even greater than the hype that came with Pedro Martinez.

Hype far greater than the hype that came with Manny Ramirez.

Out of this universe hype.

Then he started pitching.

And he was an OK #2, a good #3 or a #4 with out of this World upside.

Maybe that isn’t exactly fair. Matsuzaka did have over 200 Ks last season and I know it is difficult to adjust to playing in a new country, living in a new country, not having any friends here, playing in a new league…etc.

Last year, Daisuke’s numbers showed these difficulties. He still pitched well for the most part but wasn’t as advertised.

To be perfectly honest, unless he was the Japanese lovechild of Sandy Koufax and Cy Young, he was going to be a little disappointing.

You can’t have that much hype before ever pitching in a league and expect to instant greatness.

I think we all sort of expected him to be 20-4 with 300 Ks and a 1.70 ERA based on the hype he received.

Lofty expectations for anyone.

Especially considering the aforementioned adjustments he had to make.

In 2007:

15-12 with 201 Strikeouts, 4.40 ERA, 1.324 WHIP, 80 Walks, 191 Hits, 100 Runs, 25 HRs.

This season?

He somehow has the best record in the Red Sox rotation. And it seems like Red Sox fans have been waiting for him to give up 17 runs in two innings all year. Nobody thinks he is actually as good as his stats. which are:

14-2, 103 Strikeouts, 2.74 ERA, 1.340 WHIP, 72 Walks, 91 Hits, 40 Runs, 8 HRs.

Matsuzaka is an absolute enigma.

The guy never really seems to be having the best start, always gets into trouble and somehow always pulls through this year.

He has 7 or so starts left this season and suffice it to say, will finish nowhere near the 201 K’s he had last season. Will finish with around 95 Walks (up from last season), maybe 130 hits, 65 Runs, 12 HRs, an ERA far lower than 4.40 a HIGHER WHIP than 2007 but with a record of like 18-3.

The thing about Daisuke is, he’s no Sexy Dan Haren, he’s no C.C. Sabathia and he is certainly no Brandon Webb.

How does one get fewer strikeouts, more walks and end up with a lower ERA and more wins?

And just to be clear here, it’s not as if Daisuke has the same shitty 4.40 ERA as last year and the Red Sox offense is just bailing him out every start. This is truly NOT the case. His ERA is LOWER than last year. He has given up less than half of the runs he gave up in 2007 (3/4 through the season) but he still never inspires confidence. He still walks guys. Throws too many pitches and gets into disastrous situations.

Somehow he doesn’t give up runs. 

The guy is a Teflon enigma.

He lets tons of people on base, doesn’t strike people out but still finds ways out of jams. It is ridiculous.

And I tend to agree that it can’t last forever.

But the thing is, it has already lasted through 21 starts this season.

It doesn’t have to last much longer.

Red Sox Get Paul Byrd For Cash or Nobody

The Red Sox have added a decent arm to their rotation to replace the injured Tim Wakefield.

Paul Byrd (7-10, 4.34 ERA this season) will be more than a suitable replacement for Wakefield or the horribly inconsistent Clay Buccholz.

The Red Sox gave up nothing to get him.

Nice decision.

What this probably means is that the Red Sox AL East title chasing rotation will likely be:

Beckett

Matsuzaka

Lester

Colon

Byrd

Bartolo Colon is supposedly close to a return. He should probably be back by September at the latest.

Tonight Charlie Zink will be starting for the Sox. He’s 13-4 in Pawtucket and also a knuckleballer. Maybe he will pan out and Colon or Byrd will be in the bullpen. Who knows.

Either way, it can never hurt to add a decent arm to an ailing team. And if we re-write history we can pretend that Byrd was part of the deal that sent Manny away and added Jason Bay. If that were the case, there would not have been as much to complain about, because as I said at the time, had they gotten an even halfway decent arm in return, it would have been a solid deal in my opinion.

Hopefully Paul Byrd can be just that. A halfway decent arm.

It’s not as if he had much of a chance to be one with the pathetic Indians this year.

Jason Bay for Manny Ramirez, A Reflection From a Red Sox Fan Who Doesn’t Mind Jumping The Gun.

So it has been a week since Jason Bay and Manny Ramirez joined their new teams.

In that week, both players have been out of their minds.

And I still think the Red Sox are better off sans-Manny.

Let us take a look at the numbers:

Red Sox 5-1 since Bay arrived.

Jason Bay

10 Runs, 11 Hits, 1 HR, 6 RBI and is batting .423

The Dodgers are 3-3 since Manny arrived in LA.

Manny Ramirez

7 Runs, 13 Hits, 4 HR, 9 RBI and is batting .565

Now I won’t try to make the convoluted point that Manny has hurt the Dodgers or anything. Their pitching has hurt them.

I’m sure he is well liked there. I’m sure everyone knows he is there to give them a serious chance at getting into the playoffs.

But the thing is, Manny had clearly worn out his welcome among his teammates in Boston.

This is why i was so adamant that he needed to be traded early last week. In spite of Sloan thinking the notion was absurd, Manny just stopped trying in Boston. It was his attempt to force the hands of Red Sox ownership and it worked. The thing is, he isn’t stupid and he would have settled down and played hard in Boston for the rest of the regular season in hopes of enticing another team to pay him big money in 2009.

The thing is, the Red Sox were probably not going to stay with Manny after the 2008 season. He caused too many issues. Management had reached its boiling point.

And while I agree that the Red Sox gave up a lot in order to get Jason Bay (Manny + Craig Hansen and the remainder of Manny’s salary!) I think it is a move that gives them a better chance at repeating in 2008 than they had with the dysfunctional team featuring the Manny Ramirez sideshow.

I’ll take Jason Bay. A guy who is 6-7 years younger, plays hard, is supposedly a really nice guy, a team player, a great fielder and a guy who will hit around .300, get on base a lot and still provide moderate pop in the middle of the lineup (he will hit 25-30 home runs a season).

I embrace the Jason Bay era. He is more the type of player that the Red Sox are molded after these days. This is a different team. It is a team of professionals and guys who work hard at what they do.

I know it must be a little tough for David Ortiz right now. But Jason Bay could be a part of this team for years to come. He seems to fit in here.

And Manny will probably be himself in LA. But I’m sure he’ll find a way to wear out his welcome there as well. Eventually.

4 Days Until Impending Doom…

On the train on my way into work this morning I read this gem of an article about 16 cops being killed with bombs and knives in China.

Obviously I wish everyone the best at the Olympics, I don’t want to see anyone injured or killed or anything. I have no vendetta against China. Hell, I hear it is pretty interesting there.

The thing is, I don’t see ANY way that these Olympics are not a complete disaster.

I know that the government has shut down their high pollution factories for the games, made people stop driving, banned more things than usual, hired millions of cops, created weather machines that make it sunny…etc. But there is still so much unrest there.

China is sort of like the Manny Ramirez of countries, ANYTHING could happen there and it wouldn’t surprise me.

“Did you hear Manny Ramirez broke a toilet by flushing towels down it?” I’d say, hell yeah I believe it just the same as if someone told me “Did you hear that in China they have a medical robot that removes the kidneys of little girls and those kidneys are cooked and fed to goats becuase when goats eat little girl kidneys they shit out lead paint that is used to make toys? Did you know that?” I would say “That sounds a little farfetched…but that’s China for you!!!”.

This year I have decided to not listen to the news and hear about how the US wins games in advance and watch all the basketball games. That will be the one Olympic team I will watch with the intent to root for.

But everytime I see Chris Bosh I think to myself “Why is there a Canadian on our team!?!?!”. Anyone who plays for the Raptors is Canadian/European in my eyes.

Crowley Exclusive

John Henry, Red Sox owner and salt-and-peppered hair connoisseur, visited my place of work this evening.  Most of the employees didn’t recognize him…this came as no surprise.  Also, only a few customers knew who he was, also not a surprise but disheartening.  He basically just browsed around and checked out all the Sox merch like any other customer.*

*When “famous” people enter, be it a celebrity, player, anyone of any fame, people always act like it’s the end of the world and they witnessed God themselves (apologies to the non-believers).   People literally freak out.  Kelly Clarkson was in yesterday and I thought a co-worker was going to blow his load even though she looked like a trainwreck on a walk of shame (and I’m guilty of being a Kelly Clarkson fan, both musically and assets wise).  I’m unsure of why people flip out like this…they’re just people, nothing more, nothing less…they may excel at one or two things that you don’t, but other than that they’re just regular people.  It really pisses me off when people lose their minds over a “celeb/player” sighting.  With that said, I can pick Kelli Pedroia out of a crowd of 200 people easy..but that’s different.  (Also, the * followed by an italicized rant has been stolen from the blog of Joe Posnanski, one of the most knowledgeable, intelligent and entertaining writers i’ve ever read..if you don’t read joeposnanski.joeblog.com, you are an idiot.)

The interesting part of the story comes when it came time to ring him up.  My manager chose me to handle him and he was very low key and a seemingly overall class act.  When he realize that we were selling Manny merch for 50% off, he made a comment like, “oh, wow Manny stuff if half off..maybe I should pick some up” followed by my manager saying, “oh, I think you payed enough for him over the years” and a general awkward laughter between the three of us..however, you could tell that he wanted to say something to the effect of “yeah, seriously”.  It was kind of an awkward and entertaining experience, and with that said, signing Jason Bay was one of the best moves made in baseball in the past ten years only behind the Rays getting Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano…the fact that ESPN allows Steve Phillips to comment and asses baseball moves is laughable.  I will discuss why the Jason Bay deal needed to be done if I am challenged.

Manny Wants To Be Traded. Red Sox Aren’t Very Good. 2003? You’re back?

Manny Ramirez has said that he will not reject any tradesTheo Epstein can conjure up to get him off of the Red Sox by Thursday.

In Boston, there seem to be two camps for Manny, the “I hate him, he’s a jackass who does stupid shit and is a crybaby” camp (aka, the “I’m jealous of him” camp) and the “It’s just Manny being Manny. Let him be who he is. No one can match that production!” camp (aka, the “I smoke weed everyday too, get off my back” camp).

I wouldn’t say I’m technically in either group. I think Manny offers solid year to year production and also endless Summer entertainment.

Say what you will about his shenanigans, but there is no other athlete in baseball as inoffensively entertaining. I enjoy that about him. I really do.

On Friday, Deadspin ran a hilarious anecdote involving Manny, shitting, towels and plumbing problems. You don’t have to read it to figure it out. But you still should.

On the other hand, his issues have sort of come to a head this season. What with him manhandling a 60 year old guy and the whole Youkilis thing. He just doesn’t seem happy in Boston anymore. He’s said he wanted to leave before, but this time I think he really does.

I’ve heard some speculation that he was very close with Julian Tavarez and perhaps Tavarez being released helped usher in the “angry Manny” era.

Either way, I doubt the Red Sox will re-sign him, THIS Red Sox team IS NOT winning a World Series. Shit, they aren’t going to win ANY high pressure series. Therefore;

TRADE HIM NOW!

The Red Sox should get as much as they can for Manny while they can. Build for next year. The pitching of the Sox will be even better, the younger players will continue to develop. Trade him for a solid outfielder and 3 or 4 prospects. Do SOMETHING with him. It would be stupid not to move him.

I know the Red Sox are still technically in position to win the AL East and all, but it isn’t going to happen. Not with this team. Not this season. Trade Manny now. Maybe it’ll work out for the best. Maybe Manny is a clubhouse cancer. Maybe.

I greatly appreciate the two titles Manny helped bring to the Red Sox. I do. But he isn’t getting any younger, his personality has been more ferocious and volatile than usual lately and his production isn’t exactly worth the money he’s getting paid.

Manny will not hit 45 home runs in a season again. He probably won’t bat .351 again. He won’t get 165 RBI again.

Maybe 25. .305. 110. Maybe.

Those are solid numbers. But they aren’t $20 million a year numbers.

You know who can replace that production? Justin Morneau. Jason Bay. Matt Holiday. Nate McLouth. Ryan Ludwick. Maybe Matt Kemp or Andre Either or Ryan Church in a few years.

My point is, there are a lot of great young players out there who can match (or nearly match) the production of the 36 year old Manny Ramirez. Also, none of those guys make $20 million a year. Far from it, actually, some of them make $300K a year.

If the Red Sox are smart, they will get something done involving a playoff contender in the NL, a young solid outfielder and a package of up and coming talent (pitching and otherwise). They also somehow find a way to throw in Julio Lugo. Or should….