Free Agent Frenzy?

Now that players who filed for Free Agency are able to sign with any team, the transactions are flying fast and furious. (Note the sarcasm dripping from that sentence.) The action has been slower than anticipated, with the biggest news of the Yankees desperate attempt to make sure they sign Sabathia. Supposedly they have offered $140 million over 6 years and if that is only their initial offer, one has to wonder how high they will go. So far, the only free agent to change uniforms is Jeremy Affeldt. He will not be returning to Cincinnati, instead choosing to sign with the San Francisco Giants.


In Red Sox news, several Sox players and coaches are awaiting to hear some results. Bench coach Brad Mills and 3rd Base coach DeMarlo Hale both interviewed for the Seattle Mariners manager position. The Mariners are supposed to announce their selection today. Although, rumor has it that the Mariners will select Oakland A's bench coach Don Wakamatsu. Good luck to Mills and Hale.




Meanwhile, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis are 2 of the top candidates for AL MVP. We will find out the winner around 2pm today. Even though I think Youk is more deserving, my guess is that Pedroia will be named AL MVP. Go Red Sox!

Steve had a nice post over at his The Boston Red Sox Blog about a Julio Lugo - Dontrelle Willis trade that may be in the works. I'd like that.

Finally, if you have never checked out this blog: U.S.S. Mariner, it is one of the best blogs around. Anyway, one of the creators of that blog is trying to win a college scholarship for bloggers. Here is his post about it. So, let's support our fellow baseball blogger, and help him win. Vote for David Cameron!! He was winning for a while, but is now about 200 votes behind.

Let's Play TWO!

Ernie Banks would be happy. Well, the Yankees and Red Sox have been rained out today, so they'll finish the season with a day/night doubleheader on Sunday. Fun! Wonder what will happen with the pitching.

Dreams Drowned Out. Can't we flood the domes?

Well, the Sox' dream of winning the AL East were drowned out last night, literally, as the Yanks spanked a plethora of pitcher in route to a 19-8 victory. Hey, that score rings a bell to me. Oh, yeah...I remember:


We all remember what happened after that game...

Anyway, congratulations to the Tampa Bay Rays on officially winning the AL East last night. What an amazing season they've had, indeed. It is actually refreshing to see a team other than the Yankees or Red Sox winning the AL East. I probably wouldn't be saying that if the Red Sox didn't clinch the wild card, but they did finish third in 2005. The Rays are actually a team I could root for, except for the 2 things:

1) They play in the AL East.
2) They play in a Dome.

I hate domes. For baseball or football, it doesn't matter, it is just strange to watch a game in those venues. Basketball is an indoor sport. Not baseball. Not football. Not too mention, the game should be played on REAL grass, definitely not turf. It is one of the reasons I am hoping the White Sox win the Central instead of the Twins. The Metrodome is one of the ugliest looking places I've seen. Thank goodness Minnesota is getting a new stadium in 2010.

This playoff race is getting great. Twins still lead the White Sox by a 1/2 game after each team lost last night. The Twins have 2 to play while the White Sox may have 3 to play. The Mets lost while both the Phillies and Brewers won, seriously crippling the Mets playoff chances. Phillies need 1 win in the final 2 to lock up the East, or just need the Mets to lose again which is the more likely scenario. The Brewers took a 1 game lead in the Wild Card with 2 games to play. Any Brewers win and Mets loss clinches the post season for Milwaukee.

I wish I had the MLB Ticket today, 4 must watch games, plus Yankees - Red Sox. I will definately refreshing ESPN MLB Scoreboard quite a bit today.

Anyway, the Sox will send Beckett out today and Matsuzaka to the hill on Sunday as it appears they will be setting their post season rotation as: 1) Beckett, 2) Matsuzaka, 3) Lester, and 4) Depends on if Angels pick "Series A" or "Series B". There had been a lot of debate on the airwaves about whether Lester or Matsuzaka should be the #2 pitcher in the post season. Most of the arugments stemmed from Matsuzaka's performance on the road this season and Lester performance at Fenway while others argued that your 2nd best pitcher should start #2 no matter the circumstances.

The biggest news, though, is the status of Mike Lowell. He left last night's game after he appeared to be in a lot of pain. So, his status for the post season remains in doubt. It will be a big blow if he is not on the roster.

It's not raining right now, so hopefully they'll be able to get in today's game and hopefully we can finish the regular season on a good note.

Go Sox!

Champagne's On Ice

Well, the Sox came up a bit short tonight against the Tribe. Leaving 12 men on base isn't a good thing. Thus, the Sox will have to wait until at least tomorrow to clinch a playoff spot. A win against Cleveland will get the Sox in or a Yankees loss to the Blue Jays will do it as well. I much prefer a Red Sox win. The Sox will face Cy Young Winner, Cliff Lee. It would be nice to do it against him.

Go Sox!

Sweet & Sour

Sundays are great days to be a sports fan in New England. You get a dose of the Sox and the Patriots. Last Sunday was great, because you had the Sox at 1:35, and when they finished around 4:00pm it was almost time for kick-off between the Pats and Jets. You can't beat a doubleheader like that, especially when it's a sweep. We all know the difficulty of sweeping a twin bill.

This weekend, though, didn't go quite as planned. While the Sox help up their end of the bargian, and clinched a tie for the wild-card in the process, that Pats fell flat on their face.

Nobody, except for Chad Pennington's mother (seems we've been hearing a lot from QB's mothers lately, Hi Mrs. Young, Hi Mrs. Jackson), could have expected this. Luckily, I did not really get a chance to full watch this game, as I was preparing for my son's 4th birthday party. I got to take a detour and avoid seeing the wreckage. All I can really say is that this is going to be a long two weeks for the Patriots.

Last night was the final game at Yankee Stadium. As a baseball fan, I MUST visit the Stadium before they tear it down this winter. Unfortunately, I will never get to see a baseball game from a seat inside the stadium. However, with the history that has taken place there, I am going to do my best to take a tour of it. I'm actually glad the Yankees were able to win their final game, but how strange is it that Johnny Damon almost went down as the last player to hit a home run in the "House That Ruth Built"?

The last week is shaping up to be a fun one for MLB. With the Rays, Angels, and Red Sox all lined up for the playoffs, we get to watch the Twins-White Sox battle for the Central division starting Tuesday. Meanwhile, we have the Phillies-Mets battling in the East; the Dodgers-Diamondbacks battling in the West; and the Mets-Brewers-Astros fighting for the Wild Card. This is why I love baseball.

Also, we have Dustin Pedroia looking up at Joe Mauer in the race for the batting crown. Ever since appears on WEEI's The Big Show, Pedroia has been in such a slump. He must have chowed down some of the free food that is always in the studio, thus slowing down his swing. I think Big O was trying to morph Pedroia into the same shape of himself, as Big O was a bit jealous of Pedroia being taller than him. Anyway, Pedroia is at .324 while Mauer has taken over the lead with a .330 average. Pedrioa has also seen Ichiro catch him for league lead in hits, both have 204 coming into the final week.

Congrats to Jonathan Papelbon for becoming the 5th Red Sox closer to reach 40 saves in a season. He joined Jeff Reardon, Ugueth Urbina, Tom Gordon, and Derek Lowe. Quite an accomplishment.

Finally, I've noticed that Red Sox seem to have a unique starting OF now and again. I am not sure there has been another one like it, and not even sure how to research it. However, when the Sox acquired Mark Kotsay before the end of August, they were able to put out a starting OF where all 3 OFers last name end in the letter Y. Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Kotsay. I wonder if there has been anything similar with rarely used letters. I bet maybe it has been done with U. Oh well, just a random thought.

Final week of the season. GO SOX!

Vending, Yankees, Manny, Trade Deadline

Well, I'm back. It was a busy weekend.

There is nothing like working at Fenway during a Sox / Yankees series. The buzz in the park is great. It is ALWAYS busy. And the TIPS are the best. I can't tell you why, but maybe those Yankee fans are better tippers. Haha.

Anyway, it was a dissappointing series. I figured the Sox would be able to win the Ponson start, which they did. But, losing to both Joba and Pettite...I thought they'd get one of those. The Joba / Beckett game was a rare low scoring Yanks / Sox game. However, I'd say that was more because of the wide strike zone of the ump. Although Joba did have better stuff than Beckett, in my opinion.

The sad thing was Manny sitting out this game. Peter Gammons had a great blog this weekend about Manny. That says it all right there.

However, all these Manny bickering and whining is just getting OLD. Manny, it is time to shut up and play!!! I don't think there is any way the Sox can trade Manny, though. I don't see any teams giving up enough to get a guy for 2 months. A guy who can hit, but otherwise has proven to be a pain in the rump. It was talked about that since Manny is a 10-5 guy (10 year vet, 5 with 1 team), that he can veto any trade, and will only sign-off on a trade if the new team agrees in writing not to pick-up the option years. I would be shocked if Manny got traded.

However, the Sox are indeed in need of some bullpen help. Masterson will be a big help, but they still need more. Hanson is not the answer right now. Delcarmen has been inconsistent, and walks too many guys. Apparently, the Sox have their eyes on Doug Brocail and Will Ohman. However, with the Yanks and Angels making moves, and the Sox floundering a bit, the Sox are going to need to make a move or two to prove that the front office wants it just as much as most of the players.

That's all for now

Go Sox.

The Sox should have beaten Pettitte, but once again the pitching and the bullpen was a negative factor.