Friday Musings, April 11

Not a great week but not a bad week either for the Sox. The got smoked in Toronto but we'll chalk that up to sleep deprivation and being travel weary. We got a picture perfect performance from the Dice Man on Tuesday, an egg from Lester on Wednesday and a "last man standing" game last night out of the ageless Timmy Wakefield.

I'm eager to see how the Sox stack up against the Yanks this weekend although it's way too early to really worry much about who wins and loses. Unfortunately, the weather forecast does not look promising. I'm going to assume that Sunday's game will probably be a washout - let's hope that doesn't end up being a doubleheader at the end of September when neither team needs an extra game.

Here are my five musings for the day (feel free to add your own):

1. Sox need to start looking for one or two more arms for the bullpen. I feel pretty good about Delcarmen although he's been Jekyl & Hyde so far. Obviously Papelbon is picking up where he left off and Okajima looks like he'll be closer to 1st half of 2008 than 2nd half. Beyond that, yikes. I know their getting Timlin back soon (not sure how excited I really am about that as much as I love Mike). Beyond that, it's pray for rain right now.
2. Has the real J. D. Drew finally come to play for the Red Sox? Last I checked, he was hitting .440, 2 HRs and an OPS of .893 - WOW! I could be the typical asshole Sox fan and make a snide comment about it being just about time for him to go on the DL. I'll refrain.
3. Speaking of DL, having to sit Mike Lowell for two weeks hurts. It hurts less with Sean Casey here and Youkilis at third but I like having Casey as a back up/late in the game substitute option much better.
4. It's hard to remember that Jon Lester is only 24 and should have some of his best years still ahead of him. He has moments of brilliance (game four of the 2007 World Series), especially with his nasty curve. Then there's his penchant for walks. I really hope that someone like Schilling will sit him down and tell him to cut the crap about nibbling with his pitches vs. just throwing it and letting hitters hit. That's why the Sox have great defensive outfielders like Manny Ramirez... umm, wait. Retract that. Maybe walks aren't that bad after all.
5. Is it me or does it feel like Schilling being out of the starting rotation has a compounding effect. Before every game, I keep wondering when are our really good pitchers going to be out there. Yeah, we've got Beckett (in spite of his bad back/hip) and Dice K has stepped up his game (although he's still a number three in my mind) and then we have Lester, Bucholtz and Wakefield. Don't get me wrong, I like all those guys but I'd feel much better if we had a rotation of Beckett, Schilling, Dice K, Lester and Wakefield (imagine how good Santana would look right now penciled in at no. 2)!
   

One major annoyance that I can't help but mention (anyone following me on Twitter knows what I'm talking about). Why the hell do you put your most popular team (Red Sox) vs. one of MLB's other favorites to win it all (Tigers) on a freaking local access channel so that you can air a Bruins' playoff game on NESN? Really? This seemed like a good idea? Probably not after the Sox won 12-6 while the Bruins got smoked 4-1 (big surprise) in their first of what will be four straight losses to the Habs. Grrrrrrr!

That's all I got for now. What am I missing? Anyone else excited for the NBA playoffs to start? Anything short of the Eastern Conference Finals for the Celts this year will be a major dissapointment. No pressure though. Getting a little excited about the NFL draft. Dying to know if the Pats keep their lottery pick or trade down instead...

Friday Musings, July 6

Cleaning out the cobwebs from a week out of the office...

• * What about that Jacoby Ellsbury kid. Speed, power, defense. I can't wait until he gets his September call up and the Sox are 15 games up in the AL East. We are definitely going to enjoy watching this guy play.
  
• * To that end, you almost wonder if someone slipped some video highlights of Ellsbury into Coco Crisp's locker with a note that said "watch out" because Coco sure has hit A LOT better over the last few weeks. Nice grand slam last night in the first against Tampon Bay.
• * The Red Sox midseason grades provided by Chad Finn this week were entertaining and I have to say, I agree with most of them. However, I take exception with the "D" Chad gave Joel Pineiro. Taking out a three game stretch in May where Pineiro basically came in for mop-up duty, Joel would have a 3.99 ERA. For the most part, he has been a serviceable right-handed option out of the bullpen and I can honestly say, I don't mind seeing him come into a game, even when it's a tight one.
  
• * The fact that the idiots on WEEI are still giving Ainge shit about trading for Ray Allen blows me away. I will bet anyone a rack of ribs that a) the Celt's aren't done dealing yet and b) that even as currently constituted, they are good enough to contend for the 3-4 spot in the East next year. Any takers?
• * Tell me something. How is it possible that the Yankees are listed as "players" in half of the trade rumors on ESPN Insider? I'm quite sure they are interested in anyone and everyone but they have little of value to trade -- both in the farm system, and in the "bigs" -- and have said that they will not trade Philip Hughes. On top of that, they are 12 games behind the Sox with next to no chance of catching them and are 8 back in the wild card with four teams in front of them. I'm not ruling out a playoff appearance for them but seriously, this would be a great opportunity for the Yanks to acquiesce, become sellers and take the opportunity to rebuild their team around key players like Wang, Cano, and Cabrera. Fortunately for the Sox and the rest of the AL East, that's not the way George thinks so expect more payroll, fewer prospects and lots more overpaid veterans by the trade deadline.
  
• * Is it heresy to start salivating about football season with the Sox in first place and cruising toward the AL East tile? Training camp starts next week and the season opener is just seven weeks away!

Let's keep our fingers crossed that Papi's HR touch returns this weekend in Comerica Park!