Rooster Ramblings

-- Seeing as the Red Sox have always been a major backer of the Jimmy Fund, I've got a fundraising idea sure to be a hit with the fans. The Sox brass donates a $1000 each time Curt Schilling issues a "no comment." The Rooster, for one, would be glad to donate to that cause.

-- If David Ortiz isn't convinced that Barry Bonds took steroids, who are the baseball reporters to argue? In the land of the talking heads and knights of the keyboards, there's an eery silence surrounding the physical validity of a certain soon-to-be 45-year-old who's returning and throwing in the 90s. I guess we're to assume these gifts are natural, fellas? The journalist silence on this is reminiscent of the lack of digging that occurred when Bonds broke the McGwire's single-season record. (Oh, and in related news, George Mitchell just ordered a steak at Abe & Louie's.)

-- Because he has been the era's most dominant closer (and player perhaps), the tendency is to assume that Mariano Rivera will, of course, bounce back from his early season troubles. But there are some troubling signs for the Yankees. Namely, when you faced Rivera in his prime -- well, even just last year -- and you went down two strikes early in the count, you knew what was coming: the high fastball. And was it the most unhittable pitch in the game. This year? Not so much. Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro (Marco Scutaro!) have already beaten Rivera in the ninth with home runs off the high heat and our own Jason Varitek repeatedly fought off the two-strike high heat in the Bronx (as big an indictment of the pitch as you'll find). It says here that the Yankees' fortunes the rest of the way will be tied more closely to Rivera finding that pitch than they will to Roger Clemens giving them five innings every fifth day.

-- Tom Caron is to NESN what Ernie Johnson, Jr. is to TNT.

-- Yeah, Year One was frightening, but how's Year Two of the Hanley Ramirez trade treating you? Beckett's 7-0 and Mike Lowell is on pace for a career year (making his feared $9MM salary a bargain). Meanwhile, Anibel Sanchez was just sent back to AAA by the Marlins. Props to you, Theo. (Now about that Arroyo deal ....)

-- This just in: Floyd Mayweather likes money.

-- There's a rumor floating around the NBA that if the Suns flame out against the Spurs, they are going to make a run at the No. 2 pick and Kevin Durant, sacrificing their first round pick (which could be as high as No. 5) and any player outside of Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. This, of course, could raise some interesting possibilities for the C's. Would you sacrifice Durant and a player (Gomes?) for the No. 5 pick and, say, Shawn Marion? I would. The scary part of this, however, is that the decision rests with Danny Ainge. While Danny has drafted well, he consistently has been fleeced in trades. This draft -- and subsequent off-season of moves -- is culmination of three years of playing the young'ns and building their value. Make the wrong moves now, and it will be devastating for the franchise. The lottery is May 22.

-- It's great to see old friend Christopher Trotman Nixon go 8-for-10 in back-to-back games against Orioles. Not so nice: seeing that SS Alex Gonzalez has 7 dingers for the Reds. I'm not so sure we will see a better defensive shortstop suit up for the Sox in our lifetimes.

-- Finally some sad news to report: I went to get me some ribs before a Sox game last week and discovered dust gathering on the tables and chairs at the Linwood Grille. Yup, the barbecue has been shut down for good. Apparently, it is going to re-open as an "American grille" at some point. Like we need more of those ... Bastards.

Oh Mo!

It's never a good sign when your team is losing by three runs in the 9th inning and your manager decides to bring in your closer. It's even worse when that closer is Mo Rivera and he is forced to give way to Mike "I can't believe I tricked the Yankees into signing me" Myers with one run in and the bases loaded. What I found most pitiful was Rivera feeling the need to throw over to first base FIVE times to keep Coco Crisp from stealing second (which Coco ultimately did anyway). That's not the Mo Rivera I've come to know and hate over the years.

You're right, it's still April. These games don't really count. However, just like NFL pre-season games, you'd rather see your team win than watching them consistently get crushed. It might not mean anything but you can't help but let the doubts creep in. Well, the Yankees just fell to 6 1/2 games behind the Red Sox (and own the rights to last place in the AL East). 6 1/2 games certainly isn't an insurmountable lead for the Bombers to overcome but if I'm a Yankees fan right now, I'm beginning to second guess my team a little.

For starters, the Yankees have A LOT of money tied up in several aging veterans. While A-Rod seems to be earning his $27.7M/year, the Yanks have $10M wrapped up in perpetual DL inhabitant, Carl Pavano. Jason Giambi makes $23.4M, and while he can still hit, that is some serious cake for a DH that can't run. Abreu is making $15.6M a hefty sum for a guy that instills fear into no one right now. What's crazy is that among those four players, the Yanks are spending more than the individual payrolls of the bottom 13 teams in MLB.

At the risk of stating the obvious. the Bombers pitching situation is a mess. Bob Klapisch of ESPN wrote, "[the Yankees] best game this week was the one they didn't play -- Wednesday's rainout against the Blue Jays, which allowed Andy Pettitte to start tonight against the Red Sox." Hindsight being 20-20, one might argue that didn't end up being such a big advantage (he got pulled in the 5th inning of tonight's game.)

What's tough about the Yanks lack of consistency with their 9 man rotation these days is the fact that they are averaging 4.9 innings/start, lowest in the majors. History shows that this can kill your bullpen in a hurry. Poor Scott Proctor is on pace to pitch 162 games this year (yes, I'm exaggerating on that one.) Mariano Rivera's less than stellar showing tonight is one more data point supporting the argument that his best days may be behind him.

Two more games to go in the series. While I like our chances tomorrow with Wake facing off against Jeff Karstens, my rationale brain tells me that odds do not favor us in Sunday's game with Tavarez leading the charge against Yanks new ace, Chien Ming Wang. Even so, splitting the remaining two games is still a major victory for the Sox (that would be five out of six to start the season). Still a long way to go until September but I like what I'm seeing...