Bronx beatdown, Pedro and Peavey, and a couple NBA notes

-That beatdown we handed out was incredible on Saturday. Lost first 4 games off the road trip but were good for 27 hits vs the MFY today. Love how Renteria is on fire, when hes drillin line drives opposite field then he's dialed in. Clement is the cement of our staff right now. Strikes out the side to start the game and throws six shutout innings after. Clement did have four walks and got into a couple jams but he worked out of it with his seven k's. Another bright spot was Olerud, he made his debut and had three hits, very solid.

-Just watched some highlights of Pedro. Wow I know the contract sucks and his arm is gonna fall off, but Im missin that guy big time. Leads the MLB in opposing hitters OPS, even ahead of Clemens.

-New Gammons 5/28, nothing special though.

-Pitcher to keep your eye on: Jake Peavey. Last years era leader in the league, but still flew under the radar. Legit ace, Padres GM says he wouldnt trade him for any player in the league right now. Arguably the best young pitcher in the game, take notice.

-Quick NBA note: Spurs are gonna be your champs this year. That organization is the Patriots of the NBA. They can play and win with any style, running/half court/defense/inside/outside. San Antonio also has the best coaching/management out there. Best player left in the playoffs resides in Miami though, and he's a lot shorter than Shaq. Dwayne Wade is doing amazing things right now, he's a special kid whos dedicated to becoming even better. Thought the Heat were screwed, but Wade could carry this series deeper than I thought.

5/24 Clement CG, some injury updates, and State of The Nation

-Off day, but we did play in the hall of fame game. Starters all had limited action and prospect Anibal Sanchez got the start and pitched OK against a major league lineup, should get bumped to AA soon. Word from someone on SOSH was they had guys doing a homerun derby type deal before the game, each player had 10 swings, Ortiz went 8/10 out of the park to win it.

-Clement's complete game was brilliant. He completely dominated that NL lineup. You saw what Clement can be, working with Varitek and maybe taking a little velocity off he was commanding everything, very efficient. Early in the year he was putting people on base, but right now he's throwing lights out, you'll see him in Oct if he keeps it up. Arroyo, Miller, and Clement are the heart of this rotation right now, and thats not a bad thing.

-Schilling is out of the boot. Right now he just has to focus on mechanics and conditioning and he will be back. Word is they are going to try and avoid a rehab start in paw if they can. Timetable for the return is still wide open. It will be great to have our ace back. This team can win without him, but probably not in October.

Other Injury updates from Will Carroll's article.

-Vlad Guerrero's shoulder was partially dislocated, once swelling goes down they will have an MRI and figure out a return. Supposedly the injury is like Jeter's from a couple years ago
-Octavio Dotel's calcification in his elbow means huge ceiling prospect Huston Street is going to close games for the A's.
-Jason Schmidt returns for his next start after rest seemed to fix the rotator cuff muscle which was fatigued, but if this start doesnt go well the Giants wont know what to do.
-Bonds is personally aiming for the all star game as a return date.


-New Gammons 5/23

-Business of Baseball at Harvard

-Big fan of Millar sticking up for Renteria. Keep working hard Edgar. "They boo you because they want to cheer you."

State of The Nation: If you told me at the 1/4 point in the season we would be 2 games out of first place (and 2nd in runs scored) without Schilling and Wells, while Manny, Millar and Renteria hit well under .250, our corner infielders supply 3 home runs, and a closer with an ERA nearing 8, I would take it in a heartbeat. This team is put together well enough to survive bumps in the road. It's scary to think how hot we could become if the stars allign.

5/21 Interleague play, Mirabelli DL, What the Foulke?

-Wade Miller let up one run over 6 and 1/3 to beat Hudson in game one vs Atl. Huge to have Miller throwing well right now, guy looks better every start. Hudson is a true frontline starter, but HR's from Tek and Mueller were plenty of offense last night. Remember we offered Trot and Arroyo for Hudson last year, but Beane declined. Wake and Davies tonight, then a real nice matchup with Clement vs Smoltz on Sunday.

-Foulke still suckin up a storm out there. Got the save for a sad effort where he let up 2 runs in the 9th. Legit concerned with him, throwing no changeups cause he cant spot them, the slider is an italian meatball, and the fastball lacks command with velocity around 85 last night. Might need to consider letting Mantei or Timlin (who is lights out right now) close while he works this out. Foulkes numbers vs righties this year are a batting average of .382, and an OPS of 1.374. So basically every right handed batter that faces Foulke turns superhuman. Let up 6 HR's so far, 8 total all of last year.

-Mirabelli placed on the 15 day DL with a wrist sprain, happened with David Ortiz's thunderbat, way heavier and weighted different. Tek's gonna catch Wake this time, but we called up Wooten from Paw too. Would have liked to see Shoppach see some time, but I guess his ankle flaired up recently.

-Really appreciating Varitek this year. The way he works with and the confidence he instills in our pitching staff does not show up on the stat sheet. On top of that he is playing like one of the best offensive players in the league. "The best player on that team is their catcher." - Gammons

5/18 notes on the road trip

-Well done story on where Mannys mind has been.

-Huge clutch bases loaded hit for Renteria against the A's on tues night. Still not a great road trip overall, but one more in Oak wed. and then thankfully Back to fenway friday night.

-I'm heading up to Manchester, NH to see our AA Portland Seadogs play an away game on June 1st. Get a good look at some of the top prospects like Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia. Speaking of Pedroia, screw the eckstein comparison, this guy is hitting like the 2005 Brian Roberts.

-Been getting frustrated listening to some of these know it all weei callers. The other night in Seattle the sox were down 1 in the top of the 9th and Damon led off the inning with a hit, then Renteria came up and grounded out. Ultimately Ortiz and Manny could not knock Damon in and the Sox lost. Next day on the radio I hear people calling in saying everyone knows you have to have Renteria bunt Damon over to 2nd because Renteria hasnt been hitting anyway, and this is why we dont score as many runs as we should. Did they forget over the last 10 games Edgar was hitting over 300? Or that by doing that your playing for a tie on the road when you have home run hitters coming up? Or that Renteria almost broke his hand on a bunt last week? Or that this front office has put together lineups who score more runs that anyone else over the last 3 years? They don't realize how much goes into every decision. Such as us lining up our corner infielders closer to the line when clement throws inside breaking balls to certain pull hitters, etc. Questioning this management from your couch, with baseless observations is a joke. Educate yourself if your going to try and educate the rest of us.

-Yanks continue to roll. I would be a little concerned with the unit though. The guy did not strike out a single batter the other night for only the 4th time in his career. He is good enough to be very effective, but when Steinbrenner signed him instead of Beltran I doubt he planned on Randy being a finesse pitcher.

5/15 Healthy Trot, Manny's 400th, New lineup

Only caught a couple innings of the game at seattle on the 14th, but saw Trot's grand slam to put them up for good. A healthy Trot is something a lot of people are forgetting we missed last year. His numbers in 03? 28 home runs, 306 batting avg, 396 on base percentage, and 578 SLG. His OPS was good enough for 9th in the league, sandwiched between A-Rod, and Ortiz.

::edit:: Lets hope Trot stays healthy, this morning I saw this saying Trots leg will require surgery in the offseason, but he plans on being able to play through it.

Close one on the 15th. Wake got shelled and we still almost pulled it out. Ichiro is incredible to watch, his defense was the difference in the game tonight.

Congrats to Manny on 400. He says hes done after his contract expires at the end of the 08 season, and if thats true he should retire in the 500 club. The thing about that specific HR that excited me was how he effortlessly drove one out to right center. Those are the kind of HR's Manny has been missing thus far, and the type of hits he needs to be in his zone, wouldn't surprise me if number 400 puts him on a hot streak.

New Gammons 5/15

I'm a little late discussing it, but the lineup has changed a little. Instead of Trot hitting in the 2 spot against righties, it should be Renteria there more consistently, with Trot in the 5 hole. Francona said thats what hes comfortable with now that Edgar is healthy and starting to hit. Manny and Ortiz have switched spots also. New look is Damon, Renteria, Ortiz, Manny, Nixon, Millar, Tek, Mueller, Bellhorn. Or lefty, righty, lefty, righty, lefty, righty, then 3 switch hitters.

Costello: Some notes from the farm

It was a good week for the BoSox, going 4-1 heading into Sunday’s match-up against the Seattle Mariners. I was at the game on Wednesday (Tek’s Walk-Off), and the atmosphere was incredible. I was sitting in RF Box 88, right near Pesky’s Pole, and had a great view for the shot, almost coming right at me. Wade Miller continues to impress, and was on his way to a nice start until he fatigued and left two two-seam fastballs in a row a little too high in the zone, allowing back-to-back homeruns. His curve is simply filthy, and when he strengthens his heater will be around 95-96mph consistently. Arroyo’s streak continued thanks to Kevin Millar’s 2nd HR of the season, the streak is now 16 consecutive starts without a loss, amazing when you consider this is a guy who was released by the Pittsburgh Pirates…

Down on the farm, things are looking up for more than a couple prospects. Cla Meredith (the 2005 Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April) has been called up to the big league club, and although the results have been poor so far, you have not seen the best of this kid. His sinker has been flat, and he has not mixed his change or slider in, if he hits his spots and gets ahead of hitters, he can unleash a slider or change to keep hitters on their toes. When he has gotten ahead of hitters, he has been effective. Hanley Ramirez hit his seventh triple of the season, and although has no homeruns, is putting up an impressive .816 OPS from the SS position.

Anibal Sanchez is off to a great start for the Wilmington Blue Rocks (High A-Ball Affiliate). Sanchez has put up a 3-1 record to go along with 55 strikeouts to only 6 walks. Sanchez could possibly be the most exciting prospect in the system, with a mid-90s fastball with control and good secondary pitches. He is only 21 years of age, and whispers are floating around he could be promoted to AA Portland very shortly. Stay tuned.

Dustin Pedroia is off to yet another fast start in the minors for the Red Sox. Their first pick of the 2004 draft, he has made a seamless transition from shortstop (where he was national defensive player of the year at Arizona State), to second base, where so far this season for Portland has put up a .900 OPS from the 2B position. With Bellhorn not under contract for ’06, do not be surprised to see Dustin patrolling second base at Fenway Park next season.

One more quick thought…with Billy Mueller (a favorite of mine) playing so poorly this season thus far, how much longer does the front office and Tito wait to start plugging in Kevin Youkillis. All Youks has done since being called up is get on-base, hit for some pop, and play solid D. He is most likely the Third baseman of the future, and it will be an interesting development to pay attention to as the season moves along.

-Matt Costello

5/14

-Loss in Seattle tonight. Jeremi Gonzo actually came down to earth and pitched horribly, as did Halama and Cla. Thing that sucks about Cla is he's not pitching his game, no sinker, not keeping the ball low, not throwing strikes and no command in general. Im still trying to stay positive but maybe he just cant handle the pressure of the show yet, still rooting for him to snap out of it.

-Speaking of Cla, Francona owned Holley on the radio the other day. Holley questioned Francona for leaving him in after he walked two batters before Sexsons grand slam. (as did I) Check the convo.

Francona: We bring in the kid, I told Theo before the game this is who he’s going to face, it was the two righties in the middle of the order, um, if we take this kid out just for a lefty to face a power hitting righty, who he hasn’t had a lot of success against, I’m basically telling that kid right there, oh boy, you make me nervous, I’m getting you out of there. I don’t think as a coach, that’s a real good message to send. I had the confidence to bring him into a tie game, and I’m going to bail on him that quickly – I can’t do it. Now saying that, I acknowledge that this was that kids’ first major league game what we tried to do was give him an open base, you know, against Winn, you know, in case he’s got nerves and walks somebody. You know, if he’s good, he’s going to get grounders, if he’s wild, we gave him an open base and he’s got the two righthanders to face and he should be able to get out of the inning. Again, he didn’t get out.We had Embree behind him – we always try to keep somebody behind our guys, and you’ve seen this a lot – in case something goes wrong. We had Embree ready for Ibanez, um, in case, he got, you know, we thought the worst that could happen was he’d walk somebody and give up a single. “cause he hadn’t given up a home run yet in his career. The other thing is, you said you would’ve brought Embree in, ok, if you bring Alan in, then what do you do? Say Alan’s successful –which he’s done a lot of times. What do you do then?

Holley: Silence.

Francona: I mean, you got to have an answer to that, because again, you said I was wrong, but you gotta have an answer. When you bring in Alan, even if Alan does well, and then…let me go another step further, if Alan gives up a hit, and we’re losing, then what do you do? We already got into a situation where Alan went two innings in that game, when’s the last time Alan’s gone two innings?

Holley: It’s been awhile.

Francona: It’s been a long while. Um, I guess my point is, and I try to be very, I guess I feel like I wish you had an obligation to know more facts before you make statements, I guess in your business, you probably don’t, because you’re saying it on the fly. I was in here at 9:30 that morning, studying the tapes, trying to figure out where we use this kid, and again, in a doubleheader, we used four pitchers in the first game, and I guess I just wish you would’ve thought of that.

(makes me realize there is so much going into every move, Francona showed me up anyway)



-Bellhorn is still getting on base as his walks are picking up, but his 216 batting average is abysmal. Check out this article on Dustin Pedroia, hes playing second now and could end up in fenway anywhere from a couple months to a few years, but the former will be closer to the truth if he stays consistent with the numbers he's putting up over his first season and this current one.

-Note on Gammons ripping Manny yesterday, and saying it was absurd that Michael Felger suggested he was supposably the best right handed hitter in the game. Well bostonsportsmedia.com found this quote from gammons himself in december 2004

Take Manny Ramirez. He is the classic "bad contract." He cleared waivers a year ago and nearly got traded to the Mets. He also happens to be close to the best right-handed hitter in the game, he is a very nice person without any evil intent, he has the right priorities (a World Series ring and the Hall of Fame over the MVP) and by and large played very hard.

I'm a huge Gammo fan but him ripping Manny yesterday was bizarre at best. He contradicted himself in that quote, and Pujols probably is the better hitter, but you can atleast put Manny in the discussion. When Manny goes on a month long tear crushing balls then call him out, dont do it while hes in a slump.

-Another Manny opinion, I do wish we got rid of his contract and picked up Beltran this off season. Manny is an offensive force, and you gotta love the guy, but that contract is so bad for a guy who plays shaky D at best. It's tough to pay 20 million for just a dominating hitter. (see the contract for Ortiz, David which pays him a 1/4 of that to DH) Especially when Beltran (17m), Guerrero(13m), Tejada(11m), etc, all make significantly less and are more complete players in terms of defense and energy. Don't get me wrong I love Manny but remember the meaning of economics is efficiently allocating resources, and if #24 has an awful contract, then its taking away from other places we could be spending. Also, hes a guy that would restructure but the union would never let that fly. I'm sure we can live with it, but it is worth noting how much that contract restricts our liquidity as an organization.

-Quick call worth noting, I told richie that it is a bad matchup for Giambi, and Tino to face Harden tonight. I said Tino's HR streak ends tonight as he's been pulling low 90's balls over the fence, but not against Harden throwing 99. Same reason for Giambi as his bat speed as of late could be described as "snail like" or "steroid-less". Just checked the box score and they went a combined 0-4 with 2 k's vs Harden tonight.

5/12

Off day for the sox. Heard Gammons today on WEEI talking down Manny, said Ortiz is head and shoulders above now and Tiz handles better pitchers best stuff better.

What I did was look at both of their average OPS vs frontline starters that they both have more than 10 at bats against. I didn't do this with a bias towards Manny or Ortiz, just was interested in the results
.
Pitchers used: Halladay, Buehrle, Ponson, Sabathia, Clemens, Hudson, Rivera.

Manny's average OPS against them 1.095
Ortiz average OPS against them .861

Out of the 7 front line guys I used, only 2 were southpaws. Which would seem to be an advantage for Ortiz, but Manny kills good righties too. With only 7 pitchers that had a solid sample against both of them, the results are skewed a little by Sabathia. Manny has absolutely crushed CC for over 2.000 ops while Ortiz has struggled. Keep in mind if you don't understand OPS that its on base percentage plus slugging, so a guy with a 375 obp with a 525 slugging has a very good OPS of 900. These results show that both these guys do well against the front line guys, and dont just beat up on bad pitchers. Couple other interesting OPS for Ortiz were he struggles vs Colon and Escobar, while Manny crushes them. Also, Mussina dominates Ortiz like noone else with a career OPS of .328. I didn't use Moyer or Zito but they both crank them for like 1300 anyway. Maybe Gammons was right and these results just show more of a long term results, as Manny is hitting mid 800's OPS since last years all star break, and Ortiz has no holes in his swing anymore and keeps getting improving. Take from it what you want, just something to consider.

5/11

-Wow consecutive walkoffs by Millar and Tek to sweep the A's, unbelieveable. You see a few walkoffs a year, rarely consecutive ones.

-Clement shut me up right quick, guy was dealing on Wed. Last two starts hes yielded only a single walk in each, along with no homers in the last 7 starts. Everyone knows his stuff is electric, but when he puts baserunners on hes limited in his effectiveness. When he walks noone hes 2004 Jason Schmidt. Rotation with Arroyo, Clement, Wake, and now Wade, is getting strong. On top of that your missing the best big game pitcher in the league, and Wells who is consistent and gives this lineup a great shot to win every start.

-Foulke would be the goat if Tek didn't bail him out. Was so frustrated watching him blow a 3 run lead, but the good thing is as mad as I was, Keith was much more disappointed. He's a proven pitcher, he's gonna be fine, just hoping its sooner rather than later.

-Damons rediculously hot right now, best I've ever seen him. Tek's also hitting almost 600 from the right side though he also cranked that walkoff wednesday lefty. Besides Damon and Varitek noone is really in a great groove, and the sox are still leading the majors in runs scored. This lineup is unbelieveable, scary to think what they are gonna do when everyone heats up.

5/9

-Offense came alive and we crushed a struggling Oakland team last night. Manny left the game after getting hit in the head but it was probably precautionary. Millar finally went yard after like 129 ab's. Clement and Arroyo on deck, should sweep.

-We saw our second Cla appearance, and he let up a couple runs and walked another batter. That ump was giving him nothing though, rookie strike zone. Williams asked me if i think its the patient mlb hitters, or just nerves? Probably a combination of both. Send him back down to AAA for a few weeks. The guy has pitched one inning in AAA and only 47 innings total in the minors. Dont give up on him yet.

5/8

-Wow real tough first appearance for Meredith. Hope hes ok psychologically after that disaster. He does not walk people, hes had dominating control all through the minors, so the pressure got to him. People are gonna question bringing him in with a man on 2nd in a tight game, but I liked it. My problem is after he walks the first to batters, you need to know hes rattled and pull him with Sexson coming up. Need to get him another lesser outing where he can get some outs/confidence. Cla Meredith's ERA? 81.00. Overall not worried, just gotta get him a rebound.

-Wade Miller looked awesome, very encouraging outing. Pounded the strike zone with fastballs, and was K'ing some very good hitters. Velocity was in the low to mid 90's. Bottom line we might have another frontline starter to which we pay only 1.5 million. In comparison NY pays Jaret Wright 21 million over 3 years. Miller was a former horse in Houston, until he frayed his labrum (Pedro has a partially torn or "frayed" labrum also). That injury was so severe the surgeons told him his career would be over if they operated. Instead he decided to rehab it. Theo scooped him up for a low risk high reward contract. They found his delivery was putting too much torque on the shoulder so they taught him a new one, and thats who you saw on sunday. I know its only one outing but it was crucial in that it means we might have a respectable rotation even without Curt and Dave.

-New Gammons article 5/8, always look forward to these. Gammons always has the inside scoop, and even though hes very objective hes still a sox fan.

-Really appreciating Remy lately, knows his stuff and points out stuff I didnt notice during the game.

-Best overall right handed pure hitter in the game is Manny Ramirez. Vladimir is an honorable mention, but the guy who makes that first sentence very debatable resides in St. Louis. Fat Albert puts up almost identical numbers to Ramirez, but the fact that hes getting better every year and is 24 years old is downright scary. The other statistical category Pujols excels is strikeouts. Pujols recently went 90 ab's without a K during spring training and the regular season, very rare for a high SLG guy. This stat I read in a recent ESPN the mag is truly staggering. Pujols K totals his first four seasons are 93, 69, 65, 52. Not only are his K totals decreasing but his walks are doing the opposite. Walk totals for his first four years 69, 72, 79, and 84. Quick note about Manny though, many people think hes some sort of idiot savant who just swings with natural ability. The truth is he is one of the hardest working hitters in the game, always studying tape and working on his mechanics.

5/7

- Runs scored in the AL update, in order. Texas, Boston, Balt, Tampa Bay, Toronto. AL east still dominating. TB has actually had some offense, but there pitching is gettin about a 6.00 era, with an opp OPS of .850. Opponents OPS of 850 means every hitter that faces devil rays pitching is more productive than Jeter, Pudge, Crawford, Sosa, Teixiera, etc.

-Great Outing by Clement last night. Key stat is 1 walk.

5/6/05

-Solid win today. Bronson had a no hitter into the seventh and Senor Octubre drove in the game winner in the top of 9th. That outing was also intangibly important in terms of resting the Embree and Timlin. Arroyo is really our most consistent starter now, has my full confidence every outing. This is the guy that a year ago was competing with BK for a rotation spot. He's really turning into a frontline starter. With our lineup I give him the edge in most matchups with other teams aces. Last year he was in the top 10 in opponents Avg, opponents OBP, K:BB, and HR per 9. Should be even better this year with a salary of 1.85m.

-Renteria's struggles are starting to get some attention. I went through all the SABR stats last night and his Zone Rating is not that bad despite his six errors, actually hes ahead of Orlando Cabrera in that category. I'm not worried about his defense, but his impatience at the plate was a real concern. He's a guy who can drive the ball to all fields and has always been more patient than Cabrera, but he was up there hacking away and it was noticeable. In terms of his patience at the plate I found this stat very comforting. First 15 games: 1 walk, last 13 games: 9 walks. So even though hes still only hitting .240 with a .303 OBP, his numbers are starting to creep back up. Bottom line, is he going to be worth 8 million? Probably not, but his offensive stats should smooth out and he will be a defensive staple for us throughout the season.

-Our boy Cla Meredith got called up to AAA, if he lights it up do not be surprised to see him get some innings in the show . "Portland closer Cla Meredith was called up to Triple-A Pawtucket prior to the Sea Dogs Wednesday morning game against the New Britain Rock Cats. Meredith had not allowed a run in 15 innings of work, yielding a total of five hits and yielding only one runner past second base. He converted all nine of his save opportunities and is now 27-for-27 in his career in save chances." - seadogs.com. Check out Stello's write up on him below.

-Quick injury stuff: Schillings ankle is still in the boot and hes scheduled to get out of it sometime next week, but I think theres more to it than they are letting on, that ankle is not healthy, take your time Curt. Manny twisted an ankle Wed and Renteria got drilled on the finger thurs, both left the games but both checked out fine and shouldn't miss anymore time. Probably going to send Lenny Ditardo down to AAA when Miller comes up to pitch sunday.

-Damons hitting streak is up to 12 games, in those 12 games hes hitting a sizzling .388. Random JD stat, He hit .274 with 2 strikes in 2004, the league average was .196.

-Foulke keep it up, thats 3 solid outings in a row.

-We've got to work Youk in the lineup right now, hes swinging a hot bat. He's our cheap future at 3rd base, the epitomy of moneyball. Youks OBP in college? .500. Think about it, he was on base 1/2 his college at bats, Billy Beane calls him "the greek god of walks". Speaking of walks, Jose Reyes hasn't drawn one this year, so much for the Mets leadoff hitter.

5/3/05

-Yankees new overhaul includes moving chop suey to CF, Bernie sitting and platooning at DH, and Womack to left. Bringing up Cano to start at 2nd. Your now looking at the Yankees inept and inefficient philosophy finally coming back haunt them.

NY has so much money but they spend it on old veteran all stars who will never outperform their enourmous contracts, and also have higher chance of injury which leads to dead money. During their dynastic run in the late 90's they had a homegrown talent laden core, but now in order to land whatever expensive player they wanted over the past few years they fully depleted the farm system. The money is there but the ammo for trades is now gone. If NY does not adapt to a new system they will become the new Mets in the coming years. The mystique is gone.

They are paying almost 26 million for a platoon DH of Bernie and Giambi. (like Nick said in his post, compare that to our DH #34 making 5.25 million) I'm just glad they didn't land and lockup a young stud in Beltran this offseason. Instead of a Matsui/Beltran/Sheff outfield, its Womack/Suey/Sheff. On top of this, RJ is sitting his next start with a sore groin, a 41 year old groin at that which could become chronic and add more stress to his bad knees. Another note is that RJ is on pace to double his HR allowed total from last year. The team will score runs but Cashman should be embarassed. They have so many wasted resources, and an old tired defense/bullpen. Average age for the Yankees active roster is 34 years old, and thats including 22 year old Robinson Cano who they called up today, and 25 year old pitcher Chien Wang. (As I'm writing this I just saw highlights of Tampa rocking Kevin Brown for a 6 run first inning.)

-The team we need to start worrying about is Baltimore. Mainly for the reason that if the old Yankees get it together the O's can steal enough games in the division to push the wildcard out of the east.

-Solid fill in starts for Gonzalez and Halama. Gonzo gave us a chance to win and left the game when it was tied, but that game would have been a steal against Their ace Bonderman anyway. Halama had nothing overpowering, but he walked noone and Belli's grand slam gave us the run support to win.

-Renteria is struggling. Hopefully he settles down at the plate and at short soon. ER is a guy at SS that is known to mostly be very consistent, we are paying him more than we are getting so far. For 8 mill I want fat OBP and Cabrera-like defense. Speaking of struggling Foulke really needs to get hurry up and get in a groove, 4 HR's in last 4 games. Whole pen has been awful, worst in the majors. One guy I'm banking on is Mantei. He can K any batter in the league, that fastball just explodes out of his hand, but he needs to locate it. Also, when Mantei can locate his fastball he has an effective curve, love to have a power setup guy like that. Embree, and Neal on the other hand have shown me nothing. I'm sure Theo is working out something.

-Update on Wade Miller. Pitched his last rehab start tues night and looked solid again, supposedly hit 96 a couple times on the gun. Per Gammons on baseball tonight "Miller will start sunday vs Seattle" and calls his new fastball delivery as "a work in progress".

-Saw Pedro get his ring today, still gotta root for him. Hope he gets the Cy this year. Even if hes lights out we still could not guarantee him four years, still miss having him though. If you have mixed feelings on him read the Thank You, Pedro Martinez thread on SOSH and then tell me what you think.

-I read an article on ESPN about the Astros dealing the rocket at the deadline. It was saying it will be tough for NY cause they dont have the prospects to put together a deal, and the Sox and Braves might not have the capital. Clemens is making 18 million this year and he gets a 3 million dollar bonus if he is traded. which would mean to acquire it him it would cost us about 12 million for half a season, highly unlikely and inefficient, but that would be fun to see.

Williams: Notes outside the sox

-The Following notes were sent to me by Nick Williams on late tuesday night. Notes around the AL, and some more comments on the state of the Yankees.-

Because the Wolfman has you up to date on the Sox, I figured I would catch you up on baseball outside of beantown.

First off, let’s start out with everybody’s favorite topic: the Yankees. It’s only May 3rd and the Bronx Bombers have already pushed the panic button. The Yanks shifted Hideki Matsui to center, moved second baseman Tony Womack to leftfield, and basically set up a Bernie Williams/Jason Giambi platoon, with Giambi presumably in against righties and the switch-hitting Williams playing versus left-handers. That’s over $25 million of one year money committed to two players who can’t play the field and will split batting duties. To put that in perspective, the Sox are paying DH David Ortiz $5.25 million for 2005.

I was of the opinion that the Yankees would snap out of their early funk and rip off a multi-game winning streak. I thought the night A-Rod clubbed three homers in a rout of the Angels was the coming-out party, apparently not. Since that night, the Yanks have lost 5-out-of-7 and things aren’t looking up.Tanyon Sturtze is on a rehab stint in AAA and the Big Unit has been scratched from his next start. On top of that, rumors have started to circulate that Jaret Wright might not be back until July. Meanwhile, Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina are both sporting ERAs in the 4's and Kevin Brown is coming off an outing in which he allowed a whopping 13 hits and eight earned runs in five innings against the (gulp) Devil Rays. Brown saw his ERA balloon to a mind blowing 8.25, simply unacceptable for someone making over $15 million per season.

I know it’s hard to fathom a team with a $200 million payroll missing the playoffs, but I’m beginning to have serious doubts. Now 11-16, the Yanks will be forced to shake things up even more than they have if they continue to dwell near the bottom of the AL East. It might force Brian Cashman to be an actual GM and not just sign checks. Either way, it should get really interesting.

As for other AL news:

-The Twins continue to impress me. They never seem to be out of a game and they have the best pitcher in the game in Johan Santana and maybe the soon-to- be best closer in the game in Joe Nathan. By the way, the Twins acquired Nathan from the Giants before last season for A.J. Pierzynski, who the Giants released this season in favor of Mike Matheny. But that doesn’t even come close to the biggest steal on GM Terry Ryan’s team. Remember two years ago? Ryan plucked Shannon Stewart from the Blue Jays for outfielder Bobby Kielty. Stewart went on to bat .322 in 65 games that year for Minnesota and led them to the Central Division title, finishing fourth in MVP voting in the process. He hit .302 last year and is batting .280 so far this season. Kielty, meanwhile, never lasted in Toronto and is currently a backup hitting .238 for the Athletics.

-Speaking of the A’s, Billy Beane’s moneyball lineup has average a meager 3.48 runs per game this season—a ridiculous number that tops only Pittsburgh’s 3.16 average in MLB. Top culprits: 1) Eric Chavez – just signed a big deal and is batting .200 with 2 homers and 9 RBIs. 2) Jason Kendall – the prized off season pickup is hitting .240 with no homers. 3) Erubiel Durazo - .250 and 2 homers is not enough from your cleanup guy.

-I've read rumors of Todd Helton going to the Orioles. It doesn’t make sense since Baltimore already has Palmeiro and Gibbons to play first, plus you would think Colorado would want a cheap, premiere, major league talent. Brian Roberts comes to mind but you can be sure the O’s won’t be dealing him anytime soon.

Costello: Down on the farm

The following article was written and sent to me by Matt Costello.

Well, since The Duke himself has left town, and been replaced by every teenage girls favorite GM, Theo Epstein, the Red Sox have had some success replenishing their once depleted farm system. Gone are the days when Dan Duquette or Lou Gorman would fire top prospects for adequate arms at the trade deadline (see Jeff Bagwell for Larry Andersen), and here, hopefully to stay, is a bountiful amount of talent or atleast talent at a couple of different levels. In this first piece, let’s analyze three of the top pitching prospects in the organization, currently placed at the AAA and AA levels.

Abe Alverez, considered by many to be the most Major League ready of all the prospects, has been off to a steady start in Pawtucket. Some of you may remember him from his brief appearance in the day game of a day/night doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles, in which he got roughed up and took the loss. The lanky lefty is not overpowering, topping out around 84-85MPH with his fastball. He does however deceive hitters with what Soxprospects.com calls “the best changeup in the system”, as well as pinpoint control. In his last outing, Alverez scattered 6 hits over 7innings worth of work, while striking out 6 and walking none. So far this season, Alverez boasts a 2-1 record through 5 starts, with a 3.90 ERA, an 8.5 K/BB ratio (17 to 2), and a 1 HR/9 IP line. Not bad for a guy in his second year of professional baseball huh?

The next pitcher in line to headline the Boston rotation one day (perhaps sooner than one thinks with the injury bug taking its toll) would be the big righty from Jacksonville, Florida Jon Papelbon. Drafted out of Mississippi State University where he was predominately a closer, Papelbon has made the shift to starter with relative ease. In his first full year of pro ball, Papelbon posted eye-popping numbers. Over 129 innings with Single-A Sarasota, Papelbon posted a miniscule 2.65 ERA, striking out 153 while walking 43 in the process for an impressive 3.54 K/BB rate. Papelbon, who features a lower to mid 90s fastball, as well as a changeup and curveball, all of which he can throw for strikes, has picked up right where he left off this season in AA Portland. Through 4 starts with the Sea Dogs, he has registered a 2-1 record, striking out 24 through 22 innings, while walking just two for a ridiculous 12 to 1 K/BB rate. Peter Gammons has stated more than once in his weekly ESPN.com piece that Papelbon will be ready before anyone else in the organization, and could be called up by July or August to help the Sox.

The final prospect looked at today will be top relief prospect Cla Meredith, currently with the Portland Sea Dogs. Entering tonight’s action, he boasted a scoreless streak of 14 innings, en route to collecting 8 saves in as many tries, only allowing 4 hits, and striking out 11. The right-hander throws from a ¾ angle, and is especially tough on right-handed hitters. His main pitch is a nasty sinker, which he throws anywhere from 87 through 92 MPH, along with a slider and changeup. If the Boston bullpen continues to struggle early on (league worst opponent OPS of .838), do not be surprised to see Cla get a shot at the big leagues come the dog days of summer. -M.C

-Awesome stuff from stello, all these guys are unreal good. I love how Theo's philosophy is dependant on developing talent on the farm even though we have the resources to pay (and sometimes overpay) for select premium free agents.- JT

5/2/05

-It's definately not a good thing how many guys Matt Clement is putting on base (.368 OBP so far), I was looking at the numbers and that ranks his OBP 100th best in the league, along with 8th most walks, awful. He is still somewhat effective (3-0), but we overpaid for him when Curt's Wine and dine didn't seal the deal with Pavano. I hated the Clement signing this winter, then I talked myself into loving it because I thought if he could turn the corner and develop more (some) command under Tek's tutelage we would have a gem... Yea, I'm back to hating it

-Quick bit from Baseball Prospectus the other day on Wade. "Miller will have one more start for Pawtucket before coming up to fill in the rotation. There are still some questions about Miller's endurance and mechanics". Also from Gammons new article on 5/1 he says "sox execs who attended his AAA start said he was good, not great. Miller threw between 87 and 92 mph, and sat mostly at 89, with a very good breaking ball. He doesn't have the run especially back over the plate to lefties that he had in Houston, when he threw across his body, but he has diligently worked on pounding both sides of the plate with his fastball."

-Orioles, Redsox, Blue Jays, and Yankees are the top four in runs scored so far this season. AL East kidding? Orioles got that expensive meat of the order along with steamin hot Brian Roberts. Theo's Boston moneyball that has crazy OBP 1-9. Canadian moneyball Jays run by Billy Beane disciple JP Riccardi. Then you got the 200 million dollar yankees lineup, they dont run efficient or have a farm system but with that payroll they have enough all stars to drive each other in. Feel bad for the pitchers in this division. Quick prediction: NY hits more HR's but Boston scores more runs this season.

-There are some great articles on the Baseball Prospectus: Basics section you should check out if it interests you at all. Love the 'Introduction', 'how to run a bullpen', and 'stolen bases' ones especially.

-We need Millar to start hitting for more power. He is sporting a nice obp due to his walks right now but for a strictly pull hitter in the 5 hole for the world champions his SLG% of .318 (slugging pct is total bases per at bat, essentially a power number) leaves much to be desired. With those on base machines hitting in front of him we need extra base hits and homers (Millar has zero hr's through 25 games) to drive in runs. My solution is if Millar doesnt snap out of it then you bat Tek in the five spot for now (same obp but 300 points higher slugging), hes hot and wont wear down till the season starts dragging. Millar did this last year too until the all star break. Some hitters are streaky but it seems like he is either anemic or hitting the cover off the ball for six month stretches at a time. Not a huge worry just something to think about, probably only an issue because of Millars elongated hitting streaks.