Confessions of a Mildly Dangerous Mind

All-Stars

Dang it, Teddy's outdone me again - I voted for my All-Stars a couple of weeks ago, but didn't take the time to document my decisions.

I don't disagree with Teddy's selections on any particular point, but I do agree with a few - and this is based not so much on his picks, but of the All-Star voting as a whole.

Teddy chose outfielders Vlad Guerrero, Torii Hunter, and Magglio Ordonez from the AL, and Carlose Lee, Jason Bay, and Matt Holliday from the NL.

My problem with this is that neither set comprises an actual outfield.

The AL Outfield is composed of 2 rightfielders and a centerfielder - which isn't terribly problematic. My guess is that Magglio would start in left in that scenario.

As for the NL, there are three left fielders chosen - I'm sure there's at least a passable right fielder in the bunch (Holliday or Bay) but none of those guys would actually play Center on a real baseball team.

Of course, I have the same problem with Fantasy Baseball...

Anyway, I for one am a fan of the Midsummer Classic. I watched it last year and it was a surprisingly exciting game. Yes, it doesn't matter the way it once did, and players find excuses to cop out (see the cases of not only Martinez, Pedro, but also Clemens, Roger) - but it's fun to watch. It would probably be smarter to do what the NFL does (hold the All-Star Game after the season some place fun like Hawaii), but players count on the 3-day break as a chance to spend time with their families, and of course there's the silly determination of World Series homefield advantage nonsense to contend with.

With the dilution of Major League talent the whole "every-team-gets-an-All-Star" tradition has become a little ridiculous. Of course, I think the NL will do better than Dmitri Young as the Nationals representative - probably Chad Cordero or Ryan Zimmerman, even though neither of them really deserve it.

Of course, you could do worse than Zimmerman as a backup All-Star third baseman (see the case of Cooper, Scott - the Red Sox representative in '93 AND '94) or for that matter, from the Nationals' current roster (Robert Fick - the Tigers representative in '02)

What will always make me question the credibility of All-Star games isn't just Joe Torre's habit of packing the roster with Yankees' players in the late '90s ("So Zim, how do we justify Bernie Williams this year?" - Berniewhocky was an All-Star 5 times, Torre managed all but one of those games) but the fact that two years ago Shea Hillenbrand became two-time All-Star Shea Hillenbrand.

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

Sox Stuff

I will continue my utter lack of consistency on the hindsight/foresight tip - giving a review/preview early, after giving a late one earlier this week.

Another ugly week - 3-4 against the D'Backs, the Rockies, and the Giants. And they needed to beat the woeful Giants twice to look that good. It was inevitable that Beckett would have a lousy start eventually, but where are the bats? Take away last night's 10-2 game, and the Boston offense scored 7 runs all week. The team continues to ask too much of the pitching staff, but Tavarez and Dice-K certainly looked very good against the Giants yesterday and today.

(I didn't read anything to this effect, but I do hope that "No Doubt" Dave Roberts received a standing O from the Fenway faithful when he led off the first game)

I'm intrigued by the shakeup of the lineup. Crisp and Lugo/Cora have been banished to the bottom of the lineup where they belong. Yes, I know I advocated starting Cora every day and putting him at the top of the lineup, but after his white-hot start, he's cooled down into, well, Alex Cora. If only the Red Sox could get a shortstop like, I don't know, Orlando Cabrera/Edgar Renteria/Hanley Ramirez. Nah... no way the Sox could ever get their hands on that kind of talent.

Youkilis is hitting 5th now, which has gone from the kind of thing that should only happen when a bunch of regulars are getting routine days off to a move that makes sense. Pedroia is batting second, which is where I always thought he'd end up, though I certainly didn't think he'd get there this soon.

J.D. Drew batting leadoff is the most intriguing move - it certainly worked last night. Drew is definitely an OBP guy (only .347 this year, but .390 for his career), so he makes more sense than Lugo (.313 this year, .335 career). It's also welcome evidence of the Red Sox' willingness to think outside of the box. I don't know if this was Francona's call - or Epstein's, or Bill James', or Dr. Charles Steinberg's - but it is thinking different. Last year Youk was the unconventional leadoff choice (due to his lack of speed), and now they're taking a guy who conventional wisdom says is a middle-of-the-order hitter and batting him leadoff. I like it.

The Sox have one more game against the Giants, and then a series against the Braves and the Padres - neither of whom will be easy pickings. The Sox took 2 out of 3 from the Braves the last time they met, so there is hope - but the bats seriously need to wake up.

I have to take back what I said about J.C. Romero upon his release - lousy peripherals and all. Mike Timlin has become the bullpen equivalent of throwing enriched uranium at a nuclear test site. I still like Snyder and Donnelly, but it sounds like the Sox are stuck with Timlin and Joel "The Last Son of Krypton" Piniero.

Timlin was a sentimental choice to stick - a member of the '04 World Series champs and the Last Man Standing from the '03 "Closer-by-committee" debacle. The Sox are on the hook for Piniero to the tune of $4 Million this year - apparently "White Flag" Wayne Gomes wasn't available.

The Sox' bulllpen has held its own thus far this year, but I remember '04 when Joe Torre had Quantrill and Gordon (and to a lesser extent, Jeff Nelson) pitch until their arms fell off and left them inneffective in the second half and in the postseason. The Sox need another bullpen arm stat, unless they want to see Kaji and Pap suffer through the same indignity - a scenario that seems likely given the anemic state of Boston's offense.

But what do they get and how do they get it?

I know that Troy Percival is trying to make his way back, but I'm not ready to sign up with that corporation. Keith Foulke is also reportedly contemplating a comeback - but to say that there is no love lost there would imply that there had been love there to begin with.

Jon Lester came off the DL and was promptly sent to Pawtucket - which means that, for the time being anyway, Julian Tavarez isn't leaving the rotation to reinforce the bullpen. Hey, at this point, why mess with a good thing?

To hammer away further at a theme I've hammered at before, Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen aren't going to help anytime soon - unless one or the other of them turns into one of those guys who inexplicably can't get AAA hitters about but dominates big leaguers.

Besides, don't rush anyone - see Fiasco, The: Meredith, Cla.

Of course, there's always Matt (shudder) Clement, the Red Sox' version of Carl Pavano + half a good season, and a guy who could theoretically step into a rotation or a bullpen role. The Sox owe him a lot of money, too ($8+ Million), and as far as I know he hasn't even begun rehabbing yet. If and when he becomes healthy, the Sox will be in a play-him-or-trade-him situation.

Wily Mo Pena is the hot name featured in trade rumors recently, so that's the likely lure for a bullpen arm. The question is - where does it come from? What teams are going to be sellers?

A rundown of possible partners:

Baltimore - Chris Ray is struggling this season, but he's too young and too cheap to part with. I'm sure the Orioles would love to dump Danys Baez, but there are 6.52 reasons for that - plus he's injured. I wouldn't want to relive the Chad Bradford show, and I had hoped the Sox would reacquire Scott Williamson this past offseason, but the O's have invested a lot of dollars over a lot of years on these guys - don't see it happening.

Tampa Bay - The D-Rays already have more promising young outfielders than they have room for, and I don't trust Al Reyes any further than he could throw a pitch and ruin Nomar Garciaparra's career.

Toronto - Pass. J.P. Ricciardi doesn't want to do business with the Red Sox, unless it involves off-loading a - what would you call it? - Hinskesque contract.

Chicago - The White Sox are supposed to be willing to sell parts off, but I'm sure Bobby Jenks isn't one of them. And as for the White Sox bullpen - Hey, look, Ozzie Guillen offended someone again!

Kansas City - I'll admit that this surprised me - the Royals actually have 6 relievers with ERAs below 4 - Joakim Soria (3.04), Jimmy Gobble (giggle - 2.59), David Riske (3.14), Joel Peralta (3.59), Brandon Duckworth (2.94) and Octavio Dotel (3.12).

Soria is a Mexican league find that GM Drayton Moore is unlikely to part with, I don't really know anything about Peralta, Gobble and Duckworth have never pitched this well in their lives, and you'd need a Haz-Mat suit to handle Dotel's elbow. Riske would be a Red Sox rerun.

So for the sake of reliving the past, I'll take Riske out of the equation. I'll put Soria on the Royals' untouchable list, and Dotel on the Dear-God-Don't-Touch list. The other three - Gobble (giggle), Peralta, and Duckworth might be viable - Moore traded Jeremy Affeldt for promising slugger Ryan Shealey a year ago, so history might repeat.

Texas - Another club whose bullpen is more promising than expected. I'm terrified of Eric Gagne for the same reason as I am Dotel, and as long as he's a risk, Otsuka isn't going anywhere. That leaves the intriguing C.J. Wilson (a lefty) and Frankie Francisco - a former Sox farmhand better known for throwing a chair into the Oakland stands than throwing strikes. Wily Mo would be a great fit in Texas though (great home run park, lousy outfielders) so this, too, bears watching.

Washington - We already know that Jim Bowden wants the moon, the stars, and unlimited access to Scarlett Johansen in exchange for Chad Cordero - let's just avoid that road altogether.

Cincinnati - David Weathers is a decent closer for the worst team in the worst division in baseball - not exactly a ringing endorsement. That and the reason the Reds traded Pena to Boston in the first place was that they had too many outfielders. Even with the Austin Kearns trade, that hasn't changed.

Houston - A couple of weeks ago, Lidge probably could have been had - but would have only agreed to a trade had he gone some place he could have closed, which wasn't an option in Boston. Now, he's apparently had a brush with medieval history and has turned into a shutdown closer again. The Astros, making their home at the other homer-friendly Texas ballpark, could certainly use Pena's bat, but they probably still think of themselves as contenders and their bullpen is split between guys that they can't afford to lose and guys that no one would want.

Pittsburgh - Jason Bay and Xavier Nady are the only guys who can actually hit on that team, and Pena's not really an everyday centerfielder, so not a good trading partner. Matt Capps and Damasao Marte are intriguing, and hey, you only need to scam a UMass alum to make a trade there.

San Francisco - I'd love to say that the Giants have another future Joe Nathan to spend here, but I don't really see it. Besides, Brian Sabean only likes position players who are halfway to Social Security - Pena's too young for his taste.

Colorado - Because Dan O'Dowd has been operating the Rockies' post-full-frontal lobotomy for some years now, he's considering trading closer Brian Fuentes. But with three young outfielders (Hawpe, Taveres, Holliday) - Colorado isn't really a potential trading partner either.

So there are options out there, just nothing safe, obvious, or apparent.

Here Come the Yankees

So the Yankees' won 9 games in a row and 10 out of their last 11.

Ho, hum

Don't get me wrong. I don't ho hum this in a dismissive manner - just with an utter lack of surprise.

A few weeks ago every sports columnist in New England was racing to stick a fork in the Yankees like hipsters trying to take credit for "discovering" a new band. I can't wait to see the round of columns in which they scold their readers for believing in this notion, all the while disavowing the fact that they were the ones who perpetrated it in the first place.

(Here's a freebie for Dan Shaugnessy - "For all you "idiots" still living in 2004, I have another year you might want to think about - 1978")

Kenny Williams could have taken a Bobby Abreu for Jermaine Dye trade, but turned it down. Since then, Dye has continued to disappoint, while Bobby Abreu has gone crazy Broadway style. Of course, the results could have been the same had the trade been made - putting on pinstripes seems to be the equivalent of sewing a big red S on the chest of underperforming players (or to put it another way, Truth, David Justice, and the Yankee Way).

I have a friend - a White Sox fan - who expressed hope that his team could swing a Mark Buehrle-for-Melky-Cabrera deal with the Yankees. Had the Yankees continued their poor play, and had this resulted in Cashman being fired and the Boss taking over the reins of the organization himself again, this might have happened. Unfortunately for those of us who root against the Yankees, Melky Cabrera is exactly the kind of player that Cashman would not trade for a rent-a-player or, more likely, at all.

I took some fleeting pleasure in seeing the Rocket outdueled by Oliver "O-Face" Perez yesterday, but of course they bounced back today to win 11-8 in game that featured a rogue's gallery of grotesque ERAs. I mean, Scott friggin Proctor was the only pitcher on either side with an ERA under 4 (at 3.28 he's way better than I've ever given him credit for).

To sum up, in order of appearance:

Mets:
Glavine: 4.67 - Isn't this guy supposed to be closing in on 300 wins?
Schoeneweiss: 6.65 - Further proof that being a lefty guarantees you a job for life.
Mota: 7.20 - If steroids are "performance enhancers", I'd hate to see this guy unenhanced.
Sele: 5.25 - Ah, the meltdown artist in Boston who inspired Lowe and Clement

Yankees:
Clippard: 6.62 -Desperation is now spelled T-Y-L-E-R
Vizcaino: 6.06 - He's pitched 30 times this season. Is Torre trying to get himself fired?
Proctor: 3.28 - Pass
Farnsworth: 4.94 - All that, and he resents Clemens!
Rivera: 4.50 - Isn't this guy supposed to be the best closer this side of Kyra Sedgewick?

Ah, New York, New York - if you can make it anywhere, you can make it there.

So, the Yankees aren't going anywhere - and despite what happened today, their pitching is catching up to their hitting, which certainly isn't the case in Boston. The sickening sense of dread that is all too familiar to Red Sox fans should be settling in any day now.

No Cure for the Common Cold

I realize that I spend way more time writing about the Yankees than Teddy does writing about the Red Sox.

This is a symptom of the rivalry - Red Sox fans are obsessed with the Yankees, and Yankees fans (excepting my collaborator on this blog) really don't care about the Red Sox.

Case in Point: as I mentioned earlier in this post, and in at least one previous post, a lot of ink was spilled by Boston writers in the past month about just how done the Yankees allegedly were. Had the roles been reversed, with the Red Sox floundering, do you know how much coverage it would have gotten in the New York press?

None. Nada. Zippo.

Because while Red Sox fans enjoy Yankee tribulation as much (if not more) than they do Red Sox success, Yankees fans simply do not care.

Who can blame them? For a Red Sox fan, it's a matter of "What's going to go wrong next?" For a Yankees fan it's, "Whatever, we're going to win anyway."

I like to thing that I've risen above most of the rivalry - I have never participated in a "Yankees Suck!" chant, and as I always like to tell people, one of my best friends is a Yankees fan. (Hint: he also posts in this space)

But while a Yankees fan can put the Red Sox out of his mind, I, as a Red Sox fan, am incapable of reciprocating.