What's Up Doc?

Roy Halladay tossed a complete game to shut down the scuffling Red Sox offense and out-duel Jon Lester to lead his Jays to a 3-1 win yesterday at Skydome. No surprise there. I don't care what anyone says, Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball. Depending on the hour, rumors will have him going, or not going, to any variety of teams by the trade deadline. I am sure of this- no price is too high to acquire the ace. Halladay increases the championship odds of any contender that grabs him by so much, GMs should consider it a necessity to surrender whatever chips they have.

Trade him within the A.L. East?: J.P. Ricciardi is one of those GMs, like Minaya and Sabbean, who have received a lot of praise for no reason at all. Finally his stock is starting to sour. There are various reports as to whether or not he would be willing to trade Halladay within the A.L. East. If he does give him up to the Yankees or Red Sox, it will be one of the dumbest things ever done in the history of sports and Bud Selig should ban him from the game for life. How anyone could support such a trade is beyond me. "Alright, we got a bunch of prospects that might be good one day, now the top team in our division with an unlimited payroll has the best pitcher in baseball and we get to try to beat them!"
The (Devil) Rays are another story however. I wouldn't quip with trading Halladay to Tampa, mainly because they would never be able to re-sign him.

"It's better to destroy than to create what's unnecessary" -Critic to Guido in Fellini's "8 1/2": Theo Epstein's great failure as Red Sox GM has been finding a shortstop. When they could have kept Orlando Cabrera for $27 million, Theo had to go out and get "Rent-a-wreck" for $40 million. Lugo was an even more disastrous signing. I have never seen any major league shortstop play the position worse than Lugo did this year. The best move the Red Sox could possibly had made this year was to finally give up on him, long overdue.
Now it is time to get rid of Brad Penny. The guy has had some "quality" starts, but that is the best he is going to give. Clay Buchholz made it clear that he's ready to start in the Big Leagues. Penny was a worthy risk to take in the off-season, but the Red Sox don't need him now. Eat the cash and cut ties. I am personally so sick of watching this overweight fireballer go out there every fifth day and labor through 100 straight fastballs and show-me curveballs in five innings of work. Even if Buchholz does no better, he will at least add some excitement and interest to that fifth starter spot.

R.I.P. Walter Cronkite, The Most Trusted Man in America

Nomar, Wake and other notes from Red Sox Nation

It seems that ever since my previous post declaring the Red Sox the supreme team in the American League, they have hit into somewhat of a slump while the Yankees are playing like a team with a $200 million payroll. Am I concerned? Well, no. It's a long season and slumps happen. The Sox are still in first and still should be a heavy favorite. That's not to say that the division isn't an extremely tough one, and it will not be a cakewalk. The Yanks are indeed very good, probably the second best team in baseball. Their once beleaguered bullpen is now very solid, especially if they are smart enough to leave Phil Hughes in it. Their lineup is a force that feasts on bad pitching.

Meanwhile John Smoltz has not looked too sharp. Give him time, the guy had major surgery. The Sox offense has also been slumping, especially Kevin Youkilis. Despite these struggles, the team still shows the grit of a champion. After blowing a historically bad 9-1 lead to Baltimore, the Sox found themselves trailing 5-1 in the ninth the next day. They rallied with two outs to tie it and won in extra innings. This is the kind of back-against-the-wall victory that only champions pull off. For many teams such a harsh defeat may have crippled an entire season.

The Odd Season of Jonathan Papelbon: 2009 has seen Jonathan Papelbon struggle like he never has in his entire career, which is strange to say because he has still been one of the best closers in the game. He is 22 of 24 in save opportunities with a 1.89 era and has struck out over a batter per inning. At the same time, he seems to find himself in a jam every time he comes in. This is not the Papelbon of old, who gained cult figure status in Boston by dominating with 1-2-3 ten-pitch ninth innings. Just how strange has his season been? Well just look at his career walk totals. In 2006, his first full season, he walked 13 batters in 68.1 innings pitched. 2007; 15 walks in 58.1 innings pitched. Last year he walked an amazing eight batters in 69.1 innings. Like Mariano before him, the guy just didn't walk anybody, one of the most important factors in a great closers. This year? 18 walks, a career high, in 38 innings so far. Fortunately for Papelbon, his overpowering fastball and ability to get big strikeouts has kept him an elite closer despite the inexplicable control loss. However he has been looking more like K-Rod than Mariano and if he doesn't fix his control issues, this is cause for serious concern. In spring training Papelbon adjusted his delivery in order to put more stress on his legs and less on his arm so he could be more fresh at the end of the year. Could this be the explanation for his control loss? If so it seems to be negating its purpose. He already has a dozen 20+ pitch outings and if it continues, his workload by the end of the season will be greater than ever before. For a pitcher that has always complained of feeling tired at the end of the year, one must worry if Red Sox fans will see the same closer in the post-season that has thrown 25 scoreless playoff innings to start his career.

The Return of Nomar: The way Nomar Garciaparra departed Boston, it is easy to forget how much he meant to the city at one time. In his first four seasons, the guy was as good as anyone in the game. In 1999 the Red Sox went to the ALCS literally because of two players. One was Pedro Martinez, who was the pitching staff, the other was "Nomah", who likewise was the offense. It was very nice to see the ovation he got in his return, the biggest I've ever see at Fenway. Nomar was clearly choked up, and I'm not going to lie, so was I.

Wakefield: "I was telling George (Red Sox catcher Kottaras) behind the plate, 'How do you even catch that ball?' He was like, `I just close my eyes.' And I said, 'OK, I'm going to try that one, I'm going to close my eyes and swing.' And nothing." -- Orlando Cabrera on Tim Wakefield (courtesy of Boston Dirt Dogs)
The word 'unique' is used too often. There is really only one unique player in baseball, his name is Tim Wakefield, and he has started more games than anyone in the 108 year history of the Boston Red Sox. He has done so without ever throwing a pitch above 80 miles per hour. He was won 14 or more games five times in his career, and with 11 wins this year already, is on good pace to perhaps reach or top his career high in victories, which was 17 in 2007 (no coincidence the Red Sox won that year). The first time all-star will be 43 on August 2 and with the knuckleball dancing as much as ever, looks like he could pitch another ten years. Wakefield is not only unique, but is one of the most unappreciated players in the game. When he finally retires, his number deserves to be hung up on the roof in right field just as much as anyone who has played in this golden age of Red Sox baseball.