What Could've Been

I love reading reports about trades that could've happened.

Thanks to the Globe's Chad Finn, I now hate the general manager of the Seattle Mariners. In an apparent stroke of genius to try and shore up the starting pitching, Theo Epstein attempted to pull off the mother of all trades before the 4 p.m. deadline on Friday. Word on the street is the Sox attempted to acquire both Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres and Felix Hernandez of the M's at some point prior to the deadline. The ended up with Plan B--Victor Martinez--who by the way had five hits in yesterday's shellacking of the Orioles. According to Finn, who heard it from some guy in Seattle, the Sox offered the Mariners a choice of five of the following eight prospects:

RHP Clay Buchholz
RHP Daniel Bard
RHP Justin Masterson
LHP Nick Hagadone
RHP Michael Bowden
LHP Felix Doubront
OF Josh Reddick
SS Yamaico Navarro

So much for Daniel Bard being untouchable. On the other hand, to land either Gonzalez or Hernandez, I'd say that giving him up would most likely be the only way to acquire them. The loss of Bard would set the bullpen back a bit since they swapped Masterson (along with Hagadone and Price) for V-Mart but you've got to give something up to get something back. Hernandez is a top-notch talent at a measly $3.8 million. To have landed him and V-Mart would've made Boston that much more dangerous for the stretch run, especially with series against Tampa Bay and the Yankees this week.

When that first offer was turned down (holy crap, I would've just taken any of the top 5 and Reddick--that kid has a cannon for an arm), Theo tried AGAIN. This time, he brought San Diego into the mix and tried to get them to send Gonzalez to Seattle with Buchholz prospects from Boston and San Diego. San Diego would get probably 5-7 prospects total from the Sox and M's and the local nine would end up with Hernandez.

Crazy, no? A three-way blockbuster deal that could've happened. Apparently it wouldn't have immediately benefited the Mariners. Had Theo not traded for V-Mart, it's quite possible that Seattle could have received Masterson and Buchholz--both are major league pitchers. Now I hate Seattle management and I hope that somewhere they're kicking themselves for not pulling the trigger on this one.

MLB Trade Deadline

So the Sox got the bat they needed in Victor Martinez. He's no Manny, but he's from Cleveland and can play catcher, first base and DH. He could be the Sox' solution for when Jason Varitek finally keels over with broken knees and back problems. Apparently Josh Beckett expressed concern for his backstop during his last outing on Monday when he was surprised that 'Tek even made the start because of neck pain. I like George Kottaras, but a double every five at-bats is not enough to produce runs in this lineup. Nick Green has become an easy out and so has his look-alike, Jason Bay. As soon as V-Mart arrives, he'll be inserted into the clean-up spot and Bay will hit fifth (at least that's what I'd do). Also, Nick Green, please take about 100 grounders before each game that you start from here on out.

Things just never seem to work for JD Drew. As soon as he starts looking good at the plate, he ends up missing a game due to injury. I hate his contract but with that swing, nobody looks better striking out in the league. His swing is so smooth that sometimes I forget that he strikes out...oh wait...no I don't.

The other deal that Theo made yesterday was flipping Adam Laroche for Casey Kotchman. If I remember correctly, Kotchman hits well in Fenway but I think that Epstein just did the boys in Atlanta a favor. The Sox now have too many first basemen but a bit more versatility when it comes to switching guys around. I believe that this move was made as insurance for Mike Lowell. It's almost painful how slow that hip surgery has made him and if he can't get the bat going, Youk will finish the majority of the games at third base with Kotchman/V-Mart platooning at first and Papi and 'Tek inserted in as needed. Lowell will also see more time as a DH simply because he can't move.

Lastly, my thoughts on the whole Papi using steroids allegations. In 2003 there were no rules against using steroids! Steroids saved baseball. How? Two men named Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa decided to shoot up and hit a ton of home runs in 1998. Four years prior in 1994, baseball saw some bad times and didn't have a postseason or World Series. The quest to break the all-time home run record of 61 set by former Yankee Roger Maris was one that had eluded some of baseballs most prolific home run hitters. McGwire's chase of and eventual breaking of the record got America watching the game again and put baseball back on top as our national pastime. Point being, everyone did steroids back then; it's just a shame that the Red Sox' first World Series in 86 years was most likely aided by the use of performance enhancing drugs. Then again, it seems a bit unnatural to see a dropoff from 54 dingers in 2006 to 35 in '07, to 23 in '08...to be on pace for probably less than that this season. I'm just sayin'...I saw it coming.

B's Development Camp Thoughts

Summer is supposed to be about baseball, right? Well, mostly.

While there are no actual NHL games happening in these rainy, hot Massachusetts summer months, the Bruins held their third annual prospect development camp at the team's training center in Wilmington, MA. Ristuccia arena was alive again with young guys aged 18-24 carving the ice and firing pucks on net. Boston.com's Chris Forsberg was kind enough to take some video of a scrimmage featuring my classmate, local guy and former BU Terrier Jason Lawrence, who was invited to the camp after the B's signed him last season. He sat on the bench in Providence during their Calder Cup run but projects to make the roster and find his name on the score sheet this season.

Check out video of J-Lo donning number 83 at camp here:

http://www.boston.com/sports/hockey/bruins/extras/bruins_blog/2009/07/video_scrimmage.html

Lawrence is the first Terrier in a while to get a legitimate look by the Bruins. I think the last Icedog to play for the B's was Carl Corazzini but since then, the Bruins have tapped BU's rival up Commonwealth Avenue for talent with names like Andrew Alberts, Brock Bradford, Chris Collins and Tommy Cross. Blueliner Kevin Schaefer is the most recent BU product to appear in the B's pipeline but he hasn't cracked the Boston lineup and isn't on the roster at development camp. I expect him to be at training camp looking to earn more minutes in Providence this season. Maybe we'll have a few throwback power play goals potted by J-Lo with helpers from Schaefer.


The Globe's Fluto Shinzawa reported that 2007 first-round pick Zach Hamill was leading the stretching and looked good on the ice. I expect him to have a breakout year down in Providence as long as he can stay healthy and play the whole season. Last year, a broken thumb sidelined him and definitely hindered his progress. I hope to catch some of B's 2008 first-rounder Joe Colborne on tv this year as he enters his sophomore season at Denver. One thing I'll look for is whether or not he battles in the corners for the puck which was another one of Fluto's points.

One last thing. I have no idea why the Bruins signed Steve Begin. I've heard some journalists analyze it as Begin coming in to replace Stephane Yelle, but I figured Vladimir Sobotka was a virtual lock to make the team this year. Perhaps it was just for depth since Krejci and Kessel won't be good for opening day, but I thought that they gritty tough guy role had been filled by Shawn Thornton with Byron Bitz possibly stepping up and having more of a fighting role this season as well. Here's my new opening day lineup prediction:

Sturm-Savard-Lucic
Ryder-Bergeron-Wheeler
Axelsson-Begin-Kobasew
Sobotka-Bitz-Thornton (Marchand)

Chara-Wideman
Ference-Hunwick
Stuart-Boychuk (Ward)

Thomas
Rask

The B's will sign Phil Kessel and bring back P.J. Axelsson. You heard it here first (well, about P.J. anyway).

I'm also anxiously awaiting Wednesday's official announcement of the Winter Classic to be played at Fenway against the hated Flyers and the college showcase game featuring the 2009 NCAA National Champions vs. the 2008 NCAA National Champions, or BU vs. BC.

Cape League On ESPN

It's not what it seems. I watched some of the slugfest between Texas and Arizona State last night in their first meeting of the double elimination round of the College World Series. It was one of the most hyped up pitching matchups of the season. The eighth overall draft pick in this year's draft, Mike Leake, against super sophomore Chance Ruffin of Texas.

Yeah, yeah big deal.

Point being, these two could have been teammates on the Cape this summer for the Cotuit Kettleers except Leake declined his invitation from coach Mike Roberts in order to try out for Team USA last summer while Ruffin has yet to put on the maroon pinstripes.

If that had happened, or perhaps is Leake had played on the Cape last summer, the Kettleers might have won the Cape League Championship instead of being swept by Harwich. Then again, it's tough to tell since they lost so many guys in the end (Sam Brown, a pitcher, was their starting left fielder in one of the finals games). It's only fitting that I tuned in for my first Cotuit broadcast of the year when they faced the defending Cape League champs for the first time this season.

Also appearing in this game were future Kettleers Cameron Rupp and Kevin Keyes-both of whom hit the crap out of the ball. What I gathered from listening to some of Josh Weinstock's commentary during the first few innings of the broadcast tonight, the Kets are once again built heavily on team speed. What they could use are the big bats of Rupp and Keyes to drive in speed demons like Rico Noel.

Last but certainly not least was the PAC-10 Player of the Year and former Cotuit cleanup hitter Jason Kipnis. I never knew that he was a center fielder but he put up monster numbers this year at ASU. I think San Diego might be a bit upset some day for not being able to sign him and that the Indians may have found a replacement for Grady Sizemore when the Yankees sign him.

Also, mad props to new Kettleers sportswriter Steve McCarthy, I dig his game stories.

To the Diamond

It's time for me to focus on the team that is actually playing. The Sox have been a bit of an anomaly to this point in the season. The bats have been producing (most notably with runners in scoring position and two outs--they're hitting over .300) but the starting pitching has been horrible. Couple the lack of pitching with an error every 4 games at shortstop and you'd think I was talking about a team from the American League West. Strangely enough, the local nine are a game up on the Evil Empire in the A.L. East thanks to their offense and bullpen. It was common knowledge that the Sox were supposed to have one of the top rotations in the majors this season given their talented top 3 in Becket, Lester and Matsuzaka a combined record of 7-8 in 22 starts. You know it can only get better when Tim Wakefield and Brad "Lucky" Penny are your top two pitchers when they're supposed to be the fourth and fifth guys in the rotation. The solution? Go to a six-man rotation and give Clay Buchholz the spot that he has earned with his ridiculous performance down in Pawtucket. The extra rest will only help Becket, Lester and Dice-K when September comes around and the stakes are much higher. Then again, the other side of this is the roster breakdown and adding another pitcher who can only be used every six days would be a bit of a waste, not to mention the time it would take for others to adjust to six or seven days of rest. Whenever the A. L. East is won, it won't be until late September (although Toronto won't be there in the end) and I predict that two teams from the division (Sox, Yanks or Rays) will be there. What can also be done is to deal Penny for a shortstop who makes half as many errors as the Green/Lugo platoon in the event that Lowrie isn't back in full form. Dare I mention Orlando Cabrera? He plays solid defense and can still hit better than Lugo--and he's cheaper! If the shortstop situation pans out and Lowrie is the answer (which I think will happen), Penny could be used in a package to get a hitter to replace David Ortiz's production. It's obvious that Ortiz and Lugo are unmovable and Papi is well-liked in the clubhouse. A package of Penny and perhaps Manny Delcarmen/Michael Bowden/Ryan Kalish might do it for a hitter like Victor Martinez. This would ultimately mean that Papi becomes your DH only against righties and probably would play only a third of the games remaining from the time of the acquisition, maybe less depending on how well whoever it is hits. He might even benefit from spending some time down in Pawtucket trying to get his swing back--Globe blogger Chad Finn mentioned his mechanics have declined and I agree. If they don't deal for a slugger, they should bring in Saltalamacchia and have him move in with Jason Varitek so that they at least have a long-term answer at catcher. I think that the Yankees will sign Joe Mauer the same way they got Tex. In the mean time, as long as Ellsbury, Pedey, Youk, Bay, Mikey Lowell and Nancy Drew keep the runs coming, the Sox can afford to have an easy out at short with the occasional ball sailing into the first base seats.

In other news, I can't wait for John Smoltz to come back in July and beat his old mates from Atlanta. Hopefully by then the starters' ERA won't be so astronomical and the bullpen will continue to shut everybody else down. Maybe even Papelbon will figure out that keeping the ball down and on the corners of the plate will make it a lot tougher to give up game-losing dingers to third string catchers and Mauer.


Lastly, what are your thoughts on the three man rotation that NESN has implemented to replace Jerry Remy? Personally, Buck Martinez's voices bores me to death because they featured his name in an old EA Sports MLB game. I'm glad they only used him for a few games. I like both Eck and Dave Roberts because Eck provides some pretty good insight about pitching and Dave Roberts is just a cool guy who had the most important steal in Red Sox history. Then again, he seems pretty uncomfortable while Eck has been a NESN analyst for a while and knows how to talk in front of a camera (except for the occasional slip-up that cost NESN a pretty penny from the FCC). Personally, I'll give Eck the slight edge but I miss Jerry Remy.

Good to Be Back

I took a bit of a break from blogging to finish up school. I graduated. I want to go back. Ok, now it's time to get back to business. Let me start off by saying that if the Celtics and Bruins never play consecutive Game 7s ever again, I'll be content for the rest of my life. Having the top-seeded Black and Gold losing to Carolina on a Scott "Bucky Dent" Walker overtime game-winner was bad enough but then the C's laying an absolute goose egg the next night to coach Ron Jeremy and the Magic made it hurt that much more. Sad times in the Garden for sure, I hope I never see it again.

Now for more on the B's. Apparently Marc Savard, David Krejci, Phil Kessel, Chuck Kobasew, Mark Recchi and Andrew Ferrence (and Aaron Ward) all played through injuries in the playoffs. This is just insane. It's painful to think what could have happened if these six guys were healthy, not to mention Captain Zdeno's apparent bumps and bruises. I'd also like to point out that the Kessel-Krejci-Kobasew line is the second unit of forwards on the Bruins power play. Granted, the first unit usually featured four forwards with Patrice Bergeron on the point, but the second unit seemed anemic to me in the Carolina series. On top of it all, Montreal had no business making the playoffs this season. Who cares if it sold tickets? The B's barely had to do a thing in that series and it carried over to their seven game tussle with the "Tropical Depressions" as Globe Writer Kevin Paul Dupont called them. I would've much rather have seen the Bruins beat the Panthers in five or six games in the first round, that would've definitely prepared them for a battle-tested Carolina team featuring Eric "Celebrates like Ovechkin after an empty net goal" Staal. Ugh. Then again, I wonder how many goals Staal would've had if he'd played with kidney stones, mad props to Mark Recchi.

As for the offseason moves, I have a few prediction as to what a healthy Bruins lineup will look like sometime in December when Kessel and Krejci recover from their surgeries:

Lucic-Savard-Kessel
Ryder-Krejci-Wheeler
Sturm-Bergeron-Kobasew
Sobotka-Bitz-Thornton (Reich)

Chara-Wideman
Stuart-Ference
Hunwick-Boychuk (Ward)

Thomas
Rask

I see no big signings, maybe a veteran to replace P. J., Yelle, and Recchi but nothing crazy. Their top priorities are Krejci and Kessel. Bitz and Hunwick shouldn't be very difficult to ink and they may even have some room left in the cap to perhaps deal a Kobasew or Ference at the deadline if necessary.

On the other hand, this is probably what the opening day roster will look like:

Sturm-Savard-Lucic
Ryder-Bergeron-Wheeler
Soderberg (if he decides to show up)-St. Pierre-Kobasew
Sobotka-Bitz-Thornton

Chara-Ward
Wideman-Stuart
Hunwick-Boychuk

Thomas
Rask

I really hope that Boychuk cracks the lineup this season. The B's could use a scoring touch from the blueline and I'm beginning to think that anyone, even Paul Mara, is faster than both Chara and Ward.

NHL All-Star Starters--What a Joke!

Let me start off by saying, the NHL asked for Montreal fans to beat the system, and they did.

What a complete and total joke. Let's take a look at the numbers, shall we?
Sydeny Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both deserve to be starters. Malkin leads the NHL in points and assists and Crosby is the league's coverboy, ok fine. What about Alex Ovechkin? He is second in the league in points and leads the league with 27 goals--but he won't be a starter. Instead, Habs forward Alexei Kovalev will start up front with Crosby and Malkin. Granted, he's the designated sniper for Montreal, but Ovechkin more than belongs up there in his place.

Andrei Markov and Mike "Owned by Milan Lucic" Komisarek will start on the blue line with Carey Price in net. Count 'em, 4 Canadiens starting on their home ice for the All-Star Game.

How did this happen?

The NHL thought it was doing itself a favor by allowing the fans to be selective. What they didn't realize was that of course Montreal fans would go nuts at the thought of the entire Eastern Conference starting six donning the bleu, blanc et rouge. There should have been some sort of filter allowing a certain number of votes per fan's e-mail address, such as Major League Baseball does for their All-Star balloting. That way, it's (supposedly) much tougher to crack the security and stuff the ballot boxes.

The Eastern Conference wasn't the only side effected, their Western counterparts saw the same phenomenon occur. Fans will be treated to 3 Ducks and 3 Blackhawks at the opening faceoff come All-Star Eve. A grand total of 4 teams will be represented for the game's first shift. That completely takes away the fun it! People watch All-Star games to see the best players in the league. In a recovering league such as the NHL, they should have thought of a way to prevent this lack of diversity.

And now for the big finish. Here is who I think should be starting in the All-Star Game for both sides based on careful consideration and comparing stats:

Eastern Conference
C - Evgeni Malkin Pittsburgh Penguins
LW - Alex Ovechkin Washington Capitals
RW - Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins
RD - Andrei Markov Montreal Canadiens
LD - Zdeno Chara Boston Bruins
G - Tim Thomas Boston Bruins

Western Conference
C - Joe Thornton San Jose Sharks
LW - Jerome Iginla Calgary Flames
RW - Ryan Getzlaf Anaheim Ducks
LD - Dan Boyle San Jose Sharks
RD - Shea Weber Nashville Predators
G - Miikka Kiprusoff Calgary Flames

Only in a perfect world, but give me a better starting 12 than that.

My Favorite Boston Sports Moment of 2008

Not to take anything away from the Pats, Sox or World Champion Celts, but what could be any better than Game 6 between the Bruins and Canadiens? It's a shame the B's couldn't take down the Habs in Game 7 but that was easily the best hockey game I've ever been to. It's so good, I've posted some highlights here. Enjoy.

Thoughts on the NHL

The NHL has been trying to recover from the 2004-05 lockout for the last three and a half years. By choosing Sydney Crosby as the game's new Wayne Gretzky, it's allowed for numerous other young players in the league to flourish without the pressure of keeping that "poster boy" look. The most obvious player to benefit from the spotlight being on Crosby is Alexander Ovechkin.

I understand that Crosby led his team to the playoffs but Ovechkin won the Rookie of the Year award and adds a whole new dimension to his with his size. He can make defensemen nervous with his size and strength and his willingness to play the body in order to put himself in position to score. These two young superstars are pioneers in the new NHL that have paved the way for a plethora of younger players to break into the league. The two teams where it's most obvious are in Boston and Chicago.

Phil Kessel is one of the league leaders in goals, David Krejci is quietly becoming a clone of Marc Savard and Vladimir Sobotka will eventually take the place of the current longest-tenured Bruin, Per Johan Axelsson. The Boston blueline also features some young faces in Matt Hunwick and Mark Stuart with Johnny Boychuck among the league leaders in scoring in the AHL. Milan Lucic is becoming a household name because of his willingness to drop the gloves along with his scoring touch. I believe that the Bruins are taking a cue from the Red Sox by developing their youth and looking for internal solutions to fill roster spots. I'll admit, I was very distraught when the B's didn't resign Glen Metropolit, but Krecji and Co. have more than made up for it. The only problem with the B's is they may not be able to keep the team intact because Kessel and Krejci are in contract years and the Jacobs regime never pays their best players enough money. I hope they decide to change their miserly ways.

Now for the Blackhawks. First of all, they should've beat the Red Wings in the Winter Classic today. Tough luck. They also feature some of the best young talent in the league. Jonathan Toews is one of the youngest captains in league history at age 20 and Pat Kane is right on his heels in terms of production. Kane is another player who draws comparisons to Gretzky and with good reason. He more than proved that he was ready for the NHL last year by garnering Rookie of the Year honors. The Hawks also feature scoring depth from youngsters Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg and Dustin Byfuglien. Chicago will definitely be a force to be reckoned with for years to come with such explosive young talent.

As much as I love hockey, the NHL All-Star voting system is flawed. They're gonna have to fix it for next year somehow but leaving Tim Thomas off the ballot is an absolute travesty. That being said, Manny Fernandez could make the squad as well as the two are currently ranked 2 and 3 in the league in goaltending. In my opinion, Thomas, Zdeno Chara, Kessel and Savard should all make the squad and the only deserving Montreal player is Alex Tanguay. Why Tanguay? He's the only Hab I could find in the league leaders of anything worthwhile, shot percentage at number 19.

UPDATE: Andrei Markov is actually the 7th best scoring defenseman in the league. Forgive me, he deserves the spot over Tanguay.