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.

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.