Young Guns

The Sox are really showing that they have an incredible depth of young pitching. Two of their young starters, Lester and Buchholz, have thrown no-hitters already. Their young closer is maybe the best in the game. Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarman have shown that they might well be the Mariano Rivera to Paplebon's John Wetteland - though it's also clear that we are not there yet, a big disappointment to me regarding Mr. Delcarman

And tonight we get our second look at Justin Masterson. There's talk about his eventually being a reliever. My thoughts are very clear on this: is dumb. I don't like using sinker ballers as relievers unless they're just not good enough to start. The sinker is a pitch that you throw to contact, that you actually want people to make contact with so as to make them ground out and minimize a starter's pitch count. That is less than ideal for a short reliever.

Anyway, my point is that I'm in awe of the young arms. Clay has struggled this year and will probably be in the minors until Colon breaks down, but I still think he's going to be a good one. Lester seems to be a winner: doing what he needs to win the game, while rarely wowing you (obviously, that's an odd thing to say today). I also think the relievers are good and we'll see minny Manny playing a key (and positive) roll in the playoffs this fall.

Lastly, sorry to everyone for not posting anything for a bit. I'll try to get back on the once or twice a week horse.

Update: here is a great breakdown by the Globe on this very subject.

More Kudos to "Little Fenway"

I've posted before about "Little Fenway", the whiffleball field made to look like Fenway park in Jericho, Vermont. I love this place - even though I haven't been there... yet. They even created a Little Wrigley now.

So, I just received an email from Pat O'Connor came up with this idea and built this monument to baseball, justice, peace, humanity, and wacky pitches. Here's the email:

Greetings,

I wanted you to be the first to know that a new book titled "Little Fenway: Bigger than a Baseball Fan's Imagination" is now available for purchase via paypal on www.littlefenway.com. During the past seven years the magic of Little Fenway has brought laughter and hope to children of all ages through Wiffle ball tournaments and community events. The book describes how the idea was conceived, the design and construction of the field, and the events on this acre of land that have warmed the hearts of this Vermont community.

This 160-page laminated hard-cover book features 27 black & white and 194 color photographs. The price on www.littlefenway.com is $29.65, which is 10% off the list price. Shipping and handling is an additional one time charge of $5.35 for up to ten books.

Vermont on Opening Day: A Mixed Bag

As the self-appointed spokesperson for Vermont's province of the Red Sox Nation, I would like to express my "sincerest" apologies to the rest of the world, nay, the rest of the galaxy for the recent transgression by a pilot in the Vt. National Guard. Apparently, a pilot for the Guard was running late because he was going too fast (what?) and had to end up doing a "legitimate maneuver" which made for a nice show but wasn't quite regulation. Basically, I think this guy just wanted to go all Topper Harley but got the old Camp Johnson grounding for his screwball antics. Regardless: our bad. See the youtube here.

On a different note, Sox fans in Burlington had at least two establishments which opened up for the 6am first pitch of the season. Nectars and Kyoto Japanese Steakhouse were rocking. The Burlington Free Press had this article about what it's like to have Japanese steak and eggs while watching the Red Sox play at 6am on a school day in Burlington, Vermont. But really, who hasn't been there?

Be advised

"The word on Bartolo Colon is his right oblique (side) is still tender to touch," according to the Globe.

I note this so any resident tickle enthusiasts contain their insatiable urges. Also so that, in order to preempt any ill-advised assaults, let me point out that Colon does not giggle if you pock him in his belly, contrary to persistent rumors -take it from one who tried.

Game on...

I miss your long locks...

I stand (sit) corrected (mentally bitchslapped) by the fact that Kyle Snyder is the odd (because he's 6'8") man out in the bull(shit)pen. The Sox will have ten days to either trade that big, longhaired guy or waive him.

There's some small chance they could get something in a trade but I see very little chance of him clearing waivers and going to Pawtucket. My hope is that the rest of the league realizes how hard it is to find any reliever who can post a 3.81 ERA for a full season - as he did last year - and will be willing to trade something to not have to compete for his services on the open market. I think that the waiver system is progressive in that the worst teams get first crack at available players on the waiver wire; so, maybe a team with a good record last year might want to make a trade rather than allow Snyder to be picked up by the likes of the White Sox or Rays.

I think Snyder is a good pitcher and I was really thrown off the scent of this move by Mr. Fancona's little misdirection. Francona raved about Snyder a few weeks ago (sorry, can seem to locate that quote) which I thought meant that Tito simply had more confidence in Big Kyle than, say, Bryan Corey or David Aardsma. I thought wrong (enjoy this rare moment, enjoy it...)

Side note: this is the weirdest Web site ever.

The (bull)pending shakeup

It's logjam time after the game tomorrow. In order to start on Sunday, Josh Beckett will have to be activated, and Mike Timlin will also have to be activated shortly. That'll bump two pitchers off the 25-man roster.

In an under the (my) radar move, the Sox already had to just let go Craig Breslow who the Indians quickly snagged. Breslow, a 27 year old lefty from Yale, was "out of options" so the Sox just let him go, gaining nothing. The Sox elected to keep Javier Lopez and the non-Oki lefty in the pen. The smart move no doubt, but it's too bad the Sox lost Breslow from a selfish perspective.

Now the Sox have another decision: which two of pitchers to drop now. The Globe thinks this competition is between lefty Lopez, and righties David Aardsma and Bryan Corey. I think that Julian Tavarez and Kyle Snyder are also in the mix on this. Lopez is the safest; I don't see the Sox dumping him as the only lefty specialist.

Aardsma, 26, has the most talent; Corey is pitching the best; Snyder is proven, can start, and is a Tito favorite, and Tavarez can start without dying (and his pointing antics are a net plus). I previously wrote about this situation and hoped then the Sox could trade Tavarez and sent Aardsma down. However, that trade isn't going to happen this week and Aardsma is out of options.

The trade isn't going to happen right now because the Sox will have to release one of these guys; so whose going to pay for something they can get for free? These guys all have trade value if one of them wasn't about to go to the freebie isle.

Aardsma is out of options, according to Fox. I think he's a gonner, but my hestitation comes from the fact that he was traded for. Do you trade 2 guys for a player you then release? Hmmm.

Another factor is Clay Buchholz and Bartolo Colon. If Clay struggles tomorrow and if Colon looks good today in Pawtucket, they could send Clay down, let Snyder start 2 games, then bring on Colon. It's an option, especially if you plan to give Colon a shot at the rotation after three Paw-starts. And it might be the most prudent option.

Here's my shoot-from-the-hip prediction: they'll drop Corey and send down Clay.

What I'd do in make believe: see if the White Sox will let you undo the Aardsma trade and hide Corey in a locker until it's safe to come out, after you trade Julian.

What I'd do in a video game: trade Tavarez to the Blue Jays so that I could hit off him and because they wouldn't calculate in that I might give him away in a day, and make Snyder a catcher...

My real, imperfect preference: drop Tavarez and send down Clay.

Blogging with Coffee

Here are some thoughts as I drink coffee watching game number one:

• Dice-K is obviously all over the place. It doesn't particularly worry me; though, of course, I'd love to see him pitching better. His change looks good, his cutter is sharp, his fastball is decent and his breaking stuff is in the wrong 郡 (county).
• A's top prospect, 22 year old firstbaseman Daric Barton is hitting third this morning. In and of itself, impressive for a kid, even though he's on a team that thinks that Emil Brown is a middle-of-the-lineup bat. Ouch. But, the more important thing about Mr. Barton is that he was born in the home of Bart Simpson: Springfield, Vermont. He went to high school in California so I'm not sure about his relationship with the Green Mountains. But, I think it's safe to say that if he succeeds in his MLB career, Vermont can take most of the credit. It's only fair.
• Josh Beckett was placed on the 15-Day DL and will be available April 3 in Toronto. I may have copied that directly of the ESPN2 ticker...
• Can anyone explain to me why the only fan shots I've seen during this game were of American-looking fans wearing Sox t-shirts? I would like to see what people in Japan wear to a game, eat at a game, etc. etc. Thanks ESPN. Thanks for stepping up in this cultural exposure opportunity.
• I miss J.D. Drew? Yes. I wish he were playing. I am big fan on Brandon Moss, but he's not the same kind of bat a Drew. The good thing is that the unique roster rules of this trip allow them to have Drew inactive then active for game 3 if they chose to do that.