Sox Going After John Lackey

Red Sox are hopefully on their way to making a big move. This is good to see, but are you really ready to give John Lackey a 5 year deal at 17 million per? You could have just given CC that crazy money last year over 7 years, and picked up a younger and more talented pitcher. I still think that J.Lack is one of the top 10 pitchers in the American League, so this will certainly help the Sox in the long run.

If they do end up signing Lack Man, what is the rotation going to be? Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Buchholz and Wakefield or Matsuzaka or Bowden.

God Damn It Twins...Told You We Wanted the Tigers!

Once again, the Twins will fail against NY. For some reason, the Twinkies can't handle this matchup. 2003 & 2004 featured Minnesota falling to NY 3-1 in the opening series. This year, it will be no different. We needed Verlander to be a horse and win two games for the Tigers - now that that possibility is gone, we have to rely on Brian Duensing, Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker, etc...There pitching rotation sucks! It can win the Central, but no team in the Central has complete pitching. This series is over before it even started.

Onto the Sox, I am not working until 4pm tomorrow night, so I will be feeling fine tomorrow. As for the rest of you...have fun! 9:37 start. Lester will be taking his sweet time. Lackey will be fine with his pitches. We might not wrap this thing up until well past 1:30....could even be 2am!

Series predictions (Even after game 1 of some playoff series):

1) Yanks over Twins, 3-1. Twins win one more in the baggy.

2) Sox over Angels, 3-1. Josh Beckett will take a loss, surprisingly.

3) Cardinals over Dodgers 3-2...even after the Cards opening game loss.

4) Phils over Rox 3-0. Tough go for Colorado, Lee and then Hamels. Yikes! Tough for anybody. Think we should have traded the farm for Cliff Lee?

Wake Out...Again!

Not going to say I told you so...but please check out this previous article I wrote that foreshadowed the Red Sox pitching rotation.

http://www.sportsjuke.com/2009/09/trusting-clay-wake-out-of-playoffs.html

So Clay is the #3, Beckett is #2, Lester is #1. The way Beckett is pitching right now, I have no problem with him being slated as the #2. Additionally, this gives the Sox Beckett for game 5, if they do indeed plan on a 3-man rotation.

The main issue with the Sox staff, are the ups and downs they have experienced over the last month. Each of their top 3 pitchers has had their fair share of games in which they have been beat up. Usually there is a rock in the rotation - for 2004 it was Big Schill. 2007 was Beckett. 2009 does not have that same type of feeling. At anytime anyone of the top 3 could get slapped around.

When I look at the rest of the AL, however, I don't see any top pitcher than hasn't been bitch-slapped from time-to-time. CC is anything but perfect. Verlander is fantastic - but he is in no way unhittable (and he also might not make it to the playoffs). Lackey, well we all know about the Sox and Lackey in the playoffs. No contender has a main gun that is 100% reliable. That being said, give me the Sox 1-2 any day over the rest of the league. They have experience. They have dominated in the postseason at times. Wild Card only means one thing for the Sox...a World Series Ring.

Did Anybody Expect This Dice-K?

I think everyone watching MLB is shocked that Dice-K has come back as strong as he has. Remember, the Sox only brought him back into the rotation because Wake was injured, Smoltz and Penny sucked, and Paul Byrd was our next best option. Dice K was an afterthought. I haven't seen this type of turnaround in quite some time.

Here's a top 5 list of unexpected turnrounds in the world:
5) Sadaam being executed. Go from superpower to hiding in a hole to dead.
4) Bruins/Canadiens 2008 playoffs...unfortunately it didn't end well
3) David Hasselhoff turning from a drunk being videotaped by his daughter, to a judge on America's Got Talent
2) Celtics worst to first 2008.
1) Sox/Yanks 2004 playoffs

Bucching the Trend...

Is it wrong of me to feel really antsy about the prospect of Clay Buchholz being the #3 once the playoffs start? Is it me, or do you feel like Buchh might get bombed in any/all of his outings? The numbers surely show that he can succeed at the Major League level, but because of his absolute implosion last year, I am yet to give him my 100% vote of confidence. Yes, he was young last year. But, he is still young! He has tremendous stuff, but at what point does that not carry over into the postseason? Answer: It usually happens to young pitchers, who are throwing in the playoffs for the first time.

I would love to be confident in Buchh. I really would. Unfortunately, my confidence in pitchers lies only two deep on this roster...JB and Lester. Wake scares me. Dice K always scares me. Byrd shouldn't be on the roster, and might not be during the postseason.

Who would you rather have on the mound in the postseason. Sabathia, Burnett, Pettite, and Joba or Beckett, Lester, Buchholz and Wake? That is a very, very, very difficult question. I think it is a toss up. If I am right, we might be seeing another Game 7 in Yankee Stadium. Who's your daddy?