« Game Story - Timlin looks good but PawSox lose 5-2
Main
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Red Sox Yankees preview »

Baseball Today: Friday, June 1

WELCOME THE SINKING SHIP: So here come the Yankees (AP Photo). Good thing, says Steven Krasner, because the Red Sox can use a breather in their schedule. (projo.com) Before dismissing that as sports writer nonsense, consider that the New York Daily News has found a major-league scout -- speaking, obviously, on condition of anonymity -- who says basically the same thing. Among his observations:

-- "This is just not a good team.''
-- ''I don't think they'll pull out of this. I don't think there are enough players on this club to do it.''
-- ''The bench is terrible.''

And there's more, such as the scout saying Bobby Abreu ''looks like a piece of garbage'' and that they should ''forget about'' depending on Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina, who he thinks will show their age as the season progresses.

Music to your ears if you're a Red Sox fan, and fightin' words to Yankee fans.

NO SLACK: The Yankees, by the way, don't expect any sympathy from the Fenway Park crowds over their struggles. (New York Post) Odds are pretty good you got that right, boys.

WHAT FANS REALLY WANT TO KNOW IS . . . will John Henry's financial problems have any effect on the Red Sox? (yahoo.com)

THE STORY CONTINUES, AND AREN'T WE ALL HAPPY ABOUT THAT: The New York media reported that Cynthia Rodriguez had left her husband in wake of the Stray-Rod stuff, but it turned out she was leaving her New York apartment to join her husband in Boston, where they walked smiling, arm-in-arm, in the streets. The Post continued its quest for a Pulitzer by tracking down the identity of A-Rod's Toronto companion, describing her as a ''diminutive damsel'' and ''a corn-fed Catholic-school girl from Iowa''. Corn fed?? A-JOKE: That's what the Daily News' Mike Lupica says the Yankee image has become, thanks to Rodriguez.

IN OTHER NEWS: It looks like Jason Giambi's season is over (New York Post). But his troubles may be just beginning. (New York Daily News)

ADJUST YOUR HISTORY: Buck Showalter thinks 1995, and not 1978, is a more apt comparison to the situation the Yankees are in now. (New York Post) FoxSport's Kevin Hench doesn't mention '95, but he agrees that a repeat of '78 just ain't happening.

THE MORNING AFTER: The Boston Herald's Tony Massarotti thinks both the Yankees and Roger Clemens are probably regretting their deal these days.

IT'S A NEW YORK THING: The Mets have injury woes of their own; Carlos Beltran is the latest casualty. (New York Daily News)

AT LAST: Mike Timlin finally had a performance worth talking about at Pawtucket, and now the question is: Will the Sox recall and reactivate him for this weekend's series? (projo.com) The story also notes that Runelvys Hernandez exercised the 'out' clause in his contract and became a free agent.

WAKE ME WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS: Mark Teixeira says the recent trade talk -- some of which has him headed to Boston -- doesn't concern him. (Dallas Morning News)

MONEYBALL: Both the Red Sox and Yankees have two players on yahoo.com's All-Overpaid team. Can you guess who?

THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID: Last weekend, Joe Posnanski wrote an absolutely fascinating look back at Bo Jackson, whose legend -- for the Superman-esque qualities of his physical skills and not the flawed assemblage of baseball talents he possessed -- grows to this day. In his latest entry on The Soul of Baseball blog, Posnanski relates that a reader sent him a long, detailed e-mail asserting that Jackson was overrated as a baseball player. To which Joe says he was tempted to send back the following note:

Friend,
I'm sorry we missed each other. I hope we can have lunch soon.
Sincerely,
The Point

I don't know that there's a writer in the world who hasn't had that feeling at one time or other.

HEADED FOR THE SIDELINES? If Major League Baseball agrees with the umpires' contention that Gary Sheffield threw the stub of his broken bat in the vicinity of plate umpire Greg Gibson on Thursday night, the Tigers' DH could be facing a suspension. (Detroit News)

THE LAST STRAW: Two nights after a total meltdown in the bottom of the 12th inning at Shea Stadium, the Giants traded closer Armando Benitez to Florida. (projo.com/AP)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:07 AM | Permalink