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Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Happy stories all around »
April 22, 2008
Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
109-53: With yesterday's fourth straight win over the Rangers in the books, Joe McDonald says the Red Sox have found the formula for success this season: "Battle for supremacy with the good teams in the league, while pounding the weaker teams into submission." And Joe says if they do that, they "could be on pace for a 109-53 record." (Mathematics alert: A 14-7 record, which is what they have now, projects out to 108-54. But you get the idea.) Jim Donaldson was impressed with the fact that the Sox could win a game by an 8-3 score with a lineup that was missing Manny Ramirez, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek, though it did include Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury (above). But pitching will take you far, and Steven Krasner shows in his Inside The Game feature that Clay Buchholz, yesterday's starter, is "wise beyond his years when it comes to mixing his pitches and keeping the opposition off balance." McDonald has more on Buccholz in his notebook.
You're never as good as you look when you're winning (or as bad as you look when you're losing), so 109-53 -- or 108-54 -- is a stretch. But it sure does look like the Sox have found the formula.
CHANGES: Our friend David Scott has the news that Gordon Edes is leaving the Globe for yahoo.com, and Heidi Watney has been hired by NESN as Tina Cervasio's replacement. (Scott's Shots)
QUICK FIX: Paul Kenyon reports a change in mechanics has led to a dramatic improvement in Craig Hansen's pitching at Pawtucket.
R.I.P. JOHN MARZANO: Mlb.com has a nice tribute to former Red Sox backup catcher John Marzano, who died over the weekend at the age of 45.
LOCAL BOYS (SORT OF): Foxsports.com profiles the rampaging Diamondbacks, whose GM, Josh Byrnes, used to work for the Red Sox.
BACK IN BUSINESS: For those who long for the days of the Bronx Zoo, may we proudly present . . . Hank Steinbrenner!
The Yankees were in full spin mode yesterday, less than 24 hours after Hammerin' Hank all but demanded that Joba Chamberlain be inserted into the starting rotation in a New York Times interview. So out came Brian Cashman, insisting that a) Chamberlain is staying in the bullpen for now, b) Steinbrenner is aware of, and approves, the long-range plan with Chamberlain, and c) there's no feud between himself and Hank. (New York Post) Having given the baseball's story of the day to the Times on Sunday Steinbrenner wouldn't speak to them yesterday (though Cashman did). He did, however, talk to the New York Daily News, telling them, basically, that yeah, I know what the plan is, and I'm fine with it; I was just sayin' it would be nice to have him starting now.
And this, my friends, is how controversy starts. For one thing, it reopens the Should Joba Be A Starter? debate. (Kevin Kernan of the Post says yes, and thinks Hank is a hero for saying so. Mets' relief ace Billy Wagner, of all people, tells the Daily News no, Joba should stay where he is.) Far more importantly, says the Daily News' Mike Lupica, it looks for all the world like a return to the Steinbrenner Modus Operandi we came to know so well during the reign of King George: A way "for Hank Steinbrenner to start running off Cashman the way his old man used to run off general managers and managers and even PR guys in the old days." Undercutting his subordinates, second-guessing their decisions (read: the failure to trade for Johan Santana), short-circuiting carefully developed organizational strategies because the team went 10-10 in its first 20 games . . . it all sounds delightfully familiar to Yankee-haters. Not to mention what it does for the confidence of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, whose struggles apparently prompted this latest eruption. (Andy Pettitte sticks up for them in the Daily News.)
The Journal-News' Peter Abraham lays out the reasons Chamberlain has to stay in the bullpen for now on the sublime LoHud Yankees Blog, and compelling reasons they are: Most of them have to do with Chamberlain's health. (Lest we forget, he pitched only 89 innings in 2006 because of injury and probably can't go more than 150 without risking further damage this season. Scan down to the middle of this piece from Yahoo.com's Tim Brown for a chilling assessment of Chamberlain's pre-draft medical reports.) In a later post, Abraham accurately notes what Hank Steinbrenner actually is: A full-employment service for Yankee beat writers.
And bloggers.
CALM DOWN: Always the voice of reason, Baseball Musing's David Pinto doesn't think the Yankees should be panicking about their starting rotation.
OUT BUT NOT GONE: The New York Daily News reports Alex Rodriguez may miss the same amount of time -- six games -- with his quad strain as Derek Jeter did with his, but adds the Yankees don't think he'll need to go on the disabled list.
PUNISHMENT FITS THE CRIME: In one of the tidbits of a long notes column, SI.com's Jon Heyman says Kyle Farnsworth "deserved every bit of that three-game suspension for throwing at Manny Ramirez." Curt Schilling agrees that Farnsworth's pitch at Ramirez' head was no case of the ball "slipping," as Farnsworth and the Yankees claim. (38pitches.com)
THE HURT LINE: One day into Frank Thomas' unexpected free agency, and here's the current landscape: The A's? Maybe. (San Francisco Chronicle) The White Sox? No, but they're sure interested in what's going on with their former franchise icon. (Daily Herald)
IT HAD TO BE DONE: The Sporting News' Gerry Fraley says the release of Thomas makes the Blue Jays better. Our pal Tao of Steib agrees.
THE NEW LANDSCAPE: Carlos Delgado's lack of production is beginning to draw attention in New York. (New York Post) The Post's baseball blog -- saying Delgado is to the Mets as Mike Mussina is to the Yankees -- thinks the Mets "may [go] all Frank Thomas on [Delgado] and just [release] him."
STICKING WITH SCOTT: Like Alex Rodriguez, Joe Crede is a third baseman. Like Alex Rodriguez, Joe Crede says his heart belongs to the team he plays for. Like Alex Rodriguez, Joe Crede has a chance to shop his wares on the open market. But unlike Alex Rodriguez, Joe Crede says he has no intention of straying from agent Scott Boras' advice and attempting to negotiate a deal with his team -- in his case, the White Sox -- by himself. (Chicago Sun Times)
RELAX: Sheldon Ocker examines C.C. Sabathia's struggles and concludes "whatever he is doing wrong for whatever reason probably will be only a faded memory in a few weeks." (Akron Beacon Journal)
WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL? The Cubs were told Johan Santana wanted to be traded to an East Coast team that spent spring training in Florida -- criteria they fail on both counts -- so they never got seriously involved in negotiations with the Twins. But now Santana is saying he'd have considered playing for the Cubs had they asked him if he were interested. (Chicago Sun-Times)
AND YOU THINK BAGWELL-FOR-ANDERSEN WAS BAD? The Los Angeles Times' Ross Newhan says it was nothing compared to Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields.
HEY, HEY! Confidence is building on the North Side of Chicago. (mlb.com) And one of the reasons is most un-Cublike: A high team on-base percentage. (Daily Herald)
IT MAY BE A DUMP, BUT IT'S OUR DUMP: Old friend Jay Jaffe waxes poetic about Shea Stadium on his superb Futility Infielder blog.
BLAMING THE MESSENGER: Miguel Tejada is angry at ESPN for the way it got him to admit that he's two years older than his listed age. (mlb.com)
GET REAL: The blog Fantasy Baseball Generals responds to a Mike Berardino column in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel about the lack of complete games in baseball by doing some research and noting that games "with eight pitching changes . . . [are] a small price to pay to see a [pitchers] have . . . complete [careers]."
QUICKLY: The Brewers skipped Ben Sheets' turn in the rotation because of triceps soreness (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . Tim Hudson looked like the Tim Hudson of old in his victory over the Nationals last night (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . Yes, Matt Morris is 0-3 with a 9.15 ERA and a .380 opponents' batting average allowed. But the Pirates say they're sticking with him (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . Mark Mulder's imminent return is good news for the Cardinals, because at the very least he increases St. Louis' trade options (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi would like to get African-Americans involved in baseball at an earlier age (Toronto Sun) . . . Moises Alou may return to the Mets on Friday. (New York Daily News)
OLD FRIENDS: Nomar Garciaparra hit his first home run of the season last night for the Dodgers (Los Angeles Times) . . . Justin Duchscherer struggled in a rehab start. (rotoworld.com)
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:09 AM | Permalink
Tom Clancy | April 22, 2008 11:49 AM link
Fangraphs feels Delgado may be done as well.