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The Sox have done a good job this season of stepping up their game against the Yankees, and they should be able to do so again. They've had trouble with Anaheim and Texas before, so they need to come through and play well against them in the upcoming series. The Sox are 14-7 in August. If they take care of their own business...They'll be fine

Zenny, It makes me shutter to think of the Red Sox catching situation right now. Mirabelli is good, but the backups....well...aren't. The Sox are gambling right now, and we hope that it pays off...3 more games. On WEEI last night Francona and Theo said Mientkiewicz could also catch in a pinch. No matter how you slice it, that's not a good situation to be in. Taking nothing from those guys....but they simply aren't Major League catchers....

With the MLB rules, I'm not usually 100% sure. This is quoting the article I posted a while ago: So I am officially correcting myself here. IF the Red Sox are the ONLY team to have claimed Roger, than that makes them the only team who can trade for him. IF another team (in the AL) with a worse record than Boston did claim him, he can only be traded to THAT team. So the appropriate question is: Did anyone besides the Red Sox put a claim on Clemens? The one thing that I am 100% sure of is that Roger CANNOT be traded to the Yankees before September 1st (and if he were traded after September 1st, he couldn't play for them in the playoffs anyway)

Last night's game was a tough loss. We find out if this team can rebound tonight. We need a good start from Wake, we need to take the next 2 and win this series. At this point of the season, tied with Anaheim, we need to win every game we can. Go Sox!

September's going to be interesting. I think the last week is a VERY good example of how unpredictable baseball really is. In the last week: The Red Sox gain 5 games on the Yankees The Guardians go from contenders to pretenders CAN the Red Sox catch the Yankees? Yes. WILL the Red Sox catch the Yankees? Not so sure. While I believe that we have a better overall team, the Yankees have a FAR easier schedule ahead of them. They are going to feast on teams like Tampa, Baltimore, etc while we have games against Oakland, Anaheim, and Texas remaining. To catch the Yankees, they are going to have to collapse completely against some pretty bad teams....and I just don't see it happening. 6.5 games in a little over a month is a HUGE feat. The Red Sox need to focus on themselves right now. Focus on winning every game, NOT on the Yankees. The Red Sox' fate is in their own hands. They will have head to head games against each of the wild card contenders from the west, and 6 games against the Yankees. It's going to be a fun month, and while I would be thrilled with the AL East Title, I would settle for the Wild Card, because this team can be very dangerous in the playoffs. Go Sox!

I knew the Roger Clemens thing would get a rise out of RSN. Tons of players get put on waivers without a deal in place. Many teams that want to shed payroll, guage interest in a player, make roster moves, etc put players on waivers and NEVER intend on trading them. In fact, it is often speculated that players are put on waivers in mass quanities in order to mask a potential deal. They'll just pull a player back who gets claimed. What does this news mean? According to the article I posted a while ago, this means that Roger Clemens (if traded) can ONLY be traded to Boston. Theo probably put the claim in because they knew the Astros wouldn't just let Boston take Roger for free, and they wanted to prevent the Yankees from having a shot at him. Will Roger return to Boston? Probably not.

Let's hope that Ramirez becomes the next Tejada....that'd be awesome. Scouts HAVE been wrong before though. Also, having never seen him play, Ramirez reminds me of Alfonso Soriano a few years ago. Everyone loved his skills, but he put up bad numbers, then finally he was given a shot to play, he starts to succeed. Thoughts?

More stats (these I compiled by myself): The 5 starting pitchers July vs August #s July Name/ERA/W-L/WHIP/BAA Schilling/4.15/2-1/1.17/.270 Martinez/5.45/3-1/1.24/.248 Arroyo/2.83/2-0/1.00/.225 Wakefield/3.75/2-1/1.38/.307 Lowe/5.66/3-2/1.74/.310 August Name/ERA/W-L/WHIP/BAA Schilling/4.30/2-1/1.18/.257 Martinez/1.17/2-0/0.91/.217 Arroyo/4.35/1-2/1.24/.241 Wakefield/7.85/2-1/1.27/.247 Lowe/3.66/2-1/1.35/.275 What do these stats mean? Whatever you want them to mean. What I see, is that with the exception of Bronson Arroyo, ALL of the starters BAA and WHIP have gone down from July to August. Schilling's ERA is about the same (up a little), Lowe and Martinez have dropped, Arroyo/Wakefield have raised. The rotation's record in July: 10-5 The rotation's record in August: 8-5 Overall Red Sox pitching staff for July: ERA/W-L/WHIP/BAA 4.67/14-12/1.41 4.23/9-6/1.15 Granted, the sample size is smaller, but half way through August, the Sox are playing .600 ball, vs .538 in July.

In his latest article, Peter Gammons offered up this interesting statistic: So one can argue that the difference between Cabrera and Nomar defensively is pretty significant (which we already knew), and I expect Cabby to return to .280 BA/20 HR/80 RBI type numbers soon. Plus, Mientkiewicz helps this a lot, too. So, the goal of the Red Sox management was to improve defense. It looks like they've accomplished that goal...

Can't really follow that Jethro post, but I remember every game I've ever seen at Fenway. My first, the Red Sox beat Detroit (don't remember the score) because of a Cecil Fielder error. Luis Rivera (who my dad hated at the time) caught the final out. We were sitting on the right field line quite a few rows back, and had a great view of Tom Brunansky in right field, but not too much else. That was most memerable, as it was my first.

I'm impressed. This is the type of game the Sox have to win. The close ones, the grinders. Things looked bad down 4-2 with Pedro on the mound, but they fought back, the bullpen held it down, and the Sox got a key walk, and TOOK ADVANTAGE of Woodward not turning 2 on Damon's grounder. Cabby gets a game-winner, should be a huge confidence booster. Granted, it was against Toronto, but this was a solid win. I like how Pedro stayed in the game and kept the Blue Jays from busting the game open. I like how Timlin/Myers/Foulke kept it tied. I like how Cabby got the clutch hit, and how Roberts worked the walk in the 9th. Any day we win and the Yankmees lose....I wake up smiling.

I don't actually think I was being that negative...I said Youk would go down in production, but come back up. Arroyo is doing really well this year (considering he wasn't even supposed to be in the rotation) and he has shown good signs. But would you count on him as a #3 starter facing off against other #3s? I love Wake, even said good stuff about him in my post. Alvarez is a good prospect, but will he be ready in 05? Doesn't seem like the Sox are ready to give him that #5 spot if he's still in AA right now. Granted I post a lot of things that can be considered "negative," but I like to think I'm more "realistic" than "negative."

What a huge slap in the face to Ricky G. Saying "We'd rather have a first baseman who's played second in the majors ONCE before than start you" has got to piss a player off. I like the move because it proves Francona has SOME balls. Or maybe he's just a crazy lunatic.

I love Youk, I think he's ready NOW. No reason to sign Beltre (for big $$) when you already have a cheap platoon of Mueller/Youk for 05. Then in 06 it's Youk's full-time job. Keep in mind that Youk will get worse before he gets better, once teams have seen him a second time around. That being said, I think he will adjust, and be a successful MLB regular for the Sox. MKZ is an awesome player to have around. Keep him please. Millar's got a decent bat, but he's too one-dimensional. He can't play defense, can't run, bunt, work counts..... I like having Pokey around. He's got a GREAT glove, and is a VERY valuable player off the bench. He's fast as hell, I wish the Red Sox would run him more. Keep him. Pedro's a keeper. I like Nomah555's idea of possibly moving Cabrera to second and resigning him. He's got a great glove, and a good attitude (seems like so far at least). This, of course, ONLY if the Red Sox can sign a guy like Renteria. Otherwise, I say resign Cabrera and keep him at short. Either way, keep Orlando. Tek: Hardest decision on this list. Shopp doesn't quite seem ready, and Mirabelli every day is a bit of a scary thought. If Tek demands a lot of money, he's got to GO. If he comes back for a reasonable price...sign him to a 1 or 2 year deal (no more than 2). Williamson might not pitch in 05...So the Sox have no choice but to let him go. D-Lowe goes unless he comes back for CHEAP. I think that covers all CURRENT Sox players. What the Sox will need: Another starting pitcher. With D-Lowe gone, the Sox will need a #3 starter. Wake/Arroyo are solid 4 and 5 guys, but the Sox one more starter to slot into #3 (2 top flight starters if Pedro leaves) Setup men. Timlin/Embree are struggling, and Williamson's most likely gone. Foulke's done a decent job closing games, but we need people to bridge the gap from starters to Keith. Shortstop. I like Cabby, but if a deal can be worked for Renteria....I say grab him.

I found an article from ESPN explaining how waiver deals work. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor...yson&id=1860265 In case anyone cares.

Yeah, you could do it with photoshop, you just have to have a lot of time on your hands (and the application of course).

Contreras definately has a bad history against us, but how will he fair with much LESS pressure on him in Chicago? Seems like Contreras does really well against the bad teams, but struggles against decent lineups. We are definately a decent hitting team, so we SHOULD score some runs. Wake is coming off a record setting outing (giving up 6 homers) but Wake was never one to have his confidence shaken by one bad outing. He'll keep floating up the knuckler today, and let's hope he dominates! The defense looks like its really starting to improve, which should help all pitchers down the stretch. The offense is really clicking right now. This series is big, as Chicago's 5 games behind Minnesota, and 5.5 games behind us. They NEED to pick up a series win in this one to stay afloat. The Red Sox need the series win to establish themselves against a contending team.

I think we as Red Sox are so used to failure, it's so easy to expect it with every slump this team goes through. It's hard to find optimism sometimes...but now it's relatively easy after we pounded the D-Rays three straight.

Do you get some sort of joy from photoshopping Yankee clothes on Red Sox players?

Sheff says a lot of things, that's how he is. He's in pain right now, and it's frustrating. Understandable. The bottom line is: Can he recover in the offseason? I hope so, because I never wish injury on any player (even Yankees).

A win is always good, a Pedro shutout better. Three in a row, let's ride the momentum into the Chicago series!

I think it's pretty obvious Francona isn't my favorite manager...but I'm not sure any of these guys would be much better. Brenly won a world series with a very talented Dback team. Who is to say that was Brenly's managing? Jimy Williams has already failed in Boston Carlos Tosca is like Francona. No record of success. I voted for 'other'

Tom Glavine is a hall of famer and a class act. It's too bad about the injury, I'm glad he's OK.

Yep, nice win. Let's hope this is the start of a winning streak! Maybe the bats are waking up! By the way, Orlando made some good plays yesterday too, and Youk made a diving stop to kill the first inning rally. Possibly a momentum turning play. Defense actually helped us instead of hurting us! What a great sign!

Yankshater, One could argue, however, that even without Pudge the Tigers would improve in 04, because, frankly, they couldn't possibly play THAT bad again... I agree that Pudge has proven his value by bringing Detroit into respectability....and Pudge last year turned a good team great (Florida). The Tigres have also picked up Jason Johnson, Fernando Vina, Rondell White, and Ugueth Urbina in addition to Pudge...So that's got to improve that team also. Granted, Anaheim also picked up Escobar, Colon, and Guillen, so the same argument can be made against Guerrero. As I said, it's close between the two...and I picked Guerrero