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Ortiz will become a dangerous hitter again this year. He won't be David Ortiz dangerous, but he might be Mike Lowell dangerous. His plate control still seems solid, but he struggles to catch up to fastballs or make good contact with off speed pitches. Pitchers continue to work him carefully and I think he will have an OBP this year of .370 or so when all is said and done. Not horrible. Let's be honest here folks, nobody suddenly becomes as bad as Ortiz is now. Not even if they stop taking steroids. There may be some linkage to steroids, or there may not, but his performance this season is filled to the brim with slump. In addition to whatever else (roids, age, Manny, injury), he's very, very cold. He will break out of it one way or another and will be better than the other options they will have for his spot.

Couldn't Texas use someone like Brad Penny too? Just as a throw in? I mean, he's only given up 3 in the 5.2 that I've watched today (on the road against LAA that isn't horrible, IMO... it keeps them in the game), but they have so many pitching options when Bowden and Buchholz are thrown into the equation and with Dice-K and Smoltz coming back. He's legitimately a #3ish AL starter and he could be a nice addition as part of a package for one of the TEX catchers.

I paid extra for the premium and have been disappointed so far. The feed seems better on the regular setting, the DVR function seems to work only occasionally, and about half the time I'm told that the premium isn't available and it is switching automatically to the regular mode. Frustrating, because I'm pretty sure my internet connection and computer aren't the problem.

His delivery and ease of velocity really reminds me of Justin Verlander more than just about anyone else. He doesn't have the 'squat' hard-thrower's approach of a guy like Wagner or Zumaya. The ball gets about halfway and seems to explode toward the plate. If he can do nothing but throw strikes then he should be as useful as Manny Delcarmen right off the bat. If he can mix it up at all he could be setting up by the end of the year in my opinion... if Ramon Ramirez will let him get anywhere close to that role. There should be an awful lot of competition in that pen throughout this season and moving forward.

It is if your team is 12-22 and, frankly, the teams listed all were good and finished well except for injuries.

Buchholz pitched again today at AAA Pawtucket. 0 ER 8ip 4h 0bb 11k Season line: 2-0, 6 gs, 35ip, 16h, 10 bb, 37k, 1.03 era, 0.74 WHIP

I think Joba looks like an ass when he celebrates, and I get pumped up when Sox pitchers celebrate after a big out. I like to have it both ways. That said, Joba is, in reality, a pretty unproven starting pitcher who seems to think he's pretty badass--hitting players, yelling at (near?) umps, and pulling off his glove as he struts around the mound after a K. I think he looks like a fool being so cocky, but its fine because it hasn't manifested itself with much success yet. He certainly wasn't celebrating when he was being attacked by flies and blowing the game in the playoffs a few years ago and he wasn't celebrating after their loss to the Sox the other day. I think that celebrating and getting pumped up has its place in the game, even in the middle of a game, even if a player's team is losing. I can imagine Beckett pumping his fist and yelling when he K's a guy in a tough situation if he was previously down 7-0 in the 1st inning but his team has come back to tie it at 7-7 and he gets out of a jam to keep it that way. The point is that sometimes it is appropriate and works, and sometimes it is just a waste of energy. The unfortunate thing for Joba is that he seems like the only one on the team who actually gives enough of a s*** to care or celebrate and so his celebrations go pretty much silently into the wind. The stadium is half full of fans who don't care much and their team isn't good enough to back it up right now. Overall, I prefer seeing Joba lose and celebrate than seeing him not celebrate and win. Keep it up CHamberlain.

uncontested SB, ratcheting up the pressure a bit more. Beckett doesn't have an out pitch. I wonder why nobody ever taught him a slider or a split.

Completely wasted, absolutely unnecessary tie game. Bartlett with the Alex Cora, game tying sac fly. f***ing christ.

His arm has dropped and his pitch is moving all over the place. Needs to throw curves or be taken out.

4 pitch walk. Not how you win.

A bloop double for the Rays... watching that BABIP rising, rising...

Crawford's hit is the type of thing that the Rays have been getting against the Sox lately.

If being dropped in the batting order is enough to cause Papi to be emotionally distraught and prevent him from ever recovering then he's probably a lot farther gone than anyone knows. Just sayin.

This brief comment actually highlights something I was thinking about while watching tonights game. The Sox used to really struggle with Scott Kazmir, but they seem to have figured him out much better over the past two seasons or so. I'm hopeful that the same process will happen with Garza (who seems to be the current Sox killer).

Well, a start is that Daniel Bard has been called up for tonights game. http://soxblog.projo.com/2009/05/daniel-bard-cal.html

So I've seen: -Another power hitter -Get more excited against the Rays (like against the Yankees) -Take the Rays more seriously -Relief pitching -Luck I'm hopeful it is more of the last one than anything else. ORS makes a good point with the BABIP, but I'm not sure how to adjust for that. Having watched the games I can think of a few lucky hits that have fallen in (how about Crawford's "triple" the other day--a pop fly that bounced on the LF line, over a sliding Jason Bay and coming to rest at the base of the Monster--that's a triple for crawford, an out for other players and a foul ball with a different ump). Next hitter flies out to RF and its an easy run. Sox haven't had many runs like that against TB. I don't buy into the "Sox don't respect the Rays enough" thing. I think they do. I think they took game 7 seriously last year and it can't be lost on them that EVERY ONE of the Sox pitchers has been systematically destroyed by the Rays at one point or another over the past few years. One hope I have is that with the Rays newfound success they will find it much more difficult to draft the stellar crop of players they have recently. Sorry, but Evan Longoria won't be sitting at the 25th pick and neither will Upton or Price. They will still have a shot at some good players--just like the Sox do--but its much more of a crap shoot. A team with a low payroll and some missed drafts can set itself back pretty well. THey've mitigated that by signing some of their guys to longer term deals (Longoria in particular) but still, in 3 years they shouldn't have the cost-controlled All Star caliber talent pouring into the system anymore.

This may come off as a rant, but I'm curious what my other intelligent posters have to contribute: If Theo were to focus exclusively on helping this team to beat the Rays, what would he need to do? Improve the offense? Improve the Starting Pitching? Improve the Bullpen? How about improving defensively? Could that make the difference? Let me explain further where I'm coming from: Here's how I break down the teams currently: Offense: Even The Sox have built a team on OBP, professional ABs and consistency. The Rays have built their team on atheleticism, power and youth. Over the long run I would rather have TBs offense, and I might prefer it currently. At the same time, it is hard to argue with the ABs guys like Pedroia, Youkilis, Bay, Drew and Lowell will provide day in and day out. A draw in my eyes, two devistatingly good offenses. Starting Pitching: top 3, slight edge to TB, top 5, slight edge to BOS. This is a close one for me, and not a call I make lightly. I think both Kazmir and Beckett have #1 type electric stuff but neither has shown it consistently for the last year +. I think Lester and Shields should both be solid #2s, but Shields has been more consistent with less stellar stuff for a longer time and has the edge. If Lester can put it all together he should be the better pitcher, but just isn't right now. Garza showed that he can be a big game pitcher last year and his stuff is more overpowering than Dice-Ks. Dice can get guys out and has shown that he is not to be taken lightly. On their bad days I'd take Dice to work his way through it, but on their best days I think Garza is harder to hit (still very, very close). Sonnanstine and Niemann I think are pretty beatable, and I would rather have Wakefield and Penny, but in their 9 meetings so far this year, a pitcher other than Shields, Garza and Kazmir has only started once--the Sox don't seem to see much of those other guys... hopefully that will change and they will get a shot at the fleshy underbelly. Bullpen: Edge Red Sox I don't think there's much question here. The Sox pen is filthy on paper and in real life and as long as guys like Lopez don't get the ball at crunch time, they should be in good shape. With guys like Masterson (starting currently) and Bard (literally blowing guys away) as potential late-season add ons, this one seems like an easy call. Defense: wash, lean TB I'm not sure how to even judge this, to be honest (perhaps someone can help). I've watched a lot of both teams and both teams seem to make most of the plays. I'm sure there's stats that would lean it one way or the other, but I don't think it is obvious. TB has better speed and arms in the OF, but is younger and seems to make poor choices and some bonehead defensive plays, especially Upton in CF... again, not sold on leaning TB, just feel that way. So what can the Sox do to make a significant impact on this rivalry? To me, it seems that if they can beat the Rays consistently, they will be the best team in baseball. The answer that comes to my mind is obvious: adding another quality SP. In my opinion, the Sox will continue to be a 90+ win team for the foreseeable future with their current team. They are simply better than most other teams by a pretty significant margin. They just arent significantly better than TB in the areas that matter most. Adding another top flight pitcher would be more beneficial in the Sox vs. Rays rivalry than adding another power bat--even with Papi being s***** as he currently is, even with a hole at SS and at catcher. Even with those things, either team seems capable of scoring runs against any of the other teams pitchers on any given night. That's why I think that adding a different SP--someone the Rays haven't become accustomed to yet--could change things up a bit. What names do I think could accomplish that? Hard to tell. I think Buchholz has stuff that is as good as almost anyone, but so does Price, so they may ultimately negate each other and have a big impact on this rivalry. If the Sox really wanted to improve their hand for the foreseeable future they would need to land someone who is electric and overpowering--otherwise they will be in this position for years and years. Perhaps a healthy John Smoltz for 2009 could be that guy temporarily. He's certainly cunning enough to keep hitters on their toes, and he doesn't hurt himself with walks... but at 40+ it would only be short term. I've said before that I would love for them to go aggressively after a guy like Felix Hernandez from Seattle. I can think of other pitchers with stuff that is as good currently (Greinke, Lincecum, Webb, etc.,) but I can't think of many who combine it with that frame and who might be available. Am I way off base here? Do others agree that adding a SP would be more beneficial than adding offensive production? Are there other guys who might be available next year or through trade that could change up the Sox losing ways against the Rays? Sorry for the long post, I'm just curious if people are as fed-up with the Sox losing to the Rays as I am...

You make a fair point that the difference based on batting order wouldn't be significant, and I think the sabermetric folks have your back there (I agree with you too). At the same time, you acknowledge that there would be a difference, however slight it may be, right? I would certainly prefer to have Jason Bay or Youkilis with their .400+ OBP at the plate to keep an inning going if we know Papi is going to continue at this level of shittiness. That said, I think there is also something to not rocking the boat and having hope that he can pull out of this and become a threat once again... at least in terms of his OBP. If he "only" gets his OBP back up to around .380 then I see no problem with him batting 3rd. If he sits all year at his current production he has to go.

I remember being introduced to you last trade deadline when you were freaking out about having traded Manny Ramirez, MANNY RAMIREZ, for some schlub named Jason Bay. You remember that Jacoby? You were so certain that the trade was a horrible one and that the Sox got hosed. How ya feeling now buddy?

JD Drew doesn't have the numbers to show for it, but he's a well paid primadonna with a huge ego playing in the steroid era. I don't think he uses now.