The Boston Red Sox went through some major changes over the last year. Some good, some bad and some just… meh. They unloaded some dead weight — Josh Beckett and his bad attitude, Carl Crawford and his bad contract and Adrian Gonzalez and his bad luck (as collateral damage.) Needless to say, the 2013 Opening Day line up is going to look a lot different from 2012 with only four players returning for the starting nine.

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF: He will most likely bat lead off as his did last year. That’s only if he doesn’t sprain his earlobe in spring training or catch a hangnail during warmups.
2. Shane Victorino, RF: Newly signed Victorino makes the most sense for the #2 spot. Dustin Pedroia held this spot last year, but with the addition of the speedy “flyin’ Hawaiian,” he may be better suited further down in the order.
3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B: He’s proved himself to be an offensive asset and has surprising power for a guy of his stature. He has a career .303 batting average with a .830 OPS. Last year, the #3 spot belonged to the departed Adrian Gonzalez.
4. David Ortiz, DH: Big Papi will once again commandeer the clean up spot. Let’s just hope that achilles can hold up and David can pick up where he left off last season before he went down with the bum heel.
5. Will Middlebrooks, 3B: The position stays the same, just the personel has changed. Middlebrooks takes over full time at the hot corner after the somewhat rancorous departure of Kevin Youkilis.
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C: Salty takes over the #6 spot from Ryan Sweeney who was allowed to go to free agency following an unspectacular year.
7. First Base?: With the Mike Napoli deal in limbo, could Mauro Gomez start the season at first base? Or will they continue to search for a more seasoned first baseman if the Napoli contract crumbles. If Napoli does end up in Boston, I imagine he’ll bat a little higher up in the order — probably 5th. In 2012, the recently departed Cody Ross held this spot in the line up.
8. Left Field?: Do the Sox see Jonny Gomes starting the season guarding the Green Monster? Or Ryan Kalish? This one baffles me. Salty batted #8 to start last season.
9. Stephen Drew, SS: Drew replaces last year’s shortstop Mike Aviles at the end of the order. Needless to say, my excitement level for this position is very low. I’m begging this guy to prove me wrong.

Well, 2013 should be an interesting year. There were some big holes to fill over the off season in this line up and I’m not feeling too confident that the new acquisitions are going to get them where they need to be. I’m not sure I can handle a “rebuilding year” so someone needs to do something really sparkly or that’s exactly what we’re going to get.

You know, I take a few weeks off from following the Red Sox to give birth to the cutest little girl in the world, and I come back and things in the nation are… basically exactly the same.  Minus a few superstars, that is (I heard the rumors of the Beckett/Gonzalez/Crawford trade while I was in recovery and, let’s just say, didn’t have my wits about me, and I thought I was hallucinating).  But at the end of the day, the trade didn’t do much to change the timbre of the 2012 Red Sox, and we’re still looking at a seemingly endless vortex of doom: ineffective pitching, lackluster offense, a dearth of motivation, and as of today, a 21-game gap in the standings and the prospect of a long winter ahead.

Last night, for example:  Aaron Cook gives up six runs in the first inning, the Red Sox muster up only one hit and one run (both by Scott Podsednik, and both probably more a circumstance of Orioles miscues than of any actual baseball fortitude), and the Sox slip into another night of oblivion.

Podsednik’s bunt single was the only Red Sox hit of the night, the first time the Sox had mustered only one hit in a nine-inning game since 2009.  Pouring lemon juice in the wound, Cook got smacked around for six runs in just over one inning.  A two-out Baltimore grand slam in the bottom of the first sealed the deal on this game, and the only real question was how badly the Sox would lose (the answer?  9-1).

Here’s the box score for last night’s game, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Boston steps up again tonight in Baltimore, when Felix Doubront (11-9, 4.91 ERA) takes on Steve Johnson (4-0, 1.62).

Bye-bye, Beckett… (Photo by Keith Allison, c/o Flickr.com)

It’s official… the Red Sox have completed a mega deal that will send Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to the LA Dodgers for first baseman, James Loney, pitchers Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster, outfielder Jerry Sands and infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr.

According to the Boston Herald (who also had the great headline of “Bums Away”):

The deal will be worth in excess of $275 million to the Red Sox including luxury tax savings and salaries for the remainder of this season and beyond. Over the next six years, the Dodgers will receive $12 million from the Red Sox, with the payments to begin next year.

I’m ridiculously excited about this deal. Not so much the Adrian Gonzalez part because I did sort of like him. But Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford? Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. And what are they really missing by getting rid of Punto? His main roll in this team was to operate the Shredder after a walk-off home run — and those were few and far between this season.

I know this trade isn’t going to fix what’s wrong with this team. There’s still a lot of work to be done. First and foremost — to make this group of selfish shitheads an actual TEAM again. And I don’t see that happening this year. The Red Sox organization needs a major overhaul starting with the manager position. As long as Bobby Valentine skippers this group of guys, there’s going to be discontent.

Hopefully this will end the bad habit the Red Sox have of making big, $100 million plus blockbuster deals that never seem to work out the way they should.

That thing is trying to eat his face. (Photo by Keith Allison, c/o Flickr.com)

As long as I can remember, baseball players and fans have always been superstitious. My grandfather was convinced he could affect the outcome of a ball game just by turning on the TV. If he turned it on and the Red Sox were winning, he’d immediately turn it off because obviously they were winning because he wasn’t watching.

You always see a guy on a hot streak go for weeks without shaving, or cutting his hair, or changing his socks. Or you have a guy like Wade Boggs who would eat chicken before every game, hot streak or not. I personally love it (although I’m sure I would get really sick of chicken.) I love when a guy thinks his 10-game hitting streak will grind to a halt if he shaves off his Grizzly Adams-type beard.

So please, can someone tell me why the hell Josh Beckett has not shaved that STUPID CHIA PET off his chin this season? It’s obviously the source of all 11 losses and some seriously bad clubhouse mojo. It needs to go. I’m convinced some fried chicken got stuck in there last September and it’s acting as a damn voodoo doll for the 2012 season. WTF, Josh? Just suck it up and shave. it. off. You can’t suck any more, that’s for sure.

In case you were living under a rock today, here’s a very short, very late recap of last night’s very sad Yankees 4-1 win over the floundering Red Sox. Josh Beckett sucked. The Red Sox line up sucked. Hiroki Kuroda pitched a gem. Ichiro Suzuki was the hero. Yankees take two out of three over the weekend. And Carl Crawford is having surgery this week which means he thinks his team has no chance of making the post season. The end. For the suckfest of a box score, click here… courtesy of the Red Sox.

The struggling Sox finally head home after a brutal 10-game road trip that saw them go 4-6. If you ask me, it seemed much worse. They’ll get tonight off before welcoming in the LA Angels in to Fenway for three.

All reports this evening have said that Carl Crawford will meet with GM Ben Cherington, Bobby Valentine and the medical staff to determine whether he will have season-ending Tommy John surgery. According to the Boston Herald, Crawford has been trying to play through the pain because the team is trying to stay in playoff contention.

However, during tonight’s game, the ESPN crew announced that a decision has been made and Crawford will have surgery — possibly on Tuesday. Does this mean he no longer thinks his team has a snowball’s chance in hell of making it to the post season? You’re not alone, Carl…

It’s too bad since it appeared Crawford was just starting to contribute to the team in a way he didn’t in his first season. Tonight is only his 31st game this season and he’s batting .283 with 10 doubles, two triples, three homers and 19 RBI in 113 at-bats. Most of those extra base hits have come within the past couple of weeks.

The Red Sox came out strong yesterday in the Bronx, beating the Yankees 4-1 in a nationally-televised game.  Jon Lester put up seven strong innings, allowing five hits, one run (a Curtis Granderson solo shot) and striking out four while allowing only two walks.  Honestly, I didn’t think he’d pitch this well, especially since he let the leadoff guy get on base in each of the first two innings.  But, he turned it around, and the Sox lineup helped him out.  Adrian Gonzalez ripped a first-inning two-run bomb to set the tone, and Nick Punto scored Pedro Ciriaco on an RBI single in the fifth inning.  The Sox tacked on an insurance run when Scott Podednik scored on a wild pitch from Cody Eppley in the ninth inning.

Jon Lester (Keith Allison, c/o flickr.com)

Ciriaco went 4-for-4.  What is it with this kid?  And, Punto had a great day at third base – he flashed the leather a couple of times.

Also, a moment of excitement in my house: when Craig Breslow came on to pitch in the eighth inning, Breslow and batterymate Ryan Lavarnway formed the first all-Yale University alumni battery in the major leagues since 1883.  As the wife of an especially enthusiastic Yalie, this was a Very Big Deal, and we spent most of the time Breslow and Lavarnway used inducing Robinson Cano to hit into a double play facebooking about it.  For God, For Country, And For Yale, and all that.

Here’s a link to the respectable box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  In tonight’s rubber game, Josh Beckett (or, as McCarver called him yesterday, John Beckett) and his 5-10 record and 5.19 ERA take on Hiroki Kuroda (11-8, 3.06 ERA).

Two other items of note from yesterday:

First, the Globe reports that within the next few days, Carl Crawford will ask the Red Sox for permission to get Tommy John surgery next week.  Crawford’s been playing better lately, but he’ll be the first to tell you that he’s in pain.  There’s a balance that it seems like Crawford’s trying to strike here, between playing through pain if the team’s in contention for a postseason spot (which they are, barely), and thinking of what’s best for his own health if they’re not (which I think is also ok – he does have his own career and well-being to think about, which I can’t say I blame him for).  He tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow in April, and since then he’s received a platelet injection that lets him play through the pain – but that’s never been seen as a permanent fix.

Second, the New York Daily News puts an interesting spin on the ongoing Adrian Gonzalez text message drama: apparently, you see, it was recently-traded backup catcher Kelly Shoppach’s fault.  Kelly Shoppach, who had clashed with Bobby Valentine over his playing time earlier this year, apparently sent the text message to ownership from Adrian Gonzalez’s cell phone.  It sounds like a group of players – probably none of them the impact players that could actually get ownership’s attention – became unhappy with Valentine’s style and convinced Gonzalez to let them use his phone to send the text.  Gonzalez is the highest-paid player on the team, and they apparently thought that a text coming from him would actually have some heft behind it.

So, looks like both the instigator and the leak are Kelly Shoppach.  Or at least, that’s what the Sox would have you believe, since nobody, including Gonzalez or Shoppach, care to talk about the incident any more.  Isn’t that convenient – let’s all just blame the backup catcher after he’s been shipped out of town.

I still think the larger issue is that there’s an issue at all – it’s not who told on who, or who covers for who, or who has the bigger salary and more sway over the ownership.  Fact is, this clubhouse is still in disarray, and blaming Kelly Shoppach for all the team’s problems is shortsighted, inaccurate, and will only take the Sox as far as the next blowup.

Jon Lester. Yeah, remember him? (Photo by: Keith Allison, c/o Flickr.com)

I would like to think my recent tongue-lashing of the Red Sox has something to do with yesterday’s win, but I’m not that delusional. Although it is quite a coincidence, don’t you think? I wondered if maybe Jon Lester was tired of me writing about how much he sucks. Today, I cannot write about Lester’s suckage or the offense’s lack of production. Both were non-existent as the Sox pummeled the Indians 14-1 to earn a split of the four-game series.

Let’s start with Jon Lester. His performance Sunday afternoon was, by far, his strongest of the season. After allowing one run in the first (and possibly prompting me to tweet: “Dear Jon Lester. Is it physically impossible for you to get out of the first inning without giving up a run?”), he held the Indians scoreless through the remainder of his outing. Vintage Jon Lester, if you ask me. This is the Jon Lester I’ve been looking for, waiting for, all season. This is the Jon Lester that earned him the #1 spot in the rotation and the title of Ace (a title he’s been unworthy of since last September.)

“Lights Out” Lester (I just made that up), pitched six innings and gave up just one run on three hits. But the most impressive stat for me was his 12 strikeouts. I don’t remember the last time that happened. Maybe it was the 3-0 lead he was given in the top of the first (amazing the confidence a little run support will get you.) Who knows… but he finally earned his first win since June 27. JUNE 27th! There were seven starts between then and yesterday where he did. not. win. Good job, Jon… let’s keep up the good work.

Now let’s talk about the offense. Can I just say, “Wow!”? I mean that was fun to watch. The one through four spots in the line up (Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez) knocked in 10 of the 14 runs on nine of the 16 total hits, and scored nine runs. And they didn’t even all play the whole game! Mike Aviles also has a three for three day and scored three runs.

The Red Sox scored three runs in the first, two in the second and one in the fourth, but the real magic happened when they exploded for eight runs in the top of the fifth. I just love offensive eruptions like this one. It makes you remember why you love this team in the first place but also makes you hate them for not doing it more often. Bobby Valentine, speaking to reporters after the game, seemed to like it too. Is it just me or does this guy rarely make sense?

“We hit a lot of balls in the gap,” said Bobby Valentine. “It’s a good look when we look like that. I like it a lot. And [the players] like it a lot, which is even more important. … They deserve that. They deserve four games like that.”

Just four games, Bobby?

For the high-flying, hard hitting, football-like box score, click on over to here… courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox will enjoy a post-win night off before they start up a three-game series with those pesky Orioles, and then another three-game series with the even peskier Yankees this weekend. It’s going to be a tough week, hopefully this recent win will give them the confidence and drive they’ll need to keep it going!

I was thisclose to posting a want ad on Craig’s List to advertise that I was currently in the market for a new favorite team. THISCLOSE. But the Red Sox pulled out a win this afternoon that stymied a sweep by one of the worst teams in the league, and granted them a stay of execution in terms of my fan status. I have this team on tight probation right now so they best watch their step.

Lucky for me, I was making my voyage home from my long weekend in NYC and listening to Joe Castiglione and Dave O’Brien call the game on the radio was just what I needed to make the miles go by faster. And lucky for the Red Sox, they scored some runs and got some decent pitching so I didn’t get the urge to drive my car square into the back of a semi truck.

Franklin Morales made a spot start today in place of an ailing *snicker* Josh Beckett and once again, did a great job. Um, hello? How many great “spot starts” does this guy need to make before the light goes off over someone’s head to put him permanently into the starting rotation. Honestly, Morales could pitch the pants off of Dice K (if he ever gets rid of his crick.) At the end of the day, he allowed just one run on three hits and struck out four in his six inning outing.

“I needed to throw my pitches,” Morales told reporters after the game. “I felt great concentration. I know the team needed to win. I tried to do what I need to do, get the hitters out and do my thing.”

Vicente Padilla provided some late inning, heart attack-inducing scares though. He came in with a 6-1 lead in the ninth to close out the win but couldn’t get the job done. He allowed three runs on a walk and two home runs. Alfredo Aceves had to bail Padilla’s ass out and he was able to (thankfully) earn the save.

The Sox offense belted out six runs on 14 hits to support Morales’ effort today. Every starter except Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a hit. Adrian Gonzalez drove in three runs on two hits and Carl Crawford celebrated his 31st birthday with another three for five day.

Click here to take a gander at the Stacy-is-still-a-fan box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. Aaron Cook will take the hill against Yu Darvish to kick off a three-game series with the AL West-leading Texas Rangers tomorrow night at Fenway Park.

I’m growing tired of typing the words “Red Sox Lose” and “Fall Below .500″ so much that I’m currently interviewing for a new favorite teams. (Not really, but I’m close.) I’m sort of glad I’ve been out of the loop this weekend. I’m currently whooping it up in NYC at the BlogHer ’12 conference and well, you probably can imagine how difficult it is to find a televised Red Sox game in Yankee territory.

So I’m officially depressed. If the Red Sox can’t even manage to beat the Minnesota Twins, a team 14 games below .500, then I’m not sure they can really be entrusted to pull their collective shit together and make a run at the post season. At this point, even that second wild card spot is looking like a real distant possibility.

Last night, the Red Sox jumped out to a 5-1 lead after three innings, and with Felix Doubront steering this ship, that should be sufficient, right? That’s what I thought. But no. Things fell apart in the top of the fifth fueled by a lot of singles and a couple of mistimed walks. The Twins scored four in the inning to pull even.

The score stayed knotted at 5-5 until the 10th. In the top of the 10th, Minnesota scored on a lead-off double and a single to center. And as has been the case a lot this season, the Sox were unable to pull off any last chance heroics. Blah.

My offensive “gold star” of the game goes to Carl Crawford. He went three for five with two runs scored and three RBI. Nice, Carl. I actually don’t hate you today.

For the frustrating box score, click on over to here, courtesy of the Red Sox. Clay Buchholz takes the hill tonight to try to get his team back in the win column. I’m counting on you, Clay.

Oh and guess what? Jacoby Ellsbury has been scratched from tonight’s game with what Bobby Valentine is calling “a little situation.” Oh dear. Hopefully, this doesn’t put him on the DL for the next four months. *fingers crossed*

The Red Sox beat the Tigers last night 7-3 behind another strong performance by Clay Buchholz to pull one game above .500 and out of the basement once again. He seems to have successfully put that horrid start to the year behind him and is pitching like he should. Actually he’s pitching like a couple of other pitchers on the staff should be but unfortunately are not. *cough*Beckett*cough*Lester*cough*

The Tigers struck first when Austin Jackson hit the second pitch he saw for a home run to open the game. My first thought — uh oh. But the Sox didn’t get down on themselves. After Jacoby Ellsbury walked, Carl Crawford followed with an RBI triple — his first of the season. Dustin Pedroia knocked Crawford in with a ground ball out.

After Detroit tied up the game in the third, Pedroia came through again to put the Sox ahead for good with a two-run home run over the Monster. And Will Middlebrooks put the nail in the coffin with a two-run dinger of his own in the bottom of the eighth.

Clay Buchholz pitched a solid eight innings of work. He allowed five hits and three runs (two of them earned) and struck out four. Vicente Padilla pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the win. Buchholz was pleased with the all-around performance in last night’s win.

“It’s just all got to happen at the same time,” said Buchholz. “You’ve got to hit and pitch well to win games or go on a big streak that we need to go on. We’ve got to build some confidence, get on a little streak, and who knows where it will take us?”

Nice win for the Sox but it wasn’t without its drama. A frustrated Ryan Sweeney punched a door in the clubhouse following a tough out in the eighth inning and had to leave the game. Really, Ryan? Punching a door? Isn’t that a little childish? I wonder if he did it on purpose to take his name out of the trade rumors. He’ll have an x-ray today and will most likely be placed on the DL. *sigh*

Click here for the solid box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Tigers and Sox face off again tonight in a matchup between Josh Beckett (5-9, 4.57) and Justin Verlander (11-6, 2.60) — that’s, of course, if Josh Beckett doesn’t get dealt before the 4pm trade deadline today. Rumor has it that the Texas Rangers are no longer interested in Beckett, but there still might be some life on a deal with either the LA Dodgers or the Atlanta Braves. If you’re going to send him away, Ben Cherington, just please, please, please don’t let him go for crap. Crap isn’t going to get us more wins. And we need more wins.