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.

ESPN and the Boston Globe report that the Red Sox are closing in (get it?) on a deal that would bring Pittsburgh Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan to Boston for prosepcts Stolmy Pimental and Jerry Sands.  The Globe adds that the Pirates initially wanted the heavily-touted Jose Iglesias as part of the deal, but that Boston wouldn’t budge.  That’s not too surprising given that Stephen Drew only has a one-year contract – but it seems like the Sox are really counting on Iglesias getting his hitting together in the minors this year so that they can call him a viable option at shortstop in time for the free-agent market to open up again next year.

Cody Ross and David Ortiz (credit: Amanda Laws)

The Hanrahan trade also, obviously, leaves Andrew Bailey’s future up in the air.  Not that he had much of a chance to wow the organization last year after spending most of it on the DL following his time in Oakland.

For what it’s worth, Hanrahan should be fine.  He notched 36 saves last year, but it took him 63 appearances to do so.  And, he has a 3.74 lifetime ERA.  The closer market’s not great this year, and at the very least, this moves up the entire bullpen without sacrificing much equity.

Also, Cody Ross is officially an Arizona Diamondback.  He had some interesting comments to the media on the way out of town.  The Globe quotes Ross, talking about the Red Sox’s efforts to keep him on the roster:

“I don’t know what happened but we could never agree on terms. They thought I’d come back no matter what because they thought I loved playing there. And I did. Who wouldn’t love playing at Fenway Park? I just wanted a fair deal. I told them what I wanted. I wasn’t trying to break the bank. They weren’t willing to do it.”

That’s polite, but kind of a damning and insightful thing to say.  The Red Sox do tend to ask their stars to re-sign at a deficit, because their stars (until lately, anyway) loved playing in Boston.  The fact that Ross couldn’t be convinced to sign at a lower value just because he “loved” playing at Fenway is kind of a big deal to me.  The bubbles that start the boil, maybe.  I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Sox have trouble hanging on to their marquee players from here on out.

Which gives us a nice segue into Ross’s other comment, on ex-manager Bobby Valentine.  Ross alluded that he got along with Valentine better than any other player on the team.  “When Bobby came in,” Ross told the Globe, “his way of doing things was a lot different than what they were used to under Terry Francona and it was a shock to them. They weren’t on board with it.”

Also, Ben Cherington is officially Not Talking About Mike Napoli.  This should end well.

I mean…

Granted, the Red Sox didn’t exactly put their best lineup on the field yesterday.  Dustin Pedroia sat out with what was later reported to be a fractured finger (he won’t go on the DL, since there’s only two games left), and Jacoby Ellsbury also didn’t make an appearance.  I’m not making excuses for the Red Sox, but let’s be honest: when Ryan Lavarnway (currently batting somewhere in the .160s) is your fifth hitter, and three-hitter Cody Ross is the biggest threat in your batting order, you’ve gone off the reservation somehow.

Regardless of whether the Sox were either flopping around in the bottom of the fishing boat, or just giving their exciting up-and-comers a chance to play, last night’s game against the Yankees was the most one-sided rivalry game I’ve seen in a long time.  Clay Buchholz imploded in the second inning, giving up eight runs in a nine-run frame that decided the game early and sent a disinterested fan base packing for yet another depressing night.

Robinson Cano started the second-inning barrage off for New York, launching a solo home run to center field.  Buchholz got Mark Teixeria to strike out, but the unflappable Nick Swisher glanced a double off of center field with one out.  Curtis Granderson scored Swisher by hitting a home run of his own, and then Russell Martin promptly hit another home run, making the score 4-0.

Undaunted, Buchholz announced himself with authority by walking Eric Chavez and Derek Jeter, and loaded the bases via an Ichiro Suzuki single.  Alex Rodriguez sacrificed Chavez home for the second out, before Cano used his second at-bat of the inning to double home Jeter and Suzuki.

With the score 7-0 with two outs, Bobby Valentine had finally seen enough.  Alfredo Aceves replaced Buchholz.  Aceves faced Teixeira first, and Teixeira (of course) hit the Yankees’ fourth home run of the inning, scoring Cano and leaving the score at 9-0.  Swisher followed up with another double, but Aceves finally got Granderson to ground out to first to end the inning.

The Sox didn’t really get any kind of offensive rally going.  They scored a couple of baserunners here and there, care a well-executed Jarrod Saltalamacchia sac fly and a Daniel Nava home run; but there was really nothing happening at all at the plate.

With the win, coupled with Baltimore’s loss to Tampa, the Yankees took sole possession of first place with two games to play.  The Red Sox’ best-case scenario now is to play spoiler for either the Yankees or the Orioles, as both teams continue to battle for the division title.  That’s literally about all that Red Sox fans can look forward to – an exciting game 162 that means nothing for the Sox, but could potentially affect another team’s postseason. Blah.

Here’ a link to last night’s box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Tonight’s game 161 pits Jon Lester (9-14, 4.94 ERA) against David Phelps (4-4, 3.34 ERA).  Phelps replaces the beleaguered Ivan Nova in a start that will probably decide Phelps’ prominence on the Yankees’ postseason roster.

You could almost hear it over the television… pfffft-pfffft-pffffffffffffft… as the Red Sox completed the home portion of the 2012 season with yet another loss. This time, 4-2 at the hands of the still battling Tampa Bay Rays. They ended up finishing with a ghastly record of 34-47 at Fenway, the worst since 1965, and surely not the best way to celebrate the park’s 100th birthday.

Jon Lester flirted with a no hitter, breezing through the first four innings. But, as has been the case all year, it was just not meant to be. He quickly lost the no-no and the lead with back-to-back homers in the fifth by Carlos Pena (a two-run shot) and Ben Francisco. I have to think that if this were any other season, giving up four runs wouldn’t be such a tough hill to climb for the Sox. They would battle back and take games like this with ease.

The line up that struggled to eek out just two runs on four hits last night is a line up very different from the line up that opened this 2012 season. Only three players from Opening Day were present — Dustin Pedroia, Cody Ross and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. And unfortunately, some of those big bats, whether they’re on the DL or have been shipped off to another team, have been significantly missed over the past few months.

I’m convinced this season is cursed. Maybe it’s the curse of Tito, who sits at home with his trifecta of voodoo dolls that eerily resemble John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino. Or maybe it’s the curse of Bobby Valentine, who most likely actually is a voodoo doll controlled by some unknown devious force hell bent on ruining my beloved Sox. Whatever it is that made this team suck, I truly hope it is exorcised in the off-season. And by exorcised, I mean firing Bobby V.

In other news, some good news actually, Jason Varitek has been named Special Assistant to General Manager, Ben Cherington.

“Jason was one of the most respected players of his era and will be a key voice as we move forward,” general manager Ben Cherington said in a statement. “He will be involved in a number of areas, including Major League personnel decisions, evaluations, and mentorship and instruction of young players. We are fortunate to have him in this role.”

This is the first step in putting the heart back in this team… when Varitek retired, I’m convinced he took the team spirit with him. I have every confidence this move will greatly benefit the front office and give them a better understanding of the inner workings of the club house. Could they possibly be grooming Tek to be skipper some day? I sure hope so.

I’m not going to lie… I’ve been rooting for the Orioles the past two games. I don’t remember ever doing that but since I have nothing to live root for this season, I’ll try and give the O’s a boost. The Red Sox nearly foiled the O’s extra-inning win streak yesterday, but I just knew if a team was going to end that streak this year, it most certainly was NOT going to be this Sox team.

The game on Friday night was a trip on the train to Dullsville. Jon Lester pitched just so-so, allowing four earned runs on eight hits over seven innings. Not horrible. Not fantastic. Just… meh. The offense was a bit sluggish scoring just two runs on eight hits and only scoring two of the seven runners who made it into scoring position. In the end, the O’s beat the Sox 4-2 in a brisk (for the Red Sox) three hour game. The yawn-inducing box score can be found here, courtesy of the Sox.

Saturday’s game offered a bit more excitement which I was glad for since I had some family making the trek down to Fenway. The Sox and O’s seesawed back and forth in this one, each team answering the other’s scoring until the sixth inning. I’ll take the blame for the go ahead runs in the sixth — I happened to text my cousin (who was there) and may have made mention that at least the Red Sox weren’t losing. And then boom… the O’s go ahead by three. Ooops.

But then, in the bottom of the seventh, the Sox mounted a comeback. Scott Podsednik doubled, Pedro Ciriaco followed with a walk and Dustin Pedroia singled to load the bases with no outs. Cody Ross and Ryan Lavarnway both grounded out but each drove in a run to bring the Sox within one. Not the most exciting way to get the runs home but it works.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Sox tied up the game on back-to-back two-out doubles by Daniel Nava and Scott Podsednik. And the bullpen even looked to be in the mood to pitch too — Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa, Andrew Bailey and Mark Melancon pitched scoreless eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh innings.

And then there was Alfredo Aceves. I wonder what happened to Alfredo sauce. He pitched pretty well early in the season. I mean he does have 25 saves this season. But something changed. Maybe it was triggered by his run-in with Bobby Valentine in August that has turned his arm to crap. Whatever it was, he now sucks and like Dice K, he shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near that pitcher’s mound. I’m sure when the O’s saw Aceves take the mound, the all nodded their heads because they knew that extra-inning win streak was not in danger.

When all was said and done, Aceves gave up three runs on three hits in the top of the 12th inning giving the O’s a 9-6 win and keeping the streak in tact. There’s four hours and fourteen minutes I’ll never get back. Click here for the box score, courtesy of the Sox.

The Sox and O’s finish up the series today — this season can’t be over soon enough. Really. Felix Doubront takes the hill against Chris Tillman. With a win today, the Sox will officially have a better September record than they did in 2011. Sad, I know.

Congratulations, PawSox!!

After a dismal series with the Yankees where the Red Sox lost two of the three games, putting their September record at paltry 2-9 as of Thursday, I was just desperate for some good news. Anything that will make me smile and think the season isn’t a total loss… even though it really is…

Good News Nugget #1:
Thursday night, while the Boston Red Sox were doing their usual sucking, the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox were busy winning the International Leagues’ Championship, taking home the Governor’s Cup for the first time since 1984. With all the player movement between AA, AAA and the Show this season, it’s a wonder the PawSox could put together a team cohesive enough to pull this off. But they did… somehow.

I’ll give credit to team manager, Arnie Beyeler, for keeping this team on track. This is Arnie’s sixth season managing in the Red Sox organization. He spent four season in Portland and this is his second year with Pawtucket. Maybe it’s time for Arnie to get called up to the Show as well… seriously, he can’t be any worse than Bobby Valentine.

Good News Nugget #2:
Congratulations to the Pedroia family on the birth of their second son Thursday morning. The look on Dustin’s face during Wednesday night’s game when Bobby V. took him out of the game telling him his wife went into labor was priceless. He looked scared to death. Mother and baby are doing just fine and Pedroia is expected to rejoin the team this weekend in Toronto.

Good News Nugget #3:
Holy crap, the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays last night, 8-5 to snap a six-game losing streak against the Jays. They scored three runs in the top of the ninth to break a 5-5 tie on singles by Jacoby Ellsbury and Cody Ross, followed by a two-run triple by Mauro Gomez. Ryan Lavarnway finished off the scoring with a sac fly and Andrew Bailey came in for the save.

Click here for the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox and Jays meet again this afternoon with Clay Buchholz still searching for his first win since August 16th.

Good News Nugget #4:
Ok… this made me laugh because as it turns out, Josh Beckett can’t even pretend to hustle with his new team. In the game Thursday night between the Dodgers and Cardinals, Beckett singled to right field, but basically jogged to first base and ended up getting thrown out by right fielder, Carlos Beltran. Embarrassing… Click here to watch it and giggle!

Hey… the good news has been hard to come by this season so I’m clinging to anything that shows life in this organization. As pissed as I am at them right now, I’m still rooting for them to be successful in the future. Without Bobby Valentine.

The only emotion I seem to be feeling these days when it comes time to write about the Red Sox is dread. Someone actually offered me tickets to see the Sox and Blue Jays play Sunday at Fenway and I turned them down. I believe my exact words were, “The Red Sox are dead to me.”

I realize that this team, no matter how much they piss me off, could never be completely out of my life, but right now, I’d like to just pretend they don’t exist. I would like to borrow Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak and toss it over the whole organization.

The Red Sox ended their nine-game West Coast swing with a big, fat 2-1 loss, giving them a 1-8 record for the trip. This loss especially sucks for Aaron Cook who pitched a good game, giving up just two runs on seven hits and striking out five in six innings. That line wins most days.

Too bad the offense couldn’t get the poor guy some support. They were just plain pitiful, scoring just one run on five hits. Cody Ross was the only player who actually showed up to play last night, going 3-for-4 with the lone RBI.

I refuse to link the box score. You’re welcome.

As if the miserable road trip wasn’t enough, the Red Sox also seem to have a manager on the verge of a complete meltdown. Bobby Valentine has been know for saying crap to the media that makes little to no sense at all. He tries to be sarcastic but comes off sounding rude and irrational. In a radio interview on Wednesday with WEEI’s Glen Ordway, Bobby responded to a question from Ordway about “checking out” on this season by telling his him, “I’d punch you right in the mouth.” And that was just the start of his rant on the radio… click here to here the complete interview. Bobby V hasn’t just gone off the deep end… he has performed a triple lindy off the deep end.

Pardon me if I don’t do cartwheels and backflips over the Red Sox 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners last night. I kind of think it was a fluke. Plus, I’ve officially stopped caring. Now I’m on to bigger and better things… like pulling for the Orioles and Rays to overtake the Yankees and knock them out of the playoffs. Yes, I’m bitter. Plus, misery loves company and I don’t really need a gloating husband for the month of October.

So like I said, the Red Sox actually won a game last night to end their current skid at seven games. I have faith they’ll start a new skid tonight though. Or maybe… just maybe this was the first game of a 26-game winning streak that will close out the season on a high note, with some dignity still in tact. Or not. Most likely not.

Jon Lester looked good, scattering three runs on nine hits over six innings. The way the team has been playing lately, that’s usually the recipe for a loss. But not last night. After falling behind 3-0 early in the game, surprisingly the offense didn’t just lay down and die.

The Sox scored four runs in the sixth inning. Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury both singled to open the inning. Cody Ross hit his 20th home run of the season to tie the game at three. After the next two batters recorded outs, Ryan Lavarnway hit his first home run of the season (with the Sox, that is) that turned out to be the winning run.

The bullpen held the Mariners scoreless over the next three innings and Andrew Bailey recorded his second save of the season. Alfredo who?

See? Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?

Click here for the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox and Mariners meet again tonight for the final game of this long, very painful and very unsuccessful road trip. Aaron Cook takes on Kevin Millwood tonight in hopes that September treats him a bit better than August did, when he went 1-4 with a 6.46 ERA.

I never would’ve believed it had I not seen it myself this afternoon. Daisuke Matsuzake, coming off his second stay on the DL this season, pitched an absolute gem this afternoon to beat the Royals 5-1 in the final game of their current homestand. Someone pinch me.

Dice K pitched seven complete innings — he gave up just one unearned run on five hits while striking out six. This is his first win since May 8th… of 2011. Maybe his plan is to put on a show for the remaining month plus of his time with the Red Sox — you know, so he can get a good contract from some other sucker.

Whatever. The Red Sox won. At this point, I don’t care how they get it done.

The offense continues to come through with the hits. They pounded out 54 total over the four-game series with the Royals. Scott Podsednik, Jacoby Ellsbury and Cody Ross all had two hits each today. Ellsbury hit his second home run of the season and Ross also had three RBIs.

Click here for the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The team hits the road tonight for a West Coast swing where they’ll play the Angels, Athletics and Mariners over the next nine days. No offense West Coast, but I really hate those 10pm games.

In other news, David Ortiz has been placed back on the 15-day DL after re-injuring his achilles in Friday night’s game. A few questions come to mind — will Ortiz play again this season or will they shut him down now that the post season is well out of reach? And have we seen Big Papi play in his final game as a member of the Red Sox? This makes me sad…

Also, you may have heard that Alfredo Aceves was suspended over the weekend by the Red Sox for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Turns out that the Sox have a rule about suspended players traveling with the team and now Aceves will be forced to take a later flight to meet the team out west because of this suspension. He better be careful… looks like Mr. Ben Cherington isn’t going to be taking any shit from anyone on this team and Alfredo could find himself on a plane to another market if he’s not careful!

*blink blink* Did that really happen last night? Honestly, if I hadn’t been there to witness the carnage first hand, I never would’ve believed it. I almost think it was worse to experience it in person. I felt… violated.

To properly recap this game would take more pages than you’re probably willing to read so I’m going to make it simple. Basically every inning but the fourth had some action. Some of the action made me feel incredibly happy and some of the action made me want to jump onto the field and stab every member of the team — starting with those who did NOT attend Johnny Pesky’s funeral (yes, I’m still hung up on that and I’m sure I will be fore the rest of the season… at least.)

First Inning:
Angels fail to score. Red Sox score one.
SCORE: 1-0 Sox

Second Inning:
Angels fail to score again. Franklin Morales seems to have his stuff. Red Sox score five capped by a three-run dinger by Dustin Pedroia! OH MA GAHD! *happy dance*
SCORE: 6-0 Sox

Third Inning:
Angels score eight runs. Yes, eight. A lot of bad shit happened. The Angels sent 13 men to the plate. Morales forgot how to pitch, he walked in runs. There was a fielding error, a lot of hits and a stolen base. Clayton Mortensen replaced Morales. He sucked too. Junichi Tazawa replaced Mortensen and finally got them out of the inning. It was bad. The whole inning was such a blur to me since I couldn’t see the field too well through my angry eyes. Red Sox failed to score.
SCORE: 8-6 Angels

Fourth Inning:
No scoring. Holy crap.
SCORE: 8-6 Angels

Fifth Inning:
Mark Melancon replaced Tazawa, holds Angels scoreless. Red Sox score one run.
SCORE: 8-7 Angels

Sixth Inning:
Angels fail to score again. Red Sox score two on a Mike Aviles home run and a couple of doubles by Pedro Ciriaco (who went 4-6) and Jacoby Ellsbury (who went 3-6).
SCORE: 9-8 Sox

Seventh Inning:
Andrew Bailey replaced Melancon. Angels score one on a Mike Trout RBI single to tie it up. Red Sox fail to score.
SCORE: 9-9

Eighth Inning:
Angels fail to score. Red Sox score two runs on four singles by Scott Podsednik, Ciriaco, Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia (who went 4-6).
SCORE: 11-9 Sox

Ninth Inning:
Alfredo Aceves came in for the save…and blew it. Vernon Wells hit a questionable homer but no one bothered to wake Bobby Valentine up to challenge it. The other two runs came on three singles, a walk and an error. Red Sox came back with one of their own on a Cody Ross homer in the bottom of the inning to tie it back up.
SCORE: 12-12

Tenth Inning:
Aceves came back out. WTF? And he immediately gave up a go ahead home run to Kendrys Morales. Craig Breslow replaced Aceves and the Angels score another on a single and a double by Vernon Wells. Red Sox come back with one in the bottom of the inning, but it’s a too little, too late.
FINAL SCORE: 14-13 Angels

Between the two teams, this game saw a total of 27 runs, 38 hits, 21 strike outs and five home runs. The game lasted a painful 4 hours and 34 minutes. Here’s the link to another frustrating night of Red Sox baseball. The KC Royals come in tonight at 7:10pm for the first game of a four-game series. Jon Lester tries to win his third straight as he takes on Bruce Chen.

Here’s a (not so) fun fact: The Sox broke a 170 game streak last night. This is the FIRST TIME since May of 1970 they lost a game after scoring 13 runs. (Stat courtesy of Gordon Edes’ Twitter feed.) Just goes to show you what kind of season this has been. And now add into the mix the bad mojo of not attending Johnny Pesky’s funeral as a united team and they’ll be lucky if they don’t just vanish from the standings all together. That’s sort of what I’m hoping happens.