Are the 2011 Boston Red Sox Turning Into the 2007 New York Mets?

Saturday's game was the very first Yankees-Red Sox game that the Bombers have won this year at home, and the Yanks looked about as dominant against Boston as they have since they swept them in that August 2009 series in the Bronx. Jon Lester, who usually gives the Yankees fits, looked more like John Lackey. And Jesus Montero looked like a star. It was fun to have a blowout win, and the game actually lasted less than three hours. Shocking, I know!

I have been trying to keep myself from doing a full-on Snoopy Dance about the Boston Red Sox's September swoon -- they need to be officially out of the Wild Card race before I will put on my dancing shoes. That being said, what I've seen so far reminds me a lot of the 2007 New York Mets. (Squawker Jon, are you listening?)

The angriest I have ever heard Jon in the decade I have known him was when Tom Glavine coughed up seven runs in the first inning of the last game of the season, to put the nail in his team's coffin. Tom Terrible lasted all of one-third of an inning before getting knocked out of the game. Jon was appalled by Glavine's horrific performance and wrote a rant in Subway Squawkers that made my anti-Joe Torre rants look tame. And that was before Glavine poured salt in the wounds of Mets fans everywhere by proclaiming that he wasn't devastated by the loss. Good grief.

Anyhow, I've been reading talk about how it would be unfair to get rid of Terry Francona, because he has two rings, blah blah blah. Nonsense. If the Sox don't make the postseason, after everybody and his brother predicted them to win the World Series, the manager has to go. One of the many mistakes the Mets made in recent years was not getting rid of Willie Randolph after the 2007 collapse, instead waiting until the following June to fire him in the middle of the night after a West Coast win.

The same with the Yankees keeping on Joe Torre after 2004. It's the manager's job to keep the team grounded, and not letting the team drive into the ditch, the way Boston is right now. It's not all Carl Crawford's fault, you know, as much as some people in the media would like to make it that way.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to today's doubleheader, but apparently the matchup I was hoping for -- A.J. Burnett vs. John Lackey -- is apparently not going to happen. Alas. They could have called the game the Toilet Bowl.


What do you think? Tell us about it!

On Andy Pettitte's aching back and Chien-Ming Wang being back in the rotation

Last night's game was a frustrating slog right from the beginning. Andy Pettitte looked terrible - he gave up six walks, seven hits, and four runs in five innings. This is the second start in a row where he seemed to be affected by a bad back. What's going on there?

After last night's game, LoHud.com's Peter Abraham made a reference to Andy Pettitte's incentive-laden contract. According to the Cot's Baseball Contracts site, Pettite's 2009 contract, which gives him a base salary of $5.5 million, has an additional $6.5 million in incentives, broken out this way:

• $4.5M in performance bonuses: $0.5M each for 150, 160, 170 IP; $0.75M each for 180, 190, 200, 210 IP
• $2M in roster bonuses: $0.1M for 120 days on active 25-man roster; $0.2M for 130 days; $0.25M each for 140, 150 days; $0.4M each for 160, 170, 180 days

Incentive-based contracts can be good - look at how Carl Pavano miraculously became as healthy as a horse once he had to sign one this year - but they might also encourage players to play through the pain a little too much. I hope that's not what's happening here with Pettitte.

In addition to Pettitte's pitching, the rest of the game also had frustrating moments, particularly the lack of timely hitting. While Alex Rodriguez did get an RBI single earlier in the game, he also had some big failures with runners in scoring position last night. And boy, did the Yankee Stadium crowd let him hear it. Not good - I wish fans would stop booing their own players. It's a fact of life, though, for A-Rod.

Speaking of which, I hope the Yankee Stadium crowd is supportive, not derisive, when Chien-Ming Wang pitches again this afternoon. I think the Yanks are making the right move in having him start again, and moving Phil Hughes to the bullpen.

And no, I'm not going to pull a Mike Francesa and say that Joba Chamberlain should go to the pen. I heard Brian Cashman on Michael Kay's show talk about how that Joba is still doing that simulated first inning in the bullpen before each start. Given that, it makes even less sense to put him in the pen.

* * *

In other news, I was excited about the tantalizing possibility of Tom Glavine becoming a Met again, now that he's been released from the Braves. Omar, do the right thing and sign Glavine!

Here's why I'm so hot to get Glavine as a Met. Squawker Jon is a lot more mild-mannered than I am - shocking, I know! - but Tom Glavine seems to really get under skin. The angriest Squawker post Jon has ever done was after Glavine's horrendous first inning in the last game of 2007. Squawker Jon didn't exactly care for Tom saying how he wasn't devastated after that loss, or how he tried to justify that statement the following spring.

So yeah, I'd love to see Glavine as a Met again. Would be thrilled to see Jon and all the other denizens of Mets Nation having to cheer for him. What fun!

Is something wrong with Andy Pettitte? What do you think of Chien-Ming Wang going back into the Yankee rotation? Tell us what you think!

Just say no to Tom Glavine

It's been a bad week - two losses to the Pirates, a setback for Jose Reyes and a swine flu scare. But let's hope things don't get even worse. Let's hope that someone in the Mets' organization does what Razor Shines seems unable to do - hold up a stop sign. Anything to keep Omar Minaya away from Tom Glavine.

The last time a 40+ player with Hall of Fame numbers was unceremoniously cut loose, the Mets fell all over themselves to recruit Gary Sheffield. I thought at the time that getting Sheffield would be a bad idea, but he has certainly done a lot better than I expected.

Sheffield is likely to be a short-term solution. Already he is practically playing on one leg. But he has already paid dividends to the Mets, helping to keep them near the top of the division the last few weeks.

Could Glavine also help out the Mets on a short-term basis? At age 43, it is not likely. But it is also not worth the aggravation and bad karma to find out.

Bringing in Glavine would not be like bringing in Nelson Figueroa. Glavine is a star, a name, and he would have to get multiple starts.

Sheffield said he would fit in the clubhouse as a pinch-hitter and part-time outfielder. And he did succeed in changing his image, though he was doubtless more comfortable once he ended up as the fulltime cleanup hitter.

Would Glavine be happy as the number 5 starter behind even Livan Hernandez? The last time he was with the Mets, he was the ace of the staff. Even when Pedro was pitching, Glavine was number 2 to a fellow future Hall of Famer in the later stages of his career. But he and Johan Santana will not be forming any one-two punch. Santana is in a whole different league now.

But most of all, there's the karma of how Glavine finished up with the Mets - allowing seven runs in 1/3 of an inning and single-handedly destroying the Mets' playoff hopes. And not seeming all that "devastated" about it afterwards.

Even if Glavine came in and did better than expected, as Sheffield has, the specter of that last performance would always be there.

Does anybody besides Squawker Lisa (who tweeted earlier) really want to see Tom Glavine on the mound for the Mets in a big game?

Neither do I.

Who would you like to see as the Mets' fifth starter? Tell us what you think.