Red Sox fans rejoice as team makes monster trade with Los Angles

Squawker Jon and I were at dinner Friday night when I got the following alert from the Boston Herald on my iPhone "Red Sox working on trading Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to LA Dodgers." I couldn't believe it -- I was thinking for a second that the Herald got hacked or something! What a jaw-dropper!

That's the type of trade idea you hear on late-night sports radio, as Lori Rubinson of WFAN noted on her show Saturday night. Thursday morning, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times wrote an article suggesting such a trade, and by Saturday, the deal was done!

Anyhow, as you can see in the above photo, those Red Sox were happy to get out of Boston, but Boston fans were even happier to see them gone. Especially Beckett (although I heard that the Popeye's near Fenway was mourning his absence). And you know who else has to be happy that Beckett's in Los Angeles? Roscoe's Fried Chicken and Waffles! (No, I never get tired of the fried chicken and beer jokes!)

I've heard a variety of Red Sox fans say that they felt like they got their team back. (Who knew that Nick Punto was History's Greatest Monster!) I've said this myself in Subway Squawkers that this Sox team needed to start cleaning house with the team in order to move forward. When you have people like A-Gon who writes a text message to ownership whining about his manager, then throws the recently-traded Kelly Shoppach under the bus for it, you have a pretty toxic environment. Not to mention what a jerk Beckett is. I do think Carl Crawford got a raw deal in his time in Boston, though, but now he gets a fresh state in LA.

It looks like the inmates may no longer be running the Sox asylum -- Alfredo Aceves threw a fit Friday and got suspended by the team for it. When was the last time you heard something like that happen?

Anyhow, Boston is out of it for this year, but I think they will be contenders again soon. It's not just that they dumped literally 200+ million in payroll, but they got rid of a huge jerk, and an up-and-coming one.

But I do have to wonder that if the Yankees tried to make such a trade, would people complain that it was unfair or something? You know how it is when it comes to the Yanks!

Another Yankees-Red Sox Game, Another Debacle

What a frustrating game to watch. Unlike Tuesday night, I did make it home in time to watch the top of the first inning of the last night's Yankees-Red Sox game. Unfortunately, it was the same old, same old, with the Sox getting three runs in the first. To top it all of, David Ortiz, instead of getting brushed back, got to camp out at home plate and hit a home run off The Bad A.J., who seems to show up every time against the Red Sox. What a nightmare.

Oh, and Ortiz had some classy things to say after last night:

“I don’t care what Joe Girardi says,” the Boston slugger fired back at a local New York writer. “Take it like a man. I’m done with that.” ....

“I don't want to be on national news tomorrow,” replied Ortiz on not flipping his bat after a two-run blast Wednesday. “I don’t want to have you guys asking me the same questions. I got almost 370 bombs in the big leagues and everybody wants to make a big deal because I bat flip one of them. [Expletive] that [expletive], man. If I have to make that video on my [expletive], let’s see how many bat flips I got on this [expletive]. Good night.”

Speaking of which, we're coming up on the second anniversary of the news that Ortiz failed a PED test. Remember how Sherlock Ortiz wasn't going to rest until he found out what happened? It's amazing he can still have time to play and solve crimes at the same time!

Dwight Gooden, of all people, weighed in on Twitter yesterday about Ortiz's bat flip, writing "In the 80s Ortiz would be laying on his ass right now after the stunt he pulled last night."And Red Sox Nation had a lot to say in our comments section as well yesterday, especially after my column on Ortiz got mentioned on Yahoo Sports' Big League Stew!

My own thoughts? I don't understand why Ortiz *still* has never been plunked by a Yankee, after all these years. The Yankees make him feel so comfortable at the plate, I half-expect them to bring out a pillow and a mint for him!

* * *

In other news, how about that Brett Gardner? He's on the lineup in no small part because of his speed, and he doesn't run home in the sixth when the ball gets away? So much for that. He said he didn't move because he thought the ball hit Jeter, which makes no sense.

And remember the days when Derek Jeter used to get the big hit? Unfortunately, those days are few and far between now, and last night, he hit into a rally-killing double play after Gardner's bumbling.

For all the hype about Captain Clutch's upcoming 3000 hits milestone, and the DJ3K bracelet, the fact is that he is having an even worse year than he did last season, even though many fans and writers thought his troubles were over after he hit two home runs against the Rangers. Last year, he hit .270, with 30 doubles, 10 home runs, and a .710 OPS. This year so far, he's hitting .260, with 7 doubles, 2 home runs and a .655 OPS. Yikes!

Oh, and what was up with Alfredo Aceves? Aside from the fact I was muttering to myself about why Brian Cashman didn't re-sign him, I was a little unnerved by how much he was sweating. It was like there was a showerhead installed right above his head, he was so wet. Or maybe he splashed cold water on himself between innings? What was the deal there?

What are your thoughts on Yankees-Red Sox?

Squawker Scoop: A look at Sports Illustrated's MLB Preview issue

Hooray! It looks like neither the Yankees nor the Mets will have to worry about the dreaded Sports Illustrated jinx too much this year. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the Yankees-related and Mets-related items in SI's upcoming MLB preview issue, courtesy of the PR folks at Time Warner. Here's the scoop:

Sports Illustrated picks the Philadelphia Phillies to beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series, saying that the Phillies "have the one element they’ve been missing for a quarter of a century: a big-time winner at the front of the rotation. That would be righthander Roy Halladay, obtained from Toronto in December, whose first trip to the playoffs should end with Philadelphia clinching its second World Series championship in three years."

SI picks the Yankees to win 100 games - and the AL East - but see them losing in the ALCS to the Rays. (No Red Sox in SI's playoff scenario!) Here's the logic:

The Yankees could muscle their way back to an October rematch with the Phils, but it would require the same off-the-charts good health and production from their older players that they received last year. That means the door is open in the American League for Tampa Bay, which has the deepest collection of young, versatile talent in the game.

I agree that the Yankees had a lot of luck last year - and 15 walkoff wins - which is why I'm projecting them to win fewer games this year (my prediction for Heater Magazine was 95 games.) But I still think they'll win the World Series. At any rate, though, I'm relieved that SI didn't pick them, given the dreaded Sports Illustrated jinx! Don't believe in it? Look what happened to the Mets last year, after SI picked them to win the World Series!

In other Yankee news, the magazine lists Javier Vazquez as a player to watch, and writes:

Catcher Jorge Posada says Vazquez struggled in his first Yankees stint because a sore shoulder made his release point drop and pitches flatten. “After I left, I didn’t think I was coming back,” Vazquez says. “I really wanted to stay.”

The magazine also has a nice little piece on Alfredo Aceves, praising his pitching and saying that the "Yankees should find a bigger role for him, either setting up Mariano Rivera as a multiple-inning reliever or as the fifth starter." Gee, I hope this article doesn't somehow jinx Ace; he's one of my faves!

As for the Mets, unlike last year's audacious prediction, when SI predicted them to win the World Series, Si projects the Mets to finish in fourth place and win just 79 games. Given the way last season was such a star-crossed one for the Mets after that prediction, maybe it's just as well the Mets are ranked so low! But even I think that they'll finish above the Marlins. In SI's NL East scenario, the Mets are ahead of only the Nationals!

Daniel Murphy is SI's Met player to watch, with hitting coach Howard Johnson saying that Murphy is "going to surprise a lot of people this year with some big numbers."

Sports Illustrated also thinks the Mets should take a chance on R.A. Dickey, the knuckleball pitcher. Me, I think the Mets ought to re-sign Pedro Martinez, the pitcher some would say is a knucklehead! But that's me - Pedro returning to Flushing would immediately give me something Mets-related to squawk about every five days.


Anyhow, Sports Illustrated's MLB Preview issue will be on newsstands today, and I'm sure there will be plenty of other stuff to rehash - and squawk about - in the issue. For one thing, I'm curious to read what they say about the Red Sox, and why they're ranked in third place. I have them getting the wild card in the predictions I did for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance - more on that soon.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Sweeping generalizations: Thy name is Joel Sherman

New York Post columnist Joel Sherman can be good at times, but he also makes a whole lot of sweeping generalizations based on one game. Yesterday he was at it again, trying to find all sorts of eerie parallels between this weekend and 2004. He writes in today's New York Post:

Just about the only downside for the Yankees in Friday night's blowout of the Red Sox was how much it was reminiscent of their Game 3 victory in the 2004 ALCS.

The Yankees won that contest 19-8 at Fenway, Hideki Matsui hit two homers and the Yanks took a three-games-to-none lead. At that moment, the Yanks appeared more likely to join a Broadway chorus line en masse than fail to reach the World Series. Their magic number was one with four games to play. But they never did get that victory, and no one ever Cursed again.

Yeah, because yesterday's game was so much like Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. You had the Yankees leading into the ninth yesterday, until Jacoby Ellsbury stole second against Mariano Rivera, and the Sox went on to win on an extra-inning homer from David Ortiz.

What's that you say? The Red Sox hit A.J. Burnett hard, for the worst start of his career, and the Sox destroyed the Yankees, 14-1? You mean it wasn't a carbon copy of 2004? Who knew?

For his own sake, I really wish Sherman wouldn't write these sort of pieces. Because there are other times I think he's really great. But he shouldn't jump to conclusions after one game. It's like when he wrote this about CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira after Opening Day:

Sabathia was the highest-paid free-agent pitcher of the offseason and Teixeira the highest-paid position player. In a down economic climate, the Yanks invested $341 million on just those two. They are not going to feel bad about those decisions at 0-1. However, no one wants to make a bad first impression as a Yankee because the hole is always a little deeper, so deep that many never truly escape.

Yeah, because Sabathia and Teixeira have been such disappointments as Yankees this year. They could never overcome those horrific Opening Day performances. Sheesh.

Back to Sherman's piece from this morning. He also opines:

They entered yesterday leading the Red Sox by 7½ games with one-quarter of the season left. For the record, their magic number was 34. But the most important magic -- it seemed -- was percolating in the Yankees clubhouse. The team's confidence was peaking. They have a cresting sense that they are a special group.

Of course that is exactly how it felt in the visiting clubhouse at Fenway after the game of Oct. 16, 2004....

After all, blowing a three-games-to-none lead in the postseason is unique. But since 1900, eight teams that trailed by 7½ games or more after the 121-game mark have gone on to finish first, including the 1978 Yankees.

What does this even mean? It's a terrible analogy for a variety of reasons:

* The Yankees have felt that this was a pretty special team for a while now, not just Friday night.

* Only Murray Chass seems to think the Sox's season is already over. Besides, even if the Yanks faltered, and the Sox surged, the rest of the way, there still is a pretty good chance that both teams will still make the playoffs (which is why the comparison to 1978 is flawed - we will never have another one game playoff for the Yankees-Sox again, due to the wild card.) So the season wouldn't be over for the Yankees.

* The Yankees just pummeled the Sox with an 18-hit barrage two weeks ago, and they ended up sweeping the series. Oh, I guess they were safe from some spooky curse because Hideki Matsui didn't hit two homers in that game. Sheesh.

Sherman continues:

Yet a 14-1 Red Sox rout yesterday provides pause to all the celebrating.

Who was celebrating, exactly? Even Sherman notes in his column that Joe Girardi pointed out the season wasn't over yet.

But what kills me the most about Sherman's piece is that it comes from the same guy who wrote this less than two weeks ago:

Humiliating the Red Sox is usually enough to turn the Bronx into nirvana. But the latest version of a Boston Massacre is just one slice of the Yankees' current heaven.....

Clearly the Yankees are soaring toward the postseason now while doing damage to the Red Sox's October plans. Maybe life could be better in the Yanks' corner of the Bronx. Again, send postcards to explain how.

On August 10, the Yanks were sailing towards October in Sherman's world. Now, the sky is falling because of one stinking loss.

Here's what I took away from yesterday's loss:

* A.J. Burnett and Jorge Posada are not on the same page. They'd better work it out, and quickly. Or else Jose Molina ought to be catching Burnett for the rest of the year.

* I miss Johnny Damon (!) in left field, and I hope he's healthy enough to play there tonight.

* Alfredo Aceves has been terrible as of late.

* Kevin Youkilis gets on my last nerve.

* Jonathan Papelbon apparently has multiple personality disorder - according to the FOX broadcast, he actually calls himself Cinco Ocho. I wish somebody on the Sox would call him the real nickname he deserves - Cinco Dopo!

But I'm certainly not going to read yesterday's loss as like being 2004 all over again. That's just silly.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Farewell to Francisco Cervelli - for now, at least

Since Jose Molina was activated before last night's game, Francisco Cervelli was sent to AAA. The catcher, who had never played above AA until this year, made quite the impression with Yankee fans, including this one. I'm very sad to see him get sent down. It was great to have his youthful energy and catching smarts on this team.

Fellow blogger New York Sports Jerk writes:

... the Yankees hate using kids as backups at the Major League level, which is why 33-year-old Cody Ransom is allowed to make error after error without contributing at all with the bat, while Ramiro Pena is down in Scranton for "seasoning."

What the Yankees should be doing is evaluating which players make their 2009 team better.

While at least Molina is a very good backup catcher, Cody Ransom is terrible. Since this is a win-now team, I don't understand why Pena doesn't have the chance to play up here. His contributions to the team are much better than Ransom can provide. Yeah, Pena can play every day in Scranton, but the Yankees are a better team with him than with Ransom. And I'd rather see one of the Yanks' young arms get a chance over Brett Tomko.

Are the Yankees better with Molina or Cervelli? I think the case can be made for either of them. I like Molina, but if the Yanks could use him in a trade, I'd be okay with that. Ransom and Tomko, on the other hand, need to hit the bricks.

* * *

Missed the first half of last night's game - we went out to dinner at Bob'z Ribz on Staten Island. I was excited to see A.J. Burnett continue to pitch well, even when he didn't have his best stuff. How great is it to have a one-two punch of aces like CC Sabathia and Burnett?

Speaking of aces, hope Alfredo ACEves pitches like one today!

Yankees beat Blue Jays, but their starter doesn't do the best Joba

Is Sunday's game over yet? What a long, long game, especially the first few innings. Were Joba Chamberlain and Toronto pitcher Brett Cecil competing in a Steve Trachsel pitch-alike contest?
Sheesh.

It's a good thing that Alfredo Aceves pitched a four-inning save, completely shutting down the Blue Jays. And that the Yankee offense bailed out Joba after he gave up eight runs and nine hits in 3.2 innings. Or yesterday could have been a really ugly loss, instead of an ugly win.

Granted, Cody Ransom made a critical error, but still. Chamberlain was terrible. (Incidentally, why is Ransom on the team, anyway? He can't field well, can't hit, and he's 33 years old to boot. Makes no sense.)

While I'm happy the Yankees won, I was irate over Joba Chamberlain's downright delusional postgame comments. I'm sick of hearing him say about how great the other team was. I'm sick of him saying how wonderful he pitched, when he stunk up the joint. Here are some examples from yesterday's postgame:

"I did a good job today," Chamberlain said. "My mechanics were the best they've been all year and I'm just going to continue to build.

"That's a good lineup -- there's not much you can do about it."

On what planet is giving up nine hits in 3.2 innings "a good job"? Or wearing out the Yankee bullpen - yet again - "a good job'? And why is it that Aceves was completely able to shut down that "good lineup" when Chamberlain got his butt kicked?

It gets worse. Joba said even more dopey things. Not only did he say, about himself, "there's really not much to be mad about" because the Yankees won, but he also said this:

"I did a good job today [of attacking hitters], I felt like," he said. "They're great hitters. I threw good pitches and they put good swings on it. They've been doing it all year. They're going to continue to do it."

Again, the hitters didn't "continue to do it" against Aceves. And I guess I missed when Chamberlain attacked hitters. All I saw was a whole lot of nibbling.

If El Duque was probably the most fun Yankee pitcher in this decade to watch, Chamberlain is rapidly becoming the least fun to watch. His games are uninspiring, mediocre, and slow.

Yankee fans are losing their patience with Chamberlain - he got booed in yesterday's game. While I hate it when Yankee fans boo their own players, I also didn't care for Chamberlain's response to the boos:

"At the end of the day, the sun comes up, and I've still got a job."

And that's precisely the problem. Joba pitches like he has nothing left to prove. He's already become complacent, at the ripe old age of 23. Good grief.

Besides, what is this sun will come out tomorrow stuff? Is Joba now Annie or something?

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Yankees are 'comeback kids' against Tampa Bay

This weekend, one of our readers anonymously opined about the difference between Squawker Jon and me. Jon, the reader said, sounds "like Eeyore" (hmmm, does that make me Tigger?) Meanwhile, I assume "every game should be a Yankees victory, and any decision that is slightly against [my] team is a travesty." And that's a problem, why, exactly?

Fortunately, this season it appears that the Yankees feel the same way; Johnny Damon was recently quoted saying something like that. No, not that Squawker Jon is Eeyore, but about how the Yankees have swagger this year. "We think we can win every game," Damon told the New York Post.

And Nick Swisher posted this on his Twitter account yesterday: "Comeback kids strike again. Awesome game today. Never quit attitude. Amazing."

Anyhow, it's getting to the point where no matter what kind of hole the Yanks are in, you can expect them to make some sort of thrilling comeback rally in late innings. I missed hearing parts of the first half of yesterday's game (like the Jeter bunt controversy) but I did listen to the last few innings, so I got to hear the great Yankee comeback. (But hearing it isn't as exciting as seeing it, and doesn't really paint the full picture of what happened!)

Squawker Jon told me the other day that it's no surprise the Yanks keep on having all these come-from-behind wins, giving that they have a great lineup playing in a bandbox. But yesterday's rally had more to do with small ball than the long ball.

Squawker reader Bostowned said this last week about the Yankees, and I tend to agree:

This team is different. As a fan, I see a 3 game sweep I immediately think...well lets see how they do in the next series against a better team. Then they sweep them. Then I start thinking...hmm....well I wonder how well they'll respond after they finally lose a series. Will they lose all confidence as I've seen so many times in the past? Nope, went on to take the next 2 series. After the last 20 games, Im ready to believe that this team isn't the 2004-2008 teams at all. Nothing seems to get them down and break their confidence. Every game appears winnable no matter what the score is or who's on the mound.

Yesterday not only had a thrilling rally, but Mariano Rivera earning the WWE belt for his save, which included getting Evan Longoria out this time! But the real MVP of yesterday's game, and the unsung hero of this season, was Alfredo Aceves, who pitched two scoreless innings to keep the Yankees in the game. He mentioned something about wanting to be like Ramiro Mendoza in Suzyn Waldman's postgame interview with him. As Suzyn pointed out, he's done his homework!
Good stuff.

I'm guessing, though, that Joba Chamberlain's performance yesterday will push Mike Francesa to go on yet another rant about how he should pitch in the bullpen. Good grief.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!