SimonOnSports

During the offseason we were bombarded with articles talking about defensive metrics and how the 2010 Red Sox were going to be drastically improved as a result of these measures. The Sox decided to not give Jason Bay and his 35 HRs the money this offseason and instead went for Marco Scutaro, Adrian Beltre and Mike Cameron (in addition to John Lackey). The collective defensive trio had UZR's through the roof and were supposed to save their pitchers over a run per game. there's just been a flaw or two to this philosophy early on this season. Their pitching has been crap and their hitting has been worse so honestly defense means shit when you're not doing anything else. Coming into today the Red Sox ranked 25th in the Majors in runs scored at 48 runs through 12 games. Throw in todays two run output and the rest of todays slate of MLB games and the Sox will likely slip even further down the chain. Meanwhile their team ERA came in in the bottom half of major league baseb...

If you are looking for a single individual that epitomizes the Scott Boras method of free agency, look no further than Johnny Damon. Johnny Damon loves money. His goal in free agency is to grab as much money as possible regardless of where it leaves him. Money is what matters to Johnny, to hell with the rest. Let's travel back in time to the 05-06 offseason when Johnny Damon was a fresh free agent. Johnny was the face of the Boston Red Sox. He was a lynchpin in the Red Sox 2004 curse breaking World Series Champions. He was universally loved by all Red Sox fans and universally hated by all Yankee fans. Of course Johnny Damon was going to stay in Boston. Life was seemingly perfect, how could he possibly want to leave when the Sox offered him a solid contract and when he was already quoted in the papers saying that he would never play for the Yankees. Money, that's how. Johnny jumped to New York for the additional cash. It was essentially the singular difference between w...

Well yesterday was certainly an interesting day in the baseball offseason. The Red Sox made two huge signings. Two of the best ten pitchers in baseball were moved. The World Series MVP is now on a different team. So it's time for some quicknotes to cover the big day. ~While I picked on Meech, Bill Baer and CRM this morning , if I had read Rosenthal's post over the weekend, I probably would have thought the same thing. "This trade seems a bit far fetched." Bill's post was likely the best rundown of why it didn't make much sense. The Phillies were giving up an Ace and Prospects for an Ace. Why not just give up the prospects and have two aces? Your best chance to win a World Series is 2010 before J-Roll and Utley start creeping towards regression and players like Werth demand huge salaries on the open market. In reality it seems like the Phillies made this move strictly because Cliff Lee apparently desires to test the Free Agent waters and Roy Halladay...

Blogging the Offseason is a 30 team series in which I ask a blogging representative from each MLB team a series of ten questions about their desires and thoughts surrounding the offseason. Check out all of them here . Today's AL team is the Boston Red Sox and our guest is Dan from the Sox Blog, Red Sox Monster . 1. What was the Sox biggest issue in 2009 and how do they go about fixing it this offseason? For the second season in a row, the Red Sox were among the Top 5 teams in the American League in most hitting statistics, including runs, doubles, walks, stolen bases, total bases, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. And for the second consecutive year, the team's offense fizzled in the postseason. The answer to me is clear: The Red Sox need to get younger. Aging players like David Ortiz and Mike Lowell are still good enough that they accumulate statistics in a meaningful way, but they struggle in the postseason. Mike Lowell, for example, hit .290...

If you thought for a second that I wouldn't put together a Faces of Fail feature on Jonathan Papelbon after he blew away the Red Sox 2009 season, than you sir are a moron. Now onto the deliciousness... The "I'm Throwing the Game Losing Pitch" Boner The "Ultimate Sad Face" Boner The "Why'd I only Throw Fastballs" Boner The "My Losing Jerkoff Dance" Boner The "Watching the Other Team Celebrate" Boner The "Oh Shit He Got a Hit" Boner The "Reflecting on the Loss" Boner The "They Are Actually Booing Me" Boner The "I Might Be Crying" Boner The "Time to Schedule My Golfing Trip" Boner Yum, I even threw in two pictures from Game 2 for good measure. That might have even been as much fun as the Tom Brady SuperBowl Loser post .

Just a reminder to Red Sox fans as Scott Kazmir takes the hill in Boston this afternoon, the Red Sox brass had the opportunity to block the deal but chose not to. When Kazmir was put on the waiver wire, every team in the AL with the exception of the Yankees had the opportunity to claim Kazmir before the Angels were able to. The Red Sox chose not to for whatever reason and the deal was consummated. With the Angels Kazmir has started 6 games. He's 2-2 with a 1.73 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. The Angels are 4-2 in his starts despite scoring 2.33 runs per game. He has a Quality Start in 5 of 6 games with the only non-QS coming in his last start of the year when they pulled him after 5 innings. If the Angels did not have Kazmir on their roster it's likely Ervin Santana would get the start. Ervin Santana in last years postseason was rocked by the Red Sox for 5 runs in 5+ innings. Kazmir on the other was baten around for 5 runs in his first outing in the ALCS but redeemed himself with 6 i...

Wow, that's bad. Could he look any more like a giddy 6 year old girl at the end of that clip? Courtesy of Fack Youk

The Yankees have already won 95 games they are on pace to win over 100 games and with another victory or a Rangers loss they will clinch a playoff birth. So its not really time to jump off the bridge and panic just yet, but over the past two weeks they are giving Yankee fans a lot to be concerned about. 1) Now Is Not a Good Time to Play Your Worst Baseball The Yankees are 12-8 in the month of September thus far. This record is only better than in April when they went 12-10. In July the Yankees went 18-9. In August the Yankees went 21-7. When the team starts playing its worst baseball preceding the playoffs some people are going to start worrying. 2) Can You Beat the Damn Angels Already? No seriously this is old. Its been old for about a decade now and it isn't getting anymore enjoyable. The Yankees have the next two days to attempt to shake a little of the curse of the rally monkey off, but starting Chad Gaudin tonight doesn't seem overly promising. 3) What the Hell Did You Do ...

In news that is sure to make you want to vomit, Curt Schilling has proclaimed interest in being the successor to Ted Kennedy in the US Senate. Yep, Curt and his bloody sock have some interest in delegating American policy. Excuse me for a few seconds as I punch a hole in the wall and curse for a few seconds..... Ok better. First of all this whole thing is non news. There is ZERO possibility that Curt Schilling is going to take over the Massachusetts Senate seat. He has zero experience, zero ties to anything involving Ted Kennedy, hell I don't even think he's a democrat. Why the hell does the media even take him seriously? If he said he wanted to be an astronaut would ESPN report that too? Secondly, who the hell would vote for him? He's just a loudmouthed over opinionated former baseball player with zero experience. Why would anyone choose to vote for you over anybody in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts who actually is qualified and actually could make meaningful ...

If you ever wonder about the difference in pitching in the National League in comparison to pitching in the American League, than just look at the performances of Brad Penny and John Smoltz. With the Red Sox Brad Penny and John Smoltz were both dreadful. In 8 starts with the Red Sox John Smoltz pitched to a 8.32 ERA. With the Cardinals in two starts he's pitched to a 0.82 ERA. It certainly helps that both of those starts came against the Nationals and Padres. Meanwhile Brad Penny pitched to a 5.61 ERA with the Sox this year and was booted out of the rotation following a dreadful 2nd half of the year. Last night in his first start with the Giants Brad Penny threw 8 shutout innings against the defending World Series Champion Phillies. This was just the 2nd time the entire season that Penny did not allow a run the entire season and the first came against the Oreo's. A move to the National League is all you need to get healthy apparently. Both Penny and Smoltz were so mise...

Here's a fun little chart I put together which shows the progressive standings of the AL East throughout the season. You'll notice the Yankees going up since the all star break and everybody else plummeting like a rock. Does this look like anything you may have seen in the early 00s Red Sox fans?

For all the tough guy juice Kevin Youkilis oozes out, I found Tuesday Nights fracas to be delightfully delicious. First off Mr. Youk gets hit squarely in the back, not really something out of the ordinary for a player who has been hit nearly 40 times during the past three seasons. Yet, Youk decided the time was now to fight. The time to fight came when he was going to fight a pitcher who should be a SOPHOMORE IN COLLEGE . So Youk charges the mound. All the while Rick Porcello has his hands up in the air and is back peddling with a "why the fuck are you trying to fight me look on my face". And then what does Youk do? He throws his helmet at Porcello like a little pansy and then tries to take him down. But instead of taking the 20 year old Porcello, he in fact gets tossed to the ground and so we get this picture. Ha, Youk just got tossed by a college kid. What a Jackass. For the time being you can watch the video here . Hilarity.

Despite coming into this weekends 4 game set up 2.5 games in the standings, there was a bit of an emptiness in each and every Yankee fan and a bit of bolstered confidence in Sox fans despite a two game slide in Tampa. This is what an 8-0 season record against your division rival provides you. So on thursday when I brought up the 2.5 game lead to a Sox fan their return answer was, "we'll take care of that this weekend", and I had no return argument. But oh how one weekend can change things. After this series it feels as if the Yankees are the team who is up 8-4 in the season series. It feels as if the Yankees are going to cruise towards the division crown with their 6.5 game lead. It feels like he Red Sox are dive bombing their way out of the playoffs. Unlike in previous series when it was Jason Bay getting the huge home run off Mariano Rivera or Pedroia or Youk being pests, this weekend was all about the Yankees coming up with clutch hits. It was the ever clutch A-Rod pro...

When a legend enters the final stages in his career there are two paths he can go down. One, the team with which he has performed for on a hall of fame level decides to honorably hang out to him until the finish line. Two, that same team decides that said Hall of Famer is finished or isn't worth the money he is demanding. Usually, in the latter case, that spells bad things for the superstar. In John Smoltz's case I thought the Braves were being harsh. I thought John Smoltz would come back and reemerge from his injury to regain his 2007 form , which was beastly. I thought the Red Sox scooped up a brilliant insurance policy. Sure he would be out for half of the season, but the Sox had enough arms to get by until he came back and his true value would come in the postseason. Eight starts into John Smoltz's 2009 season it appears as if the Braves made the wise decision. Perhaps a 42 year old man just can't easily recover from major surgery. Perhaps a 42 year old man c...

I haven't done a straight preview in awhile but since its Yankees vs. Red Sox time, there's no better time then now. We're going quick notes edge style. The Better Steroid User A-Rod: A-Rod won a an MVP over Papi and has put himself in the stratosphere of all time players with the accumulation of HRs, hits, RBI, etc. But he still has no rings. Big Papi: Big Papi helped win the Red Sox their first World Series since 1918 with a little boost from the juice. Edge: Sox Season Series aka 0-8 Boston: The Red Sox are on a roll against the pin stripes and seemingly have the Yankees number from hitters to starters to Mariano. Yankees: They're one of the top teams in baseball, odds are in their favor to win a game right? Edge: Push, it doesn't matter The Pitching Matchups Joba vs. Smoltz: Joba has been on fire. Smoltz has looked old. Edge Yanks Burnett vs. Beckett: Burnett has been terrible in his two starts against the Sox this year and Beckett is Beckett. Edge Sox Saba...

I can't believe that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were taking steroids in 2003 . I am so heart broken and crushed. To think that back in 2004 I truly thought the Red Sox fended off the curse of Babe Ruth with just a hint of lying during Schilling's fake blood. But now, now I know that they were cheaters. Horrible, Horrible Cheaters. And now to think the World Series Championship has a huge asterisk next to it. It makes me sick. Or not. Come on, you didn't have a sneaking suspicion that David Ortiz just might have done steroids? You didn't see his progression from a player pretty much let go by the Twins for nothing to baseball god with the Red Sox as a slight cause for concern. If anything four months ago I would have thought that Manny not Ortiz was the one who probably was clean, but there always have been the massive doubts about Ortiz. Regardless, does it really matter? No. Because once again there were steroid users EVERYWHERE ! It's not like that Y...

The Yankees are tied for first. Given that they've been SWEPT the entire first half of the season by the Red Sox, I think this is a pretty solid outcome. Of course they finish the first half of the season against the Angels which always always spells disaster, so it's likely that come monday morning the Red Sox might be back in sole possession. But for now, this is enjoyable.

It's PhotoHunt Time. Take a look at the pictures and see if you can figure where the 5 differences are. Click on the Image to get a larger view if needed. Then when you are done check out the answers linked below. ANSWERS

It's just one game and it was bound to eventually happen given how fantastic the Sox bullpen has been the entire season, but damn it was fun to watch Boston's Bullpen Implosion last night. Who would have thought that their massive win streak against the Oreo's would have ended after a 10-1 lead in the 7th? Who would have thought Oscar Salazar would have hit a three run home run? Who actually knows who Oscar Salazar is? Who would have thought that the Papelboner would give up the lead on a double to Markakis? And then who really thought that Sherrill would have actually slammed the door shut? But it all happenned and the Sox lead is down to 2.5 and the win streak against the Oreo's is at negative 1.

After todays trade, Eric Hinske will have made stops with the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Rays, Yankees and Pirates [ick]. The next logical stop is quite obviously Baltimore to lock up 5 for 5 in the AL East.