As reported by Dan Lefort on Boston.com, the Red Sox have acquired Eric Gagne from the Texas Rangers in exchange for Kason Gabbard, David Murphy and Engel Beltre minutes before today’s 4PM deadline.

Gagne dominated the National League from 2002-2004, saving 152 games, highlighted by a 1.20 ERA and 0.69 WHIP in 2003. In 2007 he has rebounded from the elbow problems that have plagued him since, posting a 2.16 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 33.1 IP.

This deal can only be described as “masterful.” The three players swapped for Gagne are, repectively, a fourth starter, fourth outfielder, and a seventeen-year-old. Beltre (.728 OPS in GCL) certainly has the most potential, but a lot can happen before he’s ready in five years. Clearly, Sox GM Theo Epstein was able to read the market for Gagne and wait until the Rangers were ready to come to terms.

The depth in the starting rotation for 2007 has narrowed, but the health of Jon Lester and Curt Schilling was the tipping point for this team before Gabbard enters the picture. With a playoff appearance all but guaranteed, the postseason innings Gagne pitches will get the Sox closer to the Ultimate Goal than some August garbage innings by Gabbard.

The Red Sox pen has morphed from a weakness in the spring to a strength at the break - and now appears to be a dominant force. Teams brag about shortening games to eight innings with a good closer, now Sox opponents will have 21 outs before the big boys at the end of the pen. Wise words are often repeated - there is no such thing as too much pitching.

As the July 31st trading deadline looms, the talk of the region has centered around the Red Sox contemplating a deal for slugging White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye, in exchange for Wily Mo Pena and a young pitcher to be determined.  Boston is apparently searching for the consistent right-handed power bat that they thought they were getting when they shipped Bronson Arroyo off to Cincinnati for the much-maligned Wily Mo Pena.

There are a few questions we should ask ourselves before even looking at the possible trade-bait going to Chicago:

Q: Are we sure that Dye will be a significant upgrade over Wily Mo down the stretch?
A: Yes, as sure as we can be.  After starting out slow, Dye is mashing right now, hitting .295/.377/.689 since the All-Star break.  This is coming after a season where he was arguably the best hitter in the league.  Jermaine Dye is what Wily Mo hopes to become in 3 years.

Q: Would Dye be a long-term acquisition, or a 2-month rental?
A: He’d be a rental.  With a (hopefully) healthier Ortiz in 2008, and two high-priced sluggers at both corner OF positions, there just isn’t any room for the big guy.  The Red Sox would just parlay the rental into some draft day compensation in June (a system that they have been very adept at working in recent years).

Q: Well then, where would he play this year?
A: Here is the tough part.  My guess is, David Ortiz needs some time off.  I’m not sure how much time he needs, as the  Sox are naturally keeping that quiet.  But, Dye would get some time at DH, he would play RF against left-handed pitchers, and he might even play some LF to let Manny rest his legs.  I’d guess he’d start in roughly half of the remaining games on the schedule, in addition to being the first bat off the bench, and would get something like 20 plate appearances per week.

That being said, what does Chicago want? The word on the street is they were asking for one of Justin Masterson (sound familiar?) or Manny Delcarmen.  Personally, I wouldn’t do either of those deals, and according to the usual sources, neither will the Red Sox.  The key here will be whether or not Chicago GM Kenny Williams is willing to reduce his offer a bit and accept a pitcher with a slightly lower ceiling.

Stay tuned…

After suffering through that third-trimester abortion of a baseball game, we might as well put on our rose-colored goggles and look for some positive information (besides the whole 8 game lead, of course). Allow me to play the role of The Propeganda Machine, and feed you some good news on this blue Sunday.

From what I gather by listening to WEEI, even the casual fans out there have heard of prized pitching prospect Clay Buchholz. Another highly-touted prospect, if not on Clay’s level, is young Michael Bowden. Both of those kids have garnered the majority of the hype in this town, as far as pitching prospects go.

If you haven’t heard yet, you’re hearing it now: there is yet another name to add to the ranks of top Red Sox prospects, another pitcher who has been tearing his way through the minor leagues of late:

Justin Masterson.

Masterson, a monolithic figure at 6′6″, 250 lbs, was drafted in the second round last year out of San Diego State University, the alma mater of Marshall Faulk and Fred “Hunter” Dryer. His #1 weapon is his heavy sinker, delivered from a 3/4 arm-slot, touching 94 MPH, and inducing more ground balls than a bowling alley. Masterson was drafted as a reliever, but converted to a starter in 2007, and has had great success on the hill recently.

Justin was originally assigned to Lancaster of the California League at the beginning of the season. Since Lancaster is the gravitational equivalent of the planet Neptune, all pitchers there tend to look like Dave Eiland, while all hitters there tend to look like Barry Bonds. Masterson faired very well considering this atmosphere, yielding a 4.33 ERA in 17 starts, along with a 2/1 ground ball to fly ball ratio.

It was after his promotion to AA Portland that Masterson really began to get people’s attention.

In 4 starts in Portland, Masterson has pitched 26 innings, giving up only 10 hits, 5 walks, and an ERA of 1.04. He has struck out 32 hitters, and get this: all 32 strikeouts have been swinging.

Of course, this is a small sample, and this streak is unsustainable. Numbers aside, the scouts are abuzz over this kid, raving about his makeup, build, and command of a whip-like sinking fastball that hearkens back to the days of Derek Lowe. Keep an eye on this guy, as he could be seen in a MLB relief role at some point in the near future, and possibly a starting role in the next year or two.

Boston 2
Tampa Bay 5

Of course, this has to happen after I smugly proclaim the Red Sox baseball’s best team in the Power Rankings.

The Devil Rays managed to avoid the weekend sweep at home, as Scott Kazmir made minced meat out of the bulk of Boston’s lineup, as he is known to do on occasion. The young left-hander made Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz both look like Little Leaguers (not the good Little Leaguers…I’m talking about the kids that get stuck playing right field, i.e. me 15 years ago).

Manager Joe Madden apparently wanted to lose this game to the Red Sox, as he took Kazmir out after 6 innings of work, a move embodying what is in my opinion the worst trend in modern baseball: the continuing pussification of starting pitchers. That is a column for another day.

Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched well; he was genuinely blowing away some tough hitters during the first 6 innings of the game, but his hiccup in the 7th inning proved fatal.

I’m not going to spend too much time on this game, as it was one of those frustrating Sunday afternoon affairs where you are longing for an offensive explosion, but instead get treated to the muffled sound of strangulation at the hands of a sub-par team. The one bright spot: once Madden haphazardly took Kazmir out of the game, both Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis went yard.

Manny, in particular, is in one of his “zones”, where he becomes the scourge of the American League, an abominable hitting machine, for an extended period of time. It happens every year, and it is happening right now. Since the All-Star Break, the future Hall of Famer is hitting .390/.472/.763.

Monday brings another nice pitching match up, as the underrated Erik Bedard (10-4, 3.05, 11.12 K/9!!) takes on Josh Beckett (13-4, 3.27).

1) Red Sox
With the divisional lead now at 9 games, and the remaining schedule featuring 13 games against the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays, I’m not yet ready to say the Sox are nailing the Yankees in their coffin in the AL East “race”. But, they are certainly shopping for the nails and wood. Per Baseball Prospectus, the Sox have a 97.78% chance of winning the division.

2) Tigers
Finally knocked off of their perch after an impressive run at #1. With all of the impressive individual performances in Detroit, getting lost in the discussion is center fielder Curtis Granderson, who leads the league with 16 triples. Next on the list are Carl Crawford with 8, and Coco Crisp with 7. You could argue that Granderson has been the best CF in the league this year, an impressive feat considering the competition at that position.

3) Indians
The great AL Central race continues to be tight, as both teams have struggled of late. Cleveland dropped 3 of 4 to Boston at home, and are under .500 in their last 20 games. If Travis Hafner was hitting like he normally does, Cleveland might have run away with the division, but “Pronk” is sporting an OPS+ of “only” 123, after 183 in 2006. The story in Cleveland has been starter Fausto Carmona, a pleasant surprise who is on the outskirts of the AL Cy Young discussion.

4) Brewers
The National League’s strongest team has what could be the strongest bullpen in the game, as their top five relief options have a 3.34 ERA in 232 innings on the year. Rookie starting pitcher Yovanni Gallardo has filled in nicely for injured Ben Sheets, giving America’s drunkest city another piece to a strong foundation of young talent.

5) Yankees
They’ve been winning games, but the divisional race is now a near-insurmountable precipice, given their remaining schedule in relation to that of the Red Sox. Luckily, their wild card competitors have been floundering, and the Yankees are back in the playoff picture. Johnny Damon, who is having the worst season of his career, has been swinging the bat more effectively recently, hitting .308 in his last 6 games.

6) Diamondbacks
The Snakes have won 8 straight games and are in the NL West lead, so they deserve a little bump here, but the team as a whole has been smiled upon by Lady Luck. Arizona has yielded more runs than they have scored, and their Pythagorean record is 51-55. Young hitters Stephen Drew and Chris Young have both underperformed their expectations, and if they play to their potential, there is hope that ‘Zona can maintain their lead into October.

7) Angels
Having a .500 record in their last 30 games does not help them in the Power Rankings, even though they have maintained their lead after Seattle has begun their descent back to Earth. If they do manage to win the division, this tea will be very tough in the first round, with a 1-2-3 of John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, and Jered Weaver.

8) Mets
I gratuitously shit all over Carlos Delgado in one of the prior Power Rankings, and he must have been reading, as he is now hitting .321/.424/.500 after the All-Star break. Pedro Martinez continues his long road back to the mound, and could begin a minor league rehab stint next week.

9) Dodgers
With young outfielder Matt Kemp raking to the tune of .341/.382/.540, the Juan Pierre deal is looking worse every minute. Pitcher Brad Penny is not only doing his part on the mound (13-1, 2.51 ERA), he’s chipping in at the plate as well, hitting .293 in 49 plate appearances, and sporting a higher OPS+ than teammate Nomar Garciaparra.

10) Phillies
After Chase Utley was injured after being hit on the hand, the Philadelphia Phillies reacted very quickly, grabbing Tadahito Iguchi from the White Sox to fill in at second base. Ryan Howard continues to put fear in the hearts of the enemy, with his ungodly isolated power percentage of .337.

Red Sox 0
Indians 1

A pair of excellent games against the Indians are more than we could ask for. These contests were a pleasure to watch, one win is a bonus. Last night may have been given away, but back-to-back 1-0 games are the epitome of pitching prowess and baseball joy. If lightning strikes a third time tonight, Kason Gabbard will have earned his stripes.

The top of the eighth contained numerous mental errors. Alex Cora missed a sign on a hit-and-run with Jason Varitek at first, but eventually reached on an infield single. Lugo pinch ran as the lineup turned over, and Coco worked the count to 3-1 as Rafael Betancourt warmed in the bullpen. Lugo takes off?! The attempted steal in that situation is a bad play. Carmona was tired, Betancourt pitched two innings yesterday. Just get to Betancourt with the big boys coming up.

Maybe if that was the first caught stealing of the evening - or the inning. Maybe if Coco wasn’t thrown out at home in the sixth - after slowing down between third and home. Maybe if Eric Hinske and Alex Cora aren’t in the same starting lineup. That was frustrating.

Tonight, Gabbard faces lefty Cliff Lee. As my colleague Jimmy pointed out in the comments below, J.D. should sit tonight, replaced by Wily Mo (2 HR, 7 ABs versus Lee) in right.

Red Sox 1
Indians 0

Daisuke Matsuzaka wiggled his way out of three jams and the Sox offense squeaked one out against The Tower of Power, C.C. Sabathia, for a nice, crisp win.  Not to jump the proverbial gun, but the Sox looked more like the championship team I believe they are last night.  The competition was world-class, the bullpens did their job, and the defense was inspired, if not perfect, on each side.

The lone run was a product of two failed diving catches in the Indians outfield, you can’t fault them for their efforts, but Ben Francisco was most certainly playing too deep in left against Mike Lowell on the winning blast - er, bloop. We saw a new lineup, with Coco batting fifth against the tough lefty and J.D. Drew relegated to eighth.  By the way, J.D., you’re starting to piss me off.

The Indians left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, at least Daisuke got his usual inning of wildness out of the way early.  He was helped by a baserunning gaff by Tom Sizemore’s illegitimate son, Grady.  In the bottom of the fourth, Matsuzaka escaped a lead off double by Ryan Garko and a walk to Trot Nixon by striking out Francisco and Josh Barfield.  His cause was helped again by heads-up play by Kevin Youkilis in the seventh - he gunned down Francisco at second on a failed sacrifice bunt by Barfield.  From there, it was up to the bullpen.  Hideki Okajima wasn’t quite ready to go when he entered in the top of the ninth, but a gift call on 3-0 from Joe West kept that all-important lead-off man off the bases.  The tone of the inning is a lot different with the go-ahead run at the plate in the form of Travis Hafner.  Okajima settled down and emerged unscathed.  Yadda yadda yadda, Papelbon slams the door for save number twenty-three.

Predictably, the Royals rolled over for the Yankees last night.  The lead remains 7.5.

Tonight, Josh Beckett opposes Fausto Carmona.  If you haven’t heard of Carmona, crawl out from under the rock.  He’s 12-4 with a 3.52 ERA, last time out he held the Rangers to 3 hits and no runs over 8 IP, but doesn’t like pitching at home (4.70 ERA).  Of course, nearly a year ago he was victimized by some late inning heroics by David Ortiz, who may be back in the lineup tonight.  If that’s the case, I think J.D. needs to grab some pine for a week or so.

Boston 6
Cleveland 2

Less than a year after receiving chemotherapy to defeat cancer, Jon Lester pitched a gritty six innings against one of the best lineups in the game in his 2007 MLB debut, and came away with the victory. The left-hander was around 91-93 MPH with his fastball, a slight drop from where we were seeing him in 2006, but he also featured an effective curveball and was missing bats with both pitches. Certainly an encouraging performance, one that at least would reinforce the notion that Lester (even at less than 100%) is an immediate improvement over Julian Tavarez in the rotation.

The Red Sox became the first team in the majors to win 60 games this season, and maintained a 7.5 game lead over the Yankees, who are gleefully beating up on the dregs of the American League to keep pace and bolster their Pythagorean record.

J.D. Drew’s tough month of July continues. After raking in June, J.D. is now hitting a meager .226/.354/.340 in July. Drew is also hitting just .217 against left-handed pitching on the season. It won’t get any easier tonight, as the Sox face one of the toughest left-handers in the league (see below). He was swinging the bat well in the Chicago series, and caught some tough breaks, so there is still a glimmer of hope that the torrid June version of J.D. is the guy we’ll see for most of the games down the stretch. As Bob Dylan would say: “It’s not dark yet. But it’s gettin’ there.”

Luckily for the Sox, the guy playing next to J.D. has been channeling Ty Cobb recently. After his 4-hit performance last night, Coco Crisp is hitting .404/.451/.596 since the All-Star break, and continues to dramatically turn his season around, leaving thoughts of Jacoby Ellsbury and mid-season deals for Torii Hunter in the rear-view mirror.

Tonight, we have an interesting pitching match-up on our hands, as Daisuke Matsuzaka (11-7, 3.99) will take on Cleveland’s 300 pound colossus, C.C. Sabathia (13-4, 3.81).  C.C., who could find work as Forest Whitaker’s stunt double if this baseball thing doesn’t work out, has been lit up in his last 3 starts, yielding an 8.47 ERA and a .390 opponents’ batting average.

Let’s hope the trend continues.

1.) Detroit Tigers
After losing two of three to the Royals over the weekend, the Tigers hardly deserve the top spot.  Of course, the team at number two also lost a recent series to the giant-killers from KC.

2.) Boston Red Sox
Curt Schilling threw three scoreless innings in a rehab start on Saturday and Jon Lester will make his 2007 debut tonight in Cleveland.  The Sox need two of three from the Schil/Lester/Gabbard group to pitch well to return to their former dominance.  It’s not unlikely that all three will have some success.  Lester’s Pawtucket numbers are far from impressive (3.89 ERA, 67 H, 31 BB, 51 K, 71.2 IP) but a call-up might be motivation enough.  He’s already inspired many; his performance tonight is secondary.

3.) Cleveland Indians
The Tribe are hangin’ tough with the Tigers in the Central.  They enter this week a single game back (two in the loss column).  Fausto Carmona’s smoke-and-mirrors act is proving to be the “real deal;” he doesn’t strike enough batters out, and gives up way too many hits, but toss him into the John Maine/Chien-Ming Wang category.

4.) Los Angeles Angels
With the Reggie Willits era coming to an end (.152 BA in his last 78 PA) the Angels need someone else to step up behind Vlad.  They are nearly 4 wins over their Pythagorean record, and an injury to the starting rotation away from mediocrity.  That said, few teams in baseball are playing well in the summer heat.

5.) New York Yankees
They explode onto the Power Rankings as they exploded over the weekend, beating the Devil Rays with 7, 17, and 21 runs after dropping the first game of the series behind a struggling Mike Mussina.  A four game set in Kansas City begins on Monday, so this is probably when the Royals will start playing like shit again.  They wouldn’t be ranked this highly if they weren’t the Yankees and this wasn’t a Red Sox website.  At least we aren’t lying to ourselves.

6.) Los Angeles Dodgers
The possible loss of Takashi Saito is worrisome, but Jonathon Broxton is the future and a capable replacement.  Rafael Furcal has had a disappointing season by all accounts, but has been playing through an ankle injury from Spring Training.

7.) Chicago Cubs
The Cubs finally appear to be playing to their potential.  Big Z has a 1.55 ERA and 63 Ks in his last 8 starts.  Rich Hill hit a rough patch at the end of the first half, but the break has treated him well, he’s given up a combined three earned runs in his last two starts.

8.) Milwaukee Brewers
The Cubs have hit their stride so Bud’s Brewers are in trouble.  I have a hard time putting a team with a 3.5 game lead behind their competition, but I’ve thrown caution to the wind and done it anyway.   Don’t be fooled by Claudio Vargas’ 8-2 record - his 1.468 WHIP isn’t indicative of the success he’s experienced.

9.) New York Mets
Old Red Sox farmhand Chip Ambres got his name on SportsCenter after collecting his first hit in two years on Sunday, it happened to be of the extra-inning walk-off variety.  Carlos Beltran has busted out of his funk, he hit three bombs last week to bring his season total to 19.  They finally dumped Julio Franco’s corpse, only to see him picked up by the Braves.

10.) Seattle Mariners
I guess I have to put them in here somewhere, but they really aren’t good.  Due to the Rivera-effect reincarnated in J.J. Putz they’re a gigantic 6 wins over their Pythagorean record.  If you aren’t familiar, the Yankees have historically outperformed their expected W-L and have been way over .500 in close games.  This has been attributed to the dominance of Mariano Rivera.  The M’s have only scored 4 more runs than they’ve allowed.

The Sox won their third straight game yesterday, outslugging a White Sox team which resembles a shell of its 2005 World Champion self, but that wasn’t the biggest news yesterday.

The biggest (and most surprising) news from the weekend: Jon Lester was summoned from Pawtucket to face the Indians at Cleveland tonight.  Now, keep in mind, Cleveland has one of the best, and possibly the best, offense in baseball.  This will be a very difficult test for the 23-year-old cancer survivor, as Cleveland is actually tougher against left-handers (.813 OPS) than righties (.785 OPS).  Lester, by most accounts, hasn’t regained all of the velocity he had prior to his lymphoma, and his AAA strikeout rate is down about 25% from last year.  Best of luck to Jon tonight; it certainly won’t be easy.

Lester takes the place of Julian Tavarez in the rotation, which makes sense.  In the past 3 years, Tavarez has performed much better out of the bullpen (3.51 ERA in 195 innings) than as a starter (4.95 ERA over 131 innings).  Fans will have to settle for watching him perform his Rube Waddell impersonation for a only handful of innings per week.

The big question here: where does Tavarez now fit into the bullpen depth chart?  Mike Timlin has been much maligned by myself and others this season, but he’s been pretty effective recently, with an excellent 1.085 WHIP on the year.  I still don’t believe that Timlin is as good as that number suggests, but I’d be hard-pressed at the moment to choose between him and Tavarez for one inning of work.    

The DFA’d casualty in all of this: Joel “The Walking Spelling Error” Pineiro, the front office’s $4 million dollar bullpen gamble.  Joel certainly had interesting stuff; his slider was a bonafide swing-and-miss pitch, but he just could not command it as Theo Epstein hoped he would.  In a bullpen that is surprisingly deep, Joel was no longer trusted to throw innings of importance, and now he will try to resurrect his career in another town. 

It’s almost a certainty: Mike Lowell will not be on this team next year.

Why, you ask? Because he will be severely overvalued in the free agent market, as he is having a terrific season at a relatively old age. The Red Sox brass will (hopefully) recognize this, let a mid-market team overpay for Lowell, and look for an alternative at the hot corner in 2008.

While the Red Sox are currently stuck in what Little Carmine of The Sopranos might describe as “a stagmire”, there has been some buzz in the background regarding the future of third base at Fenway. Most of this buzz stems from the recent media volley between Scott Boras and Yankees GM Brian Cashman, as it appears that the best player in baseball will hit the free agent market this winter.

If I were to venture a guess as to the annual salary Alex Rodriguez would command on the market in 2008, I’d say roughly $30 million, for roughly 6 years. I’d also estimate that there are ten teams in Major League Baseball that would be willing and able to pay this type of money for one player. In no particular order: the Yankees, the Mets, Boston, Anaheim, The Cubs, The White Sox, Philadelphia, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Baltimore. There could always be a surprise suitor, a Houston or a San Francisco could always throw their hat in the ring, but those aforementioned ten teams are baseball’s financial “heavy hitters”.

We can cross the Mets off of this list; they are fortunate enough to have young superstars at both 3B and SS. The Dodgers will likely try to bring prospect Andy LaRoche along at 3B and spend the big money in their outfield; I’ll remove them as well.

That leaves us with eight teams realistically in the running for this guy. In other words, we need to explore other opportunities here, because the odds of A-Rod playing for another team besides Boston are quite high (as much as I’d love to see him here).

Let’s take a look at some other post-Lowell alternatives at third base for 2008 and beyond:

Kevin Youkilis:

Pro: The only inside solution to the hole, and most certainly the cheapest option. Kevin’s bat plays much better at 3B than 1B, and his defense, while not on par with Lowell, is adequate. If Youkilis were moved across the diamond, the Sox could then concentrate on finding a heavy-hitting first baseman, which might be an easier task.

Con: He’s a notorious fast-starter and quick fader, a trait shared with his buddy, Mr. Lowell. We don’t really know how his defense and mobility will hold up as he ages, since he is already somewhat slow and immobile at 28. He doesn’t have the HR power the Sox would optimally like to see at this position.

Miguel Cabrera:

Pro: He’s a superstar, one of the best hitters in baseball and still improving, and is only 24 years old. He can also play LF (we’ll be needing one of those after 2008). Florida might not want to deal with his arbitration raises going forward, and could pull the trigger for the right package. He doesn’t become a free agent until 2010.

Con: He’s heavy, and getting bigger each year. Not a very good defender at 3B, most likely a corner OF long-term. Comes with a bit of a negative off-field reputation. Any deal would probably need to include Clay Buchholz and/or Jacoby Ellsbury, and Boston will have a difficult time parting with them, as they could both be key players as early as 2008.

Troy Glaus

Pro: Tremendous power and plate discipline. Injury woes appear to be a thing of the past. Can play SS in a pinch. Toronto’s farm system is fairly barren, and they may be willing to deal, depending on the performance of the team in the next month.

Con: Not a great defender. His “swing for the fences” style doesn’t always go over well at Fenway Park. Turning 31 next month; those knees may have more difficulty carrying his huge frame at 3B in the future.

These are just 3 options, and there are more to discuss (and more holes to plug). We’ll save those for another day, when the picture becomes clearer.

Well the hills are pretty and rollin’
But the thorn is sharp and swollen
And the man plays a beautiful whistle
But he wears a prickly thistle.
- The White Stripes

Royals 6
Red Sox 5

The Sox dropped another game in the standings last night, to cut their lead to seven. Julian Tavarez is a dead man walking - he’s allowed a batting average of .444 and ERA over 10 in his last three starts. My somber mood should not be interpreted as pessimism, a seven game lead is still formidable, but my worry resides in the possibility of another handful of starts for Julian the Scary Clown.

An error by Mike “Silver Surfer” Lowell was the killing blow, three runs scored after a room service hop was turned into a prickly jam for Julian. The end of the Royals’ pen did a fine job, David Riske, Jimmy Gobble, Joakim Soria and Octavio Dotel combined to preserve the last three. Until the last out, it felt like the bats would come through. No one the Red Sox faced had dominant stuff, but the big hit was elusive.

These games will be a thorn in the side come September; hopefully the tune will change and we’ll look fondly back as the inevitable cold streak that ended promptly, instead of a three month nap. Wake up, fellas.

Tonight, the Pale Hose come to town and send Javier Vasquez to oppose Daisuke Matsuzaka. J.D. Drew (3 HR, 1.310 OPS, 23 AB) destroys Vasquez, so I’d like to see him a little further down in the order.

My Lineup 7/19
Lugo (He seems to be turning it around, lets give him a vote of confidence.)
Pedroia (on fire)
Ortiz
Manny
Drew (career numbers vs Vasquez)
Youkilis
Lowell
Varitek
Coco

Royals 9
Red Sox 3

Our worst fears have been realized.  The Red Sox faced a pitcher against whom they had little experience, and were predictably beaten.  The Yankees picked up a game due to a meltdown by Jeremy Accardo and Casey Jannsen.

Obligatory “NOBODY PANIC!” diatribe.

Phew, now that we got that out of the way, some thoughts (bulleted!) on the AL East and last night’s game:

• Who’s Now? Alex Gordon.  Kudos to the Royals for sticking with him through a miserable start.
• Is Mike Lowell going to cool off?  His fast starts have been chronicled ad nauseum, and I called for his head in April, but could he be the answer next year?  I’m still leaning toward no, but I’m a lot closer to “on the fence” than I was three weeks ago.
• John Buck has been one of the biggest suprises of 2007.  His OPS+ is 121, compared to a career figure of 86, and he has solidified one of the Royals’ major voids.  In a major slump after smacking three homers in two days against the Cardinals in mid June, he’s hit just .143 since the 18th.  July has not been kind to him historically (62 OPS+), so look for more frequent rest and a possible late season resurgence.
• I had a laugh watching Wily Mo chasing balls around in the top of the eighth and flailing at breaking balls.  Is this what it’s come to?
• The Red Sox haven’t been playing good baseball for the last six weeks, yet their lead is eight games.  The glass remains half full.

Tonight, Julian Tavarez faces Odalis Perez - both have been awful of late.  JOOL-ee-an could be nearing the end of his tenure in the rotation.  He’s had a nice run, but Gabbard should stick upon The Return of the Schilling.

Royals 0
Red Sox 4

Throwing only the 2nd Red Sox complete game shutout of the year (the first being Curt Schilling’s near no-hitter), Kason Gabbard was a friend to the umpires, stadium employees, and everyone else who enjoyes fast-paced baseball (everyone), as the Red Sox took only 2 hours and 18 minutes to defeat the Kansas City Royals tonight. 

Keeping in mind the caveat that KC has the 2nd worst team OPS+ in the league, let’s tip our hat to Kason for his 2nd excellent start of the season.  While guys like Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz get most of the love as the young starters in the organization, the 25-year-old Gabbard has proven that he can at least hold his own in the majors, with a career ERA of 3.44 in 55 innings between this year and last.  In those 55 innings, K-Gab (sorry) has only yielded 2 HRs.  If he can continue to keep the ball in the park, Kason could serve as a useful left-handed arm in the big leagues for years to come.

The meat of the order was especially meaty in the victory, as Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramirez all went deep.   In his last 8 games, Ortiz is hitting .452 with an OBP of .553, including 3 HRs and 10 runs scored.  Sort of makes the recent panic surrounding his knee and lack of power a bit silly, does it not? 

Tomorrow, Tim Wakefield (10-8, 4.47) takes on…WAIT FOR IT…WAIT FOR IT…

…a pitcher we’ve never seen before, making his debut.  Leo Nunez, a 23-year-old Dominican right-hander, has a 1.40 ERA in 39 innings between AA and AAA this season.  During this span, he has held hitters to a .167 batting average. 

Brace yourselves.

Update: We actually have seen Nunez before, as he pitched quite a bit in 2005 (looks like he was one of a group of young pitchers rushed to the majors by KC that year).  Thanks to The Tao’s recent post at In Dayton We Trust for the insight.

1) Tigers
Still plowing along, the Motor City juggernaut is tearing through the American League like an unruly mob of Pistons fans, setting ablaze anything in their path.  Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman are a combined 21-4 with a 3.38 ERA and 206 Ks in 229 innings. 

2) Indians
Manager Eric Wedge will never be able to convince me that Joe Borowski (a “Proven Closer”) should be pitching the most important relief innings while Rafael Betancourt is available.  The difference in effectiveness between these two guys is quite large.

3) Mariners
The most surprising team in baseball reaches their highest point in the rankings thus far, as it should be now considered that their success goes beyond early-season luck.  J.J. Putz is the best relief pitcher in baseball right now, and Ichiro is engraving his plaque.

4) Red Sox
The next two teams have been at the top of their divisions for quite some time, but have been playing .500 ball recently.  The Sox get the edge because of their large division lead and even Pythagorean record, while…

5) Angels 
…the Angels lack those things.  Reggie Willits has begun to cool down, and I fear Orlando Cabrera (a name more controversial in Boston than Planned Parenthood) will soon follow.  Still, their rotation might be able to carry them to a division title.

6) Twins
Justin Morneau is trying to reclaim his MVP award, as the slugger went 9-26 with 5 HRs in his last 7 games.  Minneasota also sports one of the best bullpens in the game, as their top 3 options (Joe Nathan, Pat Neshek, and Matt Guerrier) have ERA+ figures of 215, 274, and 264, respectively.

7) Dodgers
The top National League team pops in at #7, which appropriately describes the rift between the AL and the NL.  How about our old drinking buddy, Derek Lowe?  4th in the league in innings pitched (133) and 6th in ERA (3.05).

8) Brewers
Don’t Be Afraid of the Guy in Shades: Corey Hart is coming into his own as a valuable cog in the Brewer machine, hitting .300/.369/.515 and swiping 16 bases in 19 attempts.

9) Yankees
New York has the 3rd best Pythagorean record in the AL, and they certainly have the guns to mount a second half surge, but they will need to do some serious uphill climbing: they are 8 games back in the wildcard chase, and 9.0 games back in the division.

10) Cubs
Those lovable losers make their Power Rankings debut at #10, after going 15-5 in their last 20 games and inching within 3.5 of Milwaukee.  The ace of their staff thus far?  Ted Lilly (who else)!

Toronto 2
Boston 1

Yeah, the Red Sox “scattered” 11 hits, and only managed to score 1 run against a rookie pitcher who resembles a puppet from a children’s television show.  “Scattered” is the obligatory term for managing to get over 10 hits and score less than 2 runs in a single baseball game.  The term is often applied to pitchers who have horseshoes embedded in their anuses (ani?), Jesse Litsch being a prime example of this medical phenomenon today. 

When I was in grade school, we used to play a game called “Scatter” in gym class; it was basically a variation of dodgeball, but without teams and more brutal.  Anyway, this game leaves me feeling like I was just struck in the testicles with a Scatter Ball thrown by the huge 13-year-old kid with the mustache, so perhaps the term is appropriate.  I’m sure Josh Beckett feels the same way, after pitching 8 strong innings and being saddled with his 3rd loss of the season.

The Sox didn’t really have their full lineup out there today: Jason Varitek was taking a day off due to soreness, Dustin Pedroia was sick, and J.D. Drew is still a day or two away from returning to the lineup.  If you had read my mid-season report cards, you would have noticed that players missing games is trouble for this team, as our “D+” bench must relied upon in those situations. 

Tomorrow, roll out the red carpet for the Royals, as Brian Bannister (another member of the Horseshoe Club, as he has a 3.71 ERA and only 4.7 Ks per game) takes on Kason Gabbard (2-0, 4.87 ERA).  I don’t really like this pitching matchup, and I’ll note that KC isn’t really as bad as they have been in recent years (their Pythagorean record is 42-48, still bad, but not Royal Bad), so I wouldn’t be expecting them to completely roll over.

The weekly Power Rankings will also be out tomorrow.

I actually missed the game last night because I went to a concert (Tool). Concert kicked ass, the text updates I got during the game was both disgustingly post-modern and awesome as the local nine fluffed up Roy Halladay’s ERA a bit.

The three days seemed to do the team a world of good. They should All-Star Break more often!

This weekend, the Sox continue with the Blue Jays, and I’ll probably write something on how the World is wrong about the Red Sox vis a vis Roy Halladay.

I have returned, friends.

And I have done so to give you my take on the columnist cliché of mid-season rewards. What better way to genuflect at the alter of small samples!?

American League MVP: Alex Rodriguez - NYY, 3b
With a nod to Magglio Ordonez, ARod’s white-hot April’s and June’s out pace the Tiger. Plus, there is a good chance that despite his gaudy batting average, and many doubles, that Magglio isn’t even the most valuable Tiger since a very good argument could be made for Gary Sheffield. If the gods were smiling upon me, they would have the Yankees finish last and ARod win the MVP, so he can be the first player to win two MVP’s on last place teams.
Runners up: Magglio Ordonez, Vlad Guerrero, Gary Sheffield

National League MVP: Chipper Jones – ATL, 3b
I think this one is much closer than the American League one. Chipper has a .329/.417/.594 line, which puts his line only behind Barry Bonds. Jones’s name doesn’t appear on the home run leader board, while his main competition, Prince Fielder sits a top it. However impressive Fielder’s .620 slugging is…it’s only about 30 points higher than Chipper’s despite hitting 14 more homers than the Brave. Prince is also a completely immobile first baseman (unless he’s playing in the Metrodome), and Jones at least plays a passable third base.
Runners up: Prince Fielder, Barry Bonds, Chase Utley

American League Cy Young: Danny Haren – OAK
Before this off season, we wrote (or tried to write) a season preview for every team. I drew the Athletics both years and both years, I made mention of the fact that Haren looked like he had done a lot of heroin. Last night, at the All Star game, I was vindicated, as he actually looked like he was shooting up in dugout. He’ll get the help he needs.
Runners up: Johan Santana, John Lackey, Justin Verlander

National League Cy Young: Chris Young – SDP
Yes he plays in a ballpark that just completely destroys all chances of scoring runs, but he’s got an ERA about twice as good as average, and he’s striking out a batter an inning without walking many. He was also traded for Einar Diaz, which makes Diaz on the bad side of two disaster trades…Texas traded him to Montreal for Young (which they blew…not the point) and Texas acquired Diaz for an unknown named Travis Hafner.
Runners up: Jake Peavy, Brad Penny, John Maine

AL Rookie of the Year: Dustin Pedroia – BOS, 2b
There are five guys that could be ROY in the AL this year and they all have “something” going against them. Reggie Willits has no power. Hideki Okajima is a reliever. Jeremy Guthrie is doing it with smoke and mirrors. Daisuke Matsuzaka has been pretty good, but inconsistent, and he hasn’t pitched better than Guthrie anyway. Pedroia had the cold month of April, but since then has pretty much been the best second baseman in the American League. He’s been a major bright spot in a Red Sox offense that has been sputtering for the last 45 days or so. Plus, he’s the only guy that is a “young” rookie, with Guthrie being 28, Daisuke and Willits, 26, and Oki being an AARP-ready 31.
Runners Up: Hideki Okajima, Jeremy Guthrie, Daisuke Matsuzaka.

NL Rookie of the Year: Hunter Pense – HOU, CF
“Hey Hunter, how about we call you up, you smash the shit out of the ball, make some nice catches on the hill, and then never, ever walk, under penalty of being traded to Pittsburgh with that anonymous Canadian fellow?”
“Ok coach, I can do that!”
Runners Up: Troy Tulowitzki, Matt Chico, Peter Moylan

All American League Team:
I’m giving myself a starter and a backup, a five man rotation, and a six man bullpen (min 25 games), for a very svelte 29 man roster.

C – Jorge Posada, NYY (Victor Martinez, CLE)
1b – Justin Morneau, MIN (Carlos Pena, TAM)
2b – Brian Roberts, BAL (Dustin Pedroia, BOS)
3b – Alex Rodriguez, NYY (Casey Blake, CLE)
SS – Carlos Guillen, DET (Derek Jeter, NYY)
LF – Manny Ramirez, BOS (Hideki Matsui, NYY)
CF – Torii Hunter, MIN (Curtis Granderson, DET)
RF – Magglio Ordonez, DET (Vlad Guerrero, LAA)
DH – Gary Sheffield, DET (David Ortiz, BOS)
SP – Danny Haren, OAK
SP – Johan Santana, MIN
SP – John Lackey, LAA
SP – Justin Verlander, DET
SP – Josh Beckett, BOS
RP – Pat Neshak, MIN
RP – Hideki Okajima, BOS
RP – JJ Putz, SEA
RP – Jonathan Papelbon, BOS
RP – Scott Shields, LAA
RP – Eric Gagne, TEX

Among the more controversial picks (I’m talking about Boston here…), park affects mean a lot. Mike Lowell and Casey Blake are essentially even as the #2, but Blake is doing it in a run environment that is a bit more hostile. Same with Roberts over Pedroia.

Manny Ramirez might be a surprise because of his power outage this year, but it’s a really down year for American League left fielders, to the point where he really does float to the top.

All National League Team:
The NL has to go with a 27man roster. Suckers!

C – Russell Martin, LAD (Brian McCann, ATL)
1b – Prince Fielder, MIL (Albert Pujols, STL)
2b – Chase Utley, PHI (Kelly Johnson, ATL)
3b – Chipper Jones, ATL (Miguel Cabrera, FLA)
SS – Hanley Ramirez, FLA (J.J. Hardy, MIL)
LF – Barry Bonds, SFG (Matt Holliday, COL)
CF – Hunter Pence, HOU (Carlos Beltran, NYM)
RF – Ken Griffey, CIN (Brad Hawpe, COL)
SP – Chris Young, SDP
SP – Jake Peavy, SDP
SP – Brad Penny, LAD
SP – John Maine, NYM
SP – Brandon Webb, ARI
RP – Takashi Saito, LAD
RP – Billy Wagner, NYM
RP – Trevor Hoffman, SDP
RP – Heath Bell, SDP
RP – Brad Lidge, HOU
RP – Jason Isringhausen, STL

The Red Sox stand in first place in the AL East, with the best record in baseball and a 10 game lead.  Obviously, things have gone a bit better than expected for this team in the first half of the season. 

So, how have the individual contributors fared?  Let’s take a look:

Hideki Okajima - A+
Going into this season, the biggest question mark was the team’s bullpen, a mix of fading veterans and rag-tag free-agents.  Little did we know, the most effective guy out of the pen wouldn’t be Jonathan Papelbon, Brendan Donnelly, or any of the guys mentioned as “closer candidates” early in the year.  All-Star Hideki Okajima leads the team in appearances, relief innings, and has a mind-blowing 0.83 ERA (539 ERA+), 0.831 WHIP.  Certainly deserving of that final vote, and quite possibly the first-half MVP of this team.

Josh Beckett - A
When he’s able to throw his curveball, he is among the game’s most dominant pitchers.  His K/BB ratio has nearly doubled in a year, going from 2.14 last year to 4.38 in 2007.  Be watching tonight…

Dustin Pedroia - A
Not much was expected from the rookie 2B after his anemic debut in 2006, coupled with his abysmal start to this year.  The miniscule middle-infielder followed up an awful April (.544 OPS) with a torrid May (1.072 OPS), and hasn’t looked back.  Has also played stellar 2B defense, which is perhaps more surprising than his gaudy offensive numbers.

Mike Lowell - A-
He had the odd early-season glove issues, but those seem to be a thing of the past (and luckily didn’t cost the team many games).  I keep expecting this guy to fall apart, but it just has not happened.  Arguably the best hitter and most valuable player on the team thus far.  It’s hard not to like Mike.

Jonathan Papelbon - A-
He’s given up a couple of high-profile HRs this year, already matching the 2006 total of 3, and his ERA has gone from unbelievable to plain-old phenominal.  Even considering that, he’s still among the game’s elite relief arms, and probably the one guy I’d pick in the entire league if I needed 1 out.  K rate has jumped from 9.88 to 12.67 this year.

Kevin Youkilis - A-
The facial muff alone gets him at least a B.  Youk has quietly been one of the most productive hitters on the team.  Many nay-sayers believe his power spike was just an early hot streak, but keep in mind, he’s 28 - prime career year terriroty.

David Ortiz - B+
You really can’t win in this town.  After a 3 year streak in which he was the most feared hitter in baseball, personifying the word “clutch”, causing even the likes of Bill James to backtrack on what was recently considered contemporary baseball wisdom, David Ortiz has seen his power slightly decrease (IsoP has gone from .349 to .242).  This has caused a slight panic in this town, one of those ridiculous East Coast things that just makes me chuckle.  His OPS is .990.

Jason Varitek - B+
If any of you have a job which requires you to wear an arm-band with Japanese to English translations printed on it, my advice to you is to request a raise.  Tek has increased his offensive production from his off year in 2006, and has managed to keep Julian Tavarez from killing people.  

Daisuke Matsuzaka - B
He’s been wildly inconsistent, spinning a gem one night and getting lit up the next.  However, his stuff cannot be denied, as many hitters have walked away from Dice-K encounters muttering, amazed and annoyed with his vast arsenal.  Despite the inconsistency, overall, he’s been pretty much as advertized: a durable horse with an electric array of pitches, as he sits among the league leaders in strikeouts and innings pitched.

The Rest of The Bullpen - B
I’m going to group together the following guys here: Brendan Donnelly, Kyle Snyder, Javier Lopez, Joel Pineiro, Mike Timlin, and Manny Delcarmen.  For my entire life, I’ve always been a “B Student” (i.e. I’m lazy and uninspired, but I try not to f*ck up too often).  The back-end of the bullpen, for the most part, has been just that.  Sure, there is some skewness here (Delcarmen and Snyder have been excellent, while Timlin and Pineiro have been frustrating), but over 143.3 innings pitched, these 6 guys have combined for an ERA of 3.54.  Nice work, but would I really want any one of them on the mound with the game on the line and inherited runners on base?

Manny Ramirez - B-
Like Ortiz, Manny has encountered a decrease in power in 2007, as his IsoP has decreased from .298 to .181.  His contact rate and walk rates remain the same, and thus he has still been a very productive hitter, although his 6.23 Runs Created Per 27 Outs is the worst of his 14 year career.  When taking into consideration the fact that he turned 35 in May, this becomes a concern.

Tim Wakefield - B-
After all these years, still one of the most underappreciated players on the team.  He’s been the 3rd best starter, and continues to provide steady innings, with an ERA+ of 102.  He’s only slightly above average (as always), but that’s more than we can say about most starting pitchers in the American League.

Coco Crisp - B-
This grade is driven primarily by his excellent work in CF as well as the basepaths this season.  Coco has quite possibly been the best fielding CF in the league in 2007, and his bat has begun to come around, as well (hitting .321 in June and July).

Curt Schilling - C+
His recent rough patch and injury means it is somewhat likely that this will be his last season Curt pitches in Boston.  While he was healthy, our blogging colleague was effective this season, including a near no-hitter in Oakland.  He threw more quality innings than predicted by many, given his age and stature.  I’m not going to write his eulogy yet, since there’s always the chance he returns healthy and wins another 6-8 games in the second half.  As we’ve seen, if anything, Curt is driven.   

Julian Tavarez - C
Probably shouldn’t even receive a C, but I might be biased.  A likeable character, at least there won’t be any complaints about his focus and desire.  Sporting a 4.97 ERA in a role that is probably ill-suited for him, but acting as a pseudo-leader and spokesman in the clubhouse.  I’d probably rather see one of our minor league guys in the rotation, but Julian has exceeded my modest expectations of him.

J.D. Drew - C
I’m not going to spend much time on him, because frankly, I’m tired of discussing him.  I’m naturally a “glass half full” person (in regards to baseball, anyway), and my natural reaction is to shrug off his mediocre first-half - which puts me in the vast minority of Boston fandom.  The only exhibit I’ll offer is his recent play: over June and July, J.D. is hitting .307 with an OBP over .400.

The Bench - D-
OK, now we get into the suck.  The one guy saving this unit from an F-minus is Alex Cora, who has hit .278/.326/.444 (although the 2B “controversy” is now deader than Anna Nicole Smith).  Aside from Alex, the trio of Erik Hinske, Wily Mo Pena, and Doug Mirabelli have combined to hit .199 with 103 Ks in 282 at-bats.  Just to put this in perspective, if the three-headed monster were to have a full season of 600 at-bats, they would strike out 219 times.

Julio Lugo - F+
The + is for baserunning.  I tried very hard to justify not giving him an F.  He seems to try very hard, he’s stolen a bunch of bases, and he’s been sort of unlucky with BABIP…but still.  If Julio’s secong half is anything like his first, he would qualify as the worst starting SS in Red Sox history, as well as one of the worst free-agent signings in baseball history.  He did have 3 hits in his last game, so maybe his confidence spiked a little going into the break?  One can only hope. 

Boston 5
Detroit 6

“The tiger bit the man in the head, and everyone’s mad at the tiger.  Talkin’ about ‘The tiger went crazy’.  That tiger didn’t go crazy…that tiger went tiger!” - Chris Rock

The top billing in this week’s Power Ranking says it all. While playing in their home park, a stadium tailor made for their squad of strong pitchers and gap hitters, the Tigers are as fierce as their white-striped cousin who mauled the unwitting magician in Las Vegas.  They sent a strong message to the baseball world this weekend with a 3 game sweep of their 1st-place counterparts in the AL East:

Heading into the All-Star break, the Detroit Tigers, once again, are the best team in baseball.

Manny Ramirez was denied his place in history in the 8th inning, when he was called out on strikes on a terrible call (ankle-high slider) by home plate umpire Jim Wolf.  Had Manny delivered in that spot, he would have been the first MLB player in history to hit a game tying pinch-hit HR after spending 3 hours on the toilet.  I mean, he has to be, right?  We’ve all heard the stories of Babe Ruth playing hungover, Doc Ellis pitching a no-hitter while tripping on acid, and Mickey Mantle hitting home runs while his liver fermented in a pickle jar back in the dugout, but you never really hear about players persevering while being plagued with an extreme case of the shits.  Believe me, it’s tougher than you might think.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was rather flat today, suffering a rare tough start after a stretch of strong appearances that had thrust him into the upper echelon of AL starting pitchers.  The righty yielded 3 homers, including one to a true New England favorite, Gary Sheffield.  Matsuzaka didn’t get much help; the fact that Julio Lugo and Jeff Bailey carried the Red Sox offense today should say it all.

Coming tomorrow, something to look forward to (unless you happen to play SS for the Sox): mid-season report cards!