Brayan Bello-One Of The Few Reasons To Watch The Sox These Days-Signed A Six-Year Extension

 

    It is hard to fathom how irrelevant the Red Sox have become both across MLB but even in their own home region. Last-place finishes the past two years and three out of the last four campaigns (but who is counting?) will do that to you, even in one of the few great baseball markets left in America. With that said, there is rarely anything to write about this mostly anonymous club. Following their 2018 World Series championship-arguably the greatest team in franchise history-Boston has taken a complete nosedive as their owners have clearly tuned out while the rest of the AL East teams load up year after year. Tell me who they are better than: the Yankees, Orioles, Rays and Blue Jays are all better run and most importantly, they have far superior rosters as well. 

    I made a personal rule a few seasons ago: I will not pay for Red Sox tickets until the ownership group (hi John Henry!) proves that they care once again about more than using Fenway Park as their own personal ATM. Sure, I will take a free ticket a few times a season and have a good time on a nice summer night but other than that, who can possibly devote that much energy to this team that is destined to go nowhere anytime soon? Mercifully, there was a welcome bit of good news yesterday as reports came out that Boston's promising young right-handed pitcher Brayan Bello had agreed to a six-year contract extension worth $55 million with a seventh-year club option for $21 million. 

    In parts of two Major League seasons, Bello has only made 39 career starts and it is not like his numbers will blow you away: 14-19 with 4.37 ERA in 214.1 IP with 187 strikeouts, 72 walks, a 1.46 WHIP and .283 opponents' batting average. Under former GM Chaim Bloom, the Red Sox were trying (quite unsuccessfully I might add) to be the Tampa Bay Rays. This reminds me of a Rays style deal since it is primarily based on potential instead of production thus far. If you have seen Bello pitch, you do not have to be new Red Sox GM (and former MLB reliever) Craig Breslow to recognize his special talent in terms of outstanding stuff. His size won't blow you away (generously listed at 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds) and he will be 25 years old (in Domincan years so he might be 35) on May 17. Still, Boston has so rarely been able to draft and develop starting pitchers-think about the Patriots and wide receivers-that when they finally might have a real one like this, it is a cause for much celebration. 

    With (somewhat) notable free agent signing Lucas Giolito likely headed for yet another Tommy John surgery, the scary part is that Bello might have to be their de facto ace/No. 1 starter from the start of the regular season on March 28 when they kick things off in Seattle. In a perfect world, Bello would only have to be like a third or fourth starter on a good team and not need to feel the pressure right away of being a bad team's stopper from day one. However, maybe part of the thinking for his deal is that it will take some of that stress away from him. Very few guys throw 200+ innings anymore in MLB-somewhere your grandfather rolls over in his grave-so it is notable that Bello logged 157 innings last season across 28 starts. You can bet that even checked out Red Sox manager Alex Cora will be extra cautious with Bello since Boston's rotation is undoubtedly their biggest weakness/question mark heading into this ill-fated season. 

Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz (remember them?) are the most recent quality starting pitchers that the Red Sox drafted and developed through their minor league system, so yeah it has been a minute. Regardless of how Bello performs in 2024, it is unlikely to make that much of a difference in term's of his crappy team's win-loss record. He could be great and an All-Star but that will probably only matter in the bigger picture of all things Red Sox. They are essentially acting like a small market club in the way that most of what they can sell to the fanbase is hope for a brighter future ahead because the present promises to remain rather ugly.

The Red Sox Finally Spent Some Money Once Again & Signed A Legit Free Agent In Trevor Story

 

    Between the Patriots and Red Sox, it had been a very frustrating few weeks for fans as neither club had done much of anything to improve their team in free agency or via trades while many other teams loaded up and spent tons of money to improve their rosters. Thankfully that all changed today-at least for the Sox-as they reportedly signed shortstop Trevor Story to a six-year, $140 million deal. In terms of both length and the amount of money, it's by far the most that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has given out since he came to Boston. It would also be the team's most years and money since they signed David Price. It always comes back to the Rays doesn't it whenever you mention Bloom? For a guy that I'm pretty sure should be reminded every day that he works for a big market club in the Red Sox and not the penny-pinching Rays, this was a welcome change from his usual habits of signing nobodies, injured and/or washed up guys because that best fits some goofy analytic models on his computer. 

    The obvious question with Story's signing is what happens with Xander Bogaerts? Both players have been exclusively shortstops in MLB so obviously one of them will have to try a new position (second base) starting now. It sounds like the newcomer will be the one to move over to his left in the infield which sounds scary except Story has been a Gold Glove finalist so unlike say Kyle Schwarber last season who had never played first base (and frankly shouldn't be allowed to play any position in the field), this transition figures to be much smoother. Boston's lineup was already pretty strong but the addition of a two-time All-Star and two-time slugger in the prime of his career (he's 29 years old) means that it will be even deeper and more powerful. 

    The only other major issue in my mind with this move is seeing how Story does outside of the Little League park that is known as Coors Field since he has only ever played for the Rockies in MLB. As you would expect, his numbers at home were much better than on the road: 95 HRs, 279 RBIs, .303 BA, .369 OBP & .603 SLG vs. 63 HRs, 171 RBIs, .241 BA, .310 OBP & .442 SLG. Then again, Fenway Park has always been known as a hitter's park as well particularly for right-handed guys with some pop in their bat. With that said, he should continue to be a star here because he's played on mostly crappy teams in Colorado (he's only appeared in five career playoff games) and for the Sox, he won't need to carry nearly as much of the load on a daily basis.

    Story has good size (6-foot-2, 213 pounds) and surprising speed with 100 career stolen bases. In six major league seasons, he has put together what I would count as two excellent campaigns-his All-Star years in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, he hit .291/.348/.567 (tied career-high) with a career-best 37 HRs, 108 RBIs and 27 stolen bases (career-high) in 157 games. He played in 12 fewer games the following season but still managed to record some stellar statistics: .294 (career-high)/.363 (career-high)/.554 with 35 HRs, 85 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. 

    With Boston coming off a playoff run to the ALCS last fall and not to mention his huge paychecks, much will be expected of Story from day one. We won't know how he will be in a tough market like this until he goes through the inevitable prolonged slump. Let's hope that he is not similar to Price in that way in terms of a fragile ego and that he can power through any struggles that he might have getting acclimated to a new league, team and city. Overall, today was a great day for the Red Sox and easily the best that they have made us felt since last season ended. With Opening Day coming up soon on April 7, Bloom's next task has to be to find some more starting pitching, that appears to be their biggest hole at this juncture.

Red Sox To Unveil A Statue at Fenway Park for Carl Yastrzemski On September 22

I'm a sucker for a good statue (think Red Auerbach in Faneuil Hall) and I think one of the things that makes the New England sports teams so special is their collective rich history of championships, iconic players and classic games. That's why I was psyched to learn this morning that the Red Sox have decided to add a bronze statue of legendary Hall of Famer outfielder Carl Yastrzemski outside of Gate B. It will be unveiled before the September 22 game vs. Toronto and located next to the Ted Williams and "The Teammates" (Williams, Johnny Pesky, Dom DiMaggio and Bobby Doerr) statues that have already been there for years.

This is what makes us appreciate all the annoying aspects of Fenway Park, when the goofy Red Sox owners make a right decision like this once in a while. You can't replicate things like this in cookie cutter ballparks that populate MLB. If I owned the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots or Red Sox, I would be doing stuff like this all the time. You don't need statues of everybody but find a way to remember the top players/coaches/teams. Not to get all warm and fuzzy but this is what connects younger generations (like mine) to great players like Yaz that we never got to see with our own two eyes but have always heard about.

Yaz had a remarkable run, spending all 23 years of his brilliant career in Boston. He was an 18-time All-Star, seven-time Gold Glove winner and he captured the Triple Crown in 1967 when the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox reached the World Series.

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Red Sox Put The Finishing Touches On The Worst Season At Fenway In 47 Years

At some point this season, when we all realized how bleak things really were on Yawkey Way, we either did two things: 1) stopped watching all together or 2) half paid attention but became completely numb to it all.

Tonight, the Rays (85-70, 41-36 away) beat the Red Sox (69-87, 34-47 home) 4-2 at Fenway Park to sweep their mini two-game series. The result will be an important footnote for Boston since it wrapped up the nightmare 2012 regular season at home. Would you believe the Red Sox home record this year is their worst since 1965? Let that sink in for a moment.

Tampa Bay won its seventh straight game to remain three games back for the second AL wild card. Haverhill native and Northeastern's Carlos Pena hit a two-run homer (his 19th) in the fifth inning then Ben Francisco (4th of the season) went back-to-back for a 3-1 Rays lead. Jose Lobaton made it 4-2 in the seventh with a ground rule double.

Jeff Keppinger was 2 for 4 with two runs and Ben Zobrist was 2 for 4 with a double in the win.

Boston's runs came on Daniel Nava's RBI single in the second and James Loney's sacrifice fly in the sixth. Dustin Pedroia walked twice, stole two bases and scored a run in the loss.

Rookie Alex Cobb (10-9) got the win for the Rays. He went five innings, allowing one earned run on three hits with five strikeouts and three walks. After Kyle Farnsworth allowed a run, Jake McGee (6th, 2 strikeouts), Wade Davis (7th, 2 strikeouts) and Joel Peralta (8th, 1 strikeout) all had clean innings of relief. Closer Fernando Rodney walked Loney to lead off the ninth but he recovered to strike out two for his 45th save of the season. His ERA is 0.63, hence why he should receive his fair share of AL Cy Young votes.

Jon Lester (9-14) was charged with the loss for the Red Sox. He went six innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Mark Melancon struck out four of the five batters he faced (what?) and Craig Breslow struck out the side in the ninth.

Boston is off tomorrow and then they play three in Baltimore this weekend followed by three in New York to finish this brutal campaign. Both teams look like they'll make the playoffs since the Yankees lead the Orioles by 1.5 games in the AL East and the O's are up half a game on the A's for the top wild card.

Aaron Cook (4-10) faces Chris Tillman (8-2) on Friday night (7:05 p.m., NESN). Felix Doubront (11-9) gets Steve Johnson (4-0) on Saturday night (7:05 p.m., NESN) then Zach Stewart (0-1) closes out the series and September against TBA on Sunday afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) when we'll all be tuned into Patriots at Bills.

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New England Loses An Icon As Mr. Red Sox Johnny Pesky Passes Away At 92

There will never be another guy that is so deeply attached to the Boston Red Sox as Johnny Pesky, who passed away today at the age of 92.

He played in MLB for 10 years, including seven-plus in Boston. His solid career was interrupted for three years when he joined the Navy during World War II.

For a life that spanned an absurd 70 years in baseball, at one point or another he possessed nearly every job you could have with one team: player, manager, coach, assistant GM, broadcaster, hitting instructor at Spring Training and a team ambassador. Pesky was born in Oregon but he'll always be remembered as a Red Sox legend and adopted son of New England.

He was a career .307 hitter and Fenway Park's right field foul pole is known as "Pesky's Pole," to honor him. He was the first member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995 and his No. 6 was retired by the team and hangs on the right field facade with the other legends of the past. Perhaps best known for his memorable friendship with Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr and Dom DiMaggio-the subject of David Halberstam's wonderful book entitled "Teammates," Pesky was a constant presence even until his last days.

One of the coolest parts about the Red Sox breaking their 86-year World Series title drought in 2004 is that Pesky got to experience it first-hand since he was a special assignment instructor with the team. Nobody loved the Red Sox more than him and he stayed in this area for the rest of his life (living in Swampscott, MA; passing away in Danvers, MA), long after he retired from MLB.

More than anything, I will always remember Pesky as a living connection to the rich history of the Red Sox that I was never able to witness with my own eyes. It helped that he looked like one of my grandfathers so I'm naturally drawn to him but if you are my age, it is hard not to feel some special bond to Pesky by the way he loved life and enjoyed being at the ballpark. He mentored young players like Nomar Garciaparra and was dear friends with veterans like David Ortiz and Tim Wakefield. Above all, Pesky was a treasure and we have to consider ourselves very lucky that he spent so much time with our favorite baseball team.

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Winter Classic 2010: lived up to the hype and then some

I shelled out my hard-earned (haha) money for a ticket to the 2010 Winter Classic and I'll say it was one of the best investments I've ever made.

I would probably have a different opinion if the game ended in a 1-0 Flyers win (which looked like a certainty) but the Bruins' incredible comeback for a 2-1 overtime win capped off one of the best sporting events I've ever seen, let alone attended.

My buddy Jim and I sat in the bleachers under the scoreboard in center field. For a Sox game, we would have had some of the worst seats in Fenway but yesterday it worked since we were up high and therefore had good sightlines. Money baseball seats (first base, third base lines) weren't good because they were too low meaning most of the action was impossible to see.

Flyers' season-ticket holders had the chance to get tickets to the game and there were a ton of Philly fans decked out in Flyers gear. Haha, I even saw a guy wearing a white Randall Cunningham jersey. I always wonder what goes through people's heads when they were another sport's jersey to something. Bizarre.

There were hours of pomp and circumstance, some might say needless pagentry but for the most part, Boston, the NHL and the Bruins and Flyers got it right. Bobby Orr and Bobby Clarke-the greatest Bruin and Flyer-shook hands at center ice and the teams came out to fireworks after the Dropkick Murphys played "Shipping Up to Boston" on a stage near home plate. Somewhere in rehab, Steven Tyler realizes the huge opportunity he missed out on.

There was no scoring in the first period but Daniel Carcillo and Shawn Thornton brought some excitement as they had the first fight in Winter Classic history.

Philadelphia (19-18-3) opened the scoring with a gift of a goal 4:42 into the second period. Bruins goalie Tim Thomas (24 saves) went to cross check Scott Hartnell in the back but he forgot that Danny Svret had the puck as he shot it into the wide open net for his first NHL goal.

With Michael Leighton (24 saves) poised for a shutout and Boston's (21-12-7) impotent offense mucking and grinding but not much else, Mark Recchi finally gave Bruins fans something to cheer about as he scored the 1000th tip-in of his career. With just 2:18 left in the game, Recchi set up shop in front of the crease and tipped in David Krejci's perfect feed. It was a power-play goal also assisted by Derek Morris.

The Bruins rode that momentum into overtime and topped it as Marco Sturm scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season and what he called "the most memorable goal he'll ever score." It was also a tip-in, this time from Patrice Bergeron with another assist to Zdeno Chara.

In another great moment, immediately following the game Team USA's roster for the Olympics was announced one by one with little kids wearing the jerseys of the players. The last player they named was Thomas and he skated back onto the ice with a Team USA jersey and full pads on. I'm too old and cynical to get sucked into most cheeseball stuff but this was awesome.

Thomas has never played in the Olympics and he was a journeyman that really found his game a couple seasons ago. To see him skating through the line of kids, high-fiving was one of the best moments in sports that I've ever seen.

Boston still desperately needs someone to score goals for them (haha, they picked up Miroslav Satan today) and Thomas is prone to give up a dud goal in almost every game but you can accept that because he also plays great and makes stops most others can't make routinely.

The Winter Classic is a spectacular event for a league that needs moments like that to remain relevant. I can't say enough good things about my time at Fenway watching the Flyers and Bruins.