Red Sox Trade For Another Closer From A Bad Team, Good Luck Joel Hanrahan

For the second off-season in a row, the Red Sox have proceeded forward with the idea that closers on inferior teams should be able to make a smooth transition to the rigors of the AL East. How did that work out last season for Mark Melancon (formerly of the Astros) and Andrew Bailey (formerly of the A's)?

After much talk about the possible trade last week, it was made official today as Boston traded Melancon along with minor leaguers Stolmy Pimentel (pitcher), Ivan De Jesus (infielder) and Jerry Sands (first baseman/outfielder) to PIttsburgh for closer Jack Hanrahan and minor league second baseman Brock Holt.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a nice move for the Red Sox since Hanrahan is a two-time All-Star in the National League (2011, 2012) and they didn't give up much in return. Melancon was a complete disaster in 2012 (0-2, 6.20 ERA in 41 appearances) and who knows if Pimentel, De Jesus and Sands will pan out. Pimentel was in Portland (Double A) last season while De Jesus and Sands came over in the huge trade with the Dodgers. None of them were any of the Red Sox' elite prospects by any means.

Hanrahan is not young, he turned 31 in October and made his major league debut for the Nationals in 2007. After 2.5 years with Washington, he's spent the last 3.5 in Pittsburgh. So that means he played for two of the worst teams in baseball (this was before the Nationals were competitive) and hasn't sniffed a playoff spot let alone played meaningful games in September and October.

He had 40 saves in 2011 and 36 last season. In 2012, he was 5-2 with a 2.72 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 63 appearances. In 59.2 innings, he allowed 40 hits, 18 earned runs and eight home runs with 67 strikeouts and 36 walks. Hanrahan is a big guy (6-foot-4, 250 pounds) so he's a power pitcher. It makes you wonder what Boston plans to do with Bailey (7.04 ERA, 6 saves, 3 blown saves in 19 appearances) who was injured most of last season then terrible when he finally was activated late in the miserable campaign for all involved.

There is still over two months before spring training starts so expect the Red Sox to continue making moves to bolster a roster which as it stands, still appears to be the fifth best in the AL East. Pennants aren't won in November and December but it's hard to argue with all the improvements made by the Blue Jays. The Yankees, Orioles and Rays haven't done much but they were better teams than the Red Sox to begin with so I don't think that has changed.

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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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The More Pedros The Better, The Red Sox Seem To Have Good Luck With Them

If only the Red Sox could play the Royals like 40 times a season, then they might be a playoff time once again.

Boston (61-67, 31-38 home) beat Kansas City (56-70, 30-37 away) 8-6 this afternoon at Fenway Park. The Red Sox bounced back from their latest extra innings disaster (10-9 loss in 12 innings on Saturday Night) thanks to its two newest players: reliever Pedro Beato (1-0) who earned the cheap win in his first outing for Boston and James Loney who had an RBI single in his Red Sox debut.

With Alfredo Aceves serving his second game of a three-game suspension and Andrew Bailey getting the day off (after working three of four games), it was up to Mark Melancon to nail down the save. He allowed a single but struck out one in the ninth for his first save as a Red Sox.

It looks like David Ortiz could be shut down for the season tomorrow (and who could blame them/him?) but we still have Pedro Ciriaco (3 for 5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs, solo HR) who has shown no signs of slowing down. Like all teams, the Red Sox are enjoying Royals pitching. They had 14 more hits today including two each from Jacoby Ellsbury (run, RBI, stolen base), Dustin Pedroia (solo homer), Cody Ross (run, RBI, walk) and Mike Aviles (double, RBI).

Felix Doubront came off the DL and continued to pitch like a guy that doesn't have much left in the tank. His bad habit of high pitch counts keep happening. He went five innings (98 pitches), allowing four earned runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

The Fresh Prince of Kansas City Will Smith (4-6) didn't have it for the Royals. He went five innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits with a strikeout and two walks.

The Royals had 11 hits, led by Alex Gordon (2 hits, stolen base), Salvador Perez (2 hits, run) and Tony Abreu (Bobby's little boy; 2 hits, 2 RBIs, run).

Ross had an RBI single in the first and Aviles added an RBI double in the second for a 2-0 Boston lead. Kansas City hung four on the board in the fourth thanks to Abreu's RBI single and a three-run homer by Lorenzo Cain (5th of the season).

Ciriaco homered over the Monster in the fifth (his second of the season) and Loney notched his RBI single. A run scored on Ellsbury's infield single in the sixth and Kansas City shot themselves in the foot in the seventh: a run scored on an error and another infield single-this time from Ciriaco.

Beato threw a scoreless sixth and seventh but he labored in the eighth since Boston's bullpen was almost all unavailable. He was responsible for the two runs that scored against Craig Breslow (he entered with bases loaded, 0 outs) on Eric Hosmer's sacrifice fly and Abreu's RBI single.

After what was shaping up to be a lost season for him individually, Pedroia has turned it on in August even while Boston's season has circled the drain. His solo homer (12th of the season) in the eighth gave Melancon some more breathing room which was a smart idea.

There is actually another game between these teams tomorrow afternoon (a makeup date) because really now, who doesn't want more Red Sox vs. Royals? Haha to top it off, it features the glorious return of Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-3). He faces Luke Hochevar (7-11) starting at 1:35 p.m. as the Red Sox try to take three of four against the Royals.

The traffic should be a nightmare and I'll bet you can buy a front row seat for like $5 since most people will be at work while this terrible game occurs. After that, Boston hits the West Coast for nine games (three in Anaheim, Oakland and Seattle), they won't be back again at Fenway until Friday, September 7 vs. Toronto.

UPDATE 8/27: Ortiz was placed on the DL and Ryan Kalish was recalled from Pawtucket to take his place on the roster. With Dice-K activated, Beato was sent down to the PawSox.

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I Almost Can't Believe It But The Red Sox Won A Series In Tampa Bay

Even Josh Beckett's killer hangover couldn't derail the Red Sox this afternoon as they picked up a series win in Tampa Bay thanks to a 7-3 victory at Tropicana Field.

Boston (45-44, 23-20 away) won two out of three in its first series of the 2012 second half thanks to some solid pitching that held Tampa Bay (46-43, 25-21 home) to nine total runs. Alfredo Aceves made it interesting by walking the bases loaded in the ninth but he got Hideki Matsui to fly out to the warning track to end it.

You must forgive the Texas Toughguy for allowing three runs in the first inning. After all, he was pounding Bud Heavies with Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz the night before at a swanky Tampa hotel (an oxymoron if I've ever made one up). That has to be the reason he's now given up eight runs in the first during his last two starts (5 against the Yankees).

I will give Beckett (5-7) credit (mark it down, since this will rarely happen) but he quieted the Rays' punchless lineup after that. Beckett went six innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

James Shields (8-6) also allowed three runs in the first for Tampa Bay and he ended up not really recovering. In five innings (113 pitches!), Shields gave up six earned runs on 11 hits with five strikeouts and three walks. For what it's worth, him and Beckett (4.44) have the exact same ERA this season. Wonder if James likes golf?

The Red Sox lineup showed life this weekend thanks to the return of Jacoby Ellsbury (3 hits, run, double) and Will Middlebrooks (3 hits, double, 2 RBIs, run). Mike Aviles (2 hits, 2 RBIs, run), Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits, run, RBI) and David Ortiz (2 hits, walk) also each contributed multiple hits in the slow as molasses win on Sunday (3 hours, 36 minutes). Would you believe that Aviles (46) and Gonzalez have the same amount of RBIs this season? What a nightmare.

Ben Zobrist led the Rays (3 hits, double, run, RBI, walk) while Will Rhymes (2 hits, run), Carlos Pena (2 hits, run) and Elliot Johnson (2 hits, double and walk) all had good days at the plate. Still, Tampa Bay's playoff hopes likely rest on Evan Longoria's tender hamstring. Without his presence, their offense is awful and the starting pitching has been good but far from great.

After missing the first two games with back spasms (picked up while shaking hands with a kid at the mall, haha or so he said), Gonzalez returned with an RBI single in the first inning.

The Rays went ahead 3-1 on Zobrist's infield single that scored a run and Desmond Jennings' two-run single.

Mike Aviles tied it with a two-run homer in the second, his 10th of the season, and Daniel Nava made it 4-3 in the fifth with his fourth homer of the season. Middlebrooks' two-run single later in the frame was the most vital hit of the entire contest.

Boston had the bases loaded with no outs in the sixth but all they could get was a sacrifice fly by Cody Ross. Regardless, the Red Sox were 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position and they left eight on base Sunday; the Rays were 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and they left 11 on base.

Junichi Tazawa made his first appearance since April (replacing Scott Atchison who went on the DL with tightness in his forearm) but he could only get one out. He was pulled after allowing two hits. Mark Melancon bailed him out by pitching 1.2 scoreless innings that included a strikeout but only took 19 pitches.

Some sweaty bald guy named Kevin Youkilis comes to Fenway Park tomorrow with the White Sox (49-39, 1st place in AL Central). After four with Chicago, Boston hosts Toronto for three more games at Fenway.

Bobby V's six-man rotation will be in full effect tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) as Aaron Cook (2-2) takes on Dylan Axelrod (1-2). On Tuesday (7:10 p.m., NESN), Jon Lester (5-6) faces Philip Humber (3-4). Wednesday night (7:10, NESN) brings us that Felix Doubront (9-4) vs. Jose Quintana (4-1) matchup that the world has been clamoring for. Thursday night (7:10, NESN) should be the best game as Franklin Morales (2-2) opposes Jake Peavy (7-6).

If your eyes and ears don't bleed too much from the glut of coverage of Youk's return to Boston, after only a few weeks in the Windy City, also keep in mind that Carl Crawford is supposed to make his 2012 Red Sox debut tomorrow as well. Should be a fun night.

UPDATE 7/16: Scrub Brent Lillibridge was designated for assignment to make room for Crawford on the 25-man roster. Crawford and Youk will both hit second in tonight's respective lineups.

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Red Sox Continue To Fade Into Irrelevancy & Summer's Only Just Begun!

When did it come to this? The Boston Red Sox have transformed into that awful class you had to take in high school or college. All you can think about is when it will all be over and you can move on with your life. That pretty much sums up where fans of this team feel these days.

Beginning their interleague series at Marlins Park tonight, the Red Sox (29-32, 15-13 away) fell 4-1 to the Miami Marlins (32-29, 17-16 home). It was Boston's fourth loss in a row and seventh in its last eight games overall. Miami snapped a six-game losing streak and it's all thanks to the fact that they opened the roof-something they rarely do in rainy/steamy South Florida.

You have to give the Red Sox credit for one thing: they seemingly invent new ways to piss people off on a weekly basis. The latest chapter is their constant complaining about balls and strikes. It's an epidemic that starts at the top with manager Bobby Valentine crying about umpires every chance he gets. Still lacking leadership or flat out intelligence, the players see that and buy in for some reason like a bad Little League team.

For instance, Kevin Youkilis struck out (swinging) to end tonight's game yet he was barking at the umpires as he went into the dugout and up the tunnel. Suddenly a hateable team that's borderline unwatchable becomes even worse. Amazing.

Oh yes, the game. Well Josh Johnson (4-4) shutdown the Red Sox' depleted lineup for seven innings and handed it over to an equally stingy bullpen (for this game at least). Johnson allowed one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and a walk.

For the sixth straight time, Josh Beckett (4-7) went seven innings but Boston is only 3-3 in that time span. Don't think I'll let the Texas Toughguy off the hook that easily though since he handed the Marlins a 4-0 lead by the second inning, thereby ruling out any chance the Red Sox had of winning before it had even really started. Beckett allowed four earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk. He was great after the second inning but will anyone remember that?

Before Miami's typically late arriving crowd had settled in, the Marlins posted three runs in the first. Donovan Solano had a sacrifice fly, Logan Morrison stepped away from Twitter for a second to hit an RBI double and Gaby Sanchez added an RBI single.

Solano had a sacrifice fly in the second inning to give Miami a commanding 4-0 lead which felt like 10-0 with the way Boston is hitting at the moment.

Adrian Gonzalez provided the Red Sox' only run as he drove in Scott Podsednik (3 hits, stolen base) with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Falmouth High alum Steve Cishek worked the eighth for his seventh hold of the season and Heath Bell struck out the side in the ninth (second game in a row that's happened to Boston) for his 13th save of the season.

Mark Melancon had a 1-2-3 eighth for Boston which is huge news for him since the last time he appeared in a Red Sox uniform, he got lit up on April 17 vs. Texas (6 earned runs, 4 hits). He's been lights out in Pawtucket so let's hope he can continue to be that guy and not the April version of himself.

As an added bonus, this game was only two hours and 35 minutes long which gave the Miami "fans" plenty of time to hit the clubs and overpriced restaurants earlier than usual.

Clay Buchholz (6-2) will look to snap the Red Sox out of their latest funk tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) when he faces former White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle (5-6).

UPDATED 6/12: Outfielder Marlon Byrd was released today by the Red Sox.

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Red Sox Rally But Still Fall Short Against The Tigers On Opening Day 2012

Even though they lost, I don't have many complaints today about the Boston Red Sox on Opening Day 2012.

The Detroit Tigers (1-0) won 3-2 on a walk-off single by Austin Jackson (3 hits, run, RBI) that scored pinch-runner Danny Worth in the bottom of the ninth against Alfredo Aceves at Comerica Park.

The main reason I'm not that mad is that Boston (0-1) trailed 2-0 going into the top of the ninth but they scored twice against Tigers closer Jose Valverde. He had been a perfect 49 for 49 last season in save situations, he hadn't blown a save since September 2010. Dustin Pedroia doubled and was knocked in by David Ortiz's sacrifice fly. Then Ryan Sweeney (2 hits) hit a two-out triple to tie it.

Justin Verlander and Jon Lester as expected had a nice pitcher's duel on a chilly afternoon in Detroit. Verlander was a little better, going eight solid innings and only allowing two hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. He benefited from some a wide strike zone but that's what you have to expect from a reigning Cy Young winner not to mention an MVP. Lester went seven innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Lester lasted that long because he forced the Tigers to ground into three double plays.

Detroit built a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead with a run in the seventh and a run in the eighth. Alex Avila (2 hits) doubled in Jhonny Peralta (3 hits) in the seventh then Prince Fielder plated Jackson (who tripled) with a sacrifice fly in the eighth against Vicente Padilla.

Aceves (0-1) took the loss but he had to enter a really tough situation: runners on 1st and 2nd with one out after Mark Melancon gave up two singles. By hitting Ramon Santiago, Aceves basically made it a foregone conclusion that the Red Sox would lose.

There is absolutely no reason to panic yet. Truthfully, I didn't think Boston would beat Verlander on Opening Day. Lester pitched well enough but the offense (5 hits, 1 walk) was too quiet to expect a win against the best pitcher in baseball. For some reason, MLB chose to make tomorrow an off-day so the teams will be back at it on Saturday afternoon (4:05 first pitch on Fox) as Josh Beckett takes on Doug Fister, who had a remarkable run after getting traded from Seattle last season.

Normally, I would worry about this Red Sox team getting a night off during the season but other than avoiding getting shot, I don't think they can get into much trouble in Detroit.

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Who Needs A Closer?

While reading Sports Illustrated's excellent 2012 MLB preview, I have to say that finally I was beginning to look forward to this upcoming baseball season.

Of course, the Boston Red Sox had to quickly bring me back to Earth with some terrible news today: new closer Andrew Bailey will be out 3-4 months after thumb surgery.

So yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing the sport of baseball, mostly because it symbolizes summer and nice weather. I still feel exactly the same about the Red Sox as I did in October. They have so much to prove to make me or countless millions of people more interested in their needless drama.

Bobby Valentine being Bobby V, he won't admit who will close games now but most sources think it will be another newcomer: former Astros closer Mark Melancon. It doesn't make sense to throw Daniel Bard in that role since he's been groomed as a starter all spring and Alfredo Aceves is too versatile to pigeon hole him there as well.

In other thumb news, Josh Beckett is also getting his right thumb looked at but apparently the Texas toughguy will be healthy enough to start on Saturday in Detroit. I'll believe it when I see it because he's the biggest fraud currently playing professional sports in Boston.

The Red Sox open their 2012 season on Thursday afternoon as Jon Lester takes on AL MVP Justin Verlander. The teams will play three games in Motown this weekend. If I can stomach it or be bothered, I will do a more lengthy preview tomorrow night.

UPDATE 4/4: Valentine confirmed today that Alfredo Aceves will be the closer. Not who I wanted but I'm sure he'll do a good job. The bigger issue that move creates is who will cover all the innings he pitched out of the bullpen in a variety of roles?

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Red Sox Trade Jed Lowrie & Kyle Weiland, For Astros Closer Mark Melancon

Another day and another interesting move by the Boston Red Sox.

Today, they traded spare parts with infielder Jed Lowrie and pitcher Kyle Weiland to the Houston Astros for closer Mark Melancon.

I'm a big fan of the move, assuming that Melancon will be the setup guy for either Andrew Bailey (A's) or Ryan Madson (free agent, of the Phillies). I'll grant you that predicting who will be a successful closer or not is basically impossible but Boston can't pin its hopes on a guy who is coming from the NL Central to the AL East.

This also means that Daniel Bard will be in the rotation (please no); as far as I'm concerned, Melancon should not be construed as Jonathan Papelbon's replacement.

Houston was the worst team in MLB last season with 56 wins and Melancon went 20 for 25 in save chances with three holds during his first year as a closer. He's 26 and he had a 2.78 ERA and 1.22 WHIP with 66 strikeouts, 26 walks in 74 1/3 innings.

He was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2006 and traded to the Astros in 2010 for Lance Berkman. Best of all, he's very cheap ($421,000), he's not eligible for arbitration until 2014 and he won't be a free agent until 2017.

I'm psyched to say goodbye to Lowrie who is basically J.D. Drew lite, meaning he never met a minor injury he didn't milk for all that it was worth. He hit .252 in four seasons for Boston and never really found a position since he struggled defensively at third base and shortstop. The 309 at bats he had in 2011 were a career-high which tells you all you need to know. See you later Stanford guy.

It's silly at this point to say one way or another if Weiland will ever amount to much at the MLB level. He went 0-3 with a 7.66 ERA in seven appearances last season for the Red Sox. Maybe with less pressure in Houston and more time to grow, rather than being thrust into vital games right away, the former Notre Dame closer can be productive. Only time will tell on that one.

UPDATE 12/14: For once, Boston wasted no time in finding a replacement but in this case, it was one scrub for another as they signed utility infielder Nick Punto to a two-year, $3 million deal to essentially replace Lowrie.

A member of the 2011 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, Punto is 34-years-old and he's been in MLB for 11 seasons. For his career, he's played more than 250 games at three positions: second base, third base and shortstop.

He played in 63 regular season games for St. Louis and in 133 at bats last season with the Cardinals, he hit .278 with a .388 OBP and .421 SLG. Known mostly for his versatility and glove work, he also appeared in 15 playoff games so he earned his ring.

Punto's career began in Philly in 2001 before he went to Minnesota in 2003. The Twins are where he made his career, he spent seven seasons there before moving to St. Louis last offseason. Among active players with 2500 at bats, Punto has the second lowest slugging percentage (.327) which is only better than Cesar Izturis (.322).

He's dependable and tough (Lowrie's two biggest weaknesses) so there is little doubt that Red Sox fans will quickly fall in love with his style.

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