from the desk of Jayson Stark

ESPN.com notes:

The Smoltz watch: Scouts who have seen John Smoltz's rehab starts report that he's showing the effects of his shoulder surgery, but that doesn't mean he can't make an impact on the Red Sox in the second half.
"He's not as free and easy as he used to be," one scout said. "He's got to force and push more than he used to. And his velocity is 86 to 91 [mph] on the fastball, and 81-82-83 on the slider. But he still has command. He still has the will. And he still shows you he can make the big pitch when he has to. So he's probably more like a fourth starter than a No. 1. But he's a guy who could give them some good outings down the road."

More insight from America's foremost scouting minds:

On Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon: "It's just fastball after fastball. It's almost like he wants to be Mariano Rivera and show he can be a great one-pitch closer, and he can't do it. He's got good secondary stuff. He just doesn't use it as much as he should."

trade turned down

from peter gammons:

Boston wants to wait on David Ortiz and tabled a proposal of [Nick] Johnson for Manny Delcarmen.

DH platoon?

looking at papi's 2008 stats, he hit .221 against lefties w/ an obp of .308. against righties, he hit .279 w/ an obp of /389 and a slugging percentage of /532. so perhaps we should sit papi against lefties. jeff bailey has hammered lefties thus far this season, hitting .412 and slugging .765, albeit in only 17 at bats. is this the solution to our DH dilemma?

varitek hitting for power

he's slugging .514. that hasn't happened since, uh, er, never.

papi homers!

Bob Ryan on Papi

keith foulke: comeback, take 2

he plays for the newark bears in the atlantic league now. interesting article in the globe about it. foulke on ramirez winning the 2004 world series mvp:

"Do I think I should have been MVP?" says Foulke. "Absolutely. I mean, 'cause I did everything humanly possible that I could've done."

once a prick, always a prick. still, we'll always have '04.

from espn.com's buster olney

The Red Sox are not looking for a hitter yet, but at some point, Boston is going to need some offensive production from David Ortiz. The Red Sox could live with him if he were hitting .250 or .260 with some power, but so far, he's been nothing short of awful. Boston ranks dead last in OPS among designated hitters in the majors, and of course, Boston is the only team that has not gotten a single home run from the DH spot.
In a division that contains four strong contenders, there is very little margin for error, and the Red Sox cannot continue to lose run production in big spots because Ortiz is not hitting, as they did last week.

i take it back

nick green has 8 errors and it's not even june. get him outta here!

ideas

time to drop big papi down to 5th in the order.

when dice-k comes back, let lester start and throw 4 innings and then dice-k relieve and throw 4. after all the innings thrown last season, both guys need a rest.

saito's all well and good but let ramon ramirez be the backup closer. that dude is lights out.

ellsbury has worn out the leadoff spot and should be dropped to 8th or 9th.

where is nick green? lugo's still a game-losing error waiting to happen.

do we have a lefty killer in the pen?

jason bay for mvp.

jeff bailey should swap places with chris carter.

daniel bard. wow.

Doug Mirabelli's new career

is in real estate. We'll always have '04, Dougie.

Ortiz

went 0 for 7 and stranded 12 base runners. getting worried.

from the onion...

"Curt Schilling Just Appeared On Your Gchat"

A Penny Saved

ESPN.com's Buster Olney has an idea I support on how to maximize Penny's worth:

Something to watch: Boston's pitching surplus might lead to an early-season trade. Clay Buchholz has been absolutely dominant in the minors so far this year, and very soon, Daisuke Matsuzaka will return to the big leagues.
Eventually, it figures that Justin Masterson will go back to the Boston bullpen, and that will create the spot in the rotation for Matsuzaka. If the Red Sox want to create another for Buchholz, they would always have the option of taking offers for a veteran pitcher who has had quality starts in four of his six outings. That guy is Brad Penny, who might be a nice fit for a team like the Milwaukee Brewers or the Mets. That's all speculation at this point.

Once a Red Sox, Always a Red Sox

RIP Dom DiMaggio, great Sox center fielder of the 1940s, who passed away watching the team he loved. If he hadn't been injured at the end of the 1946 World Series, we would've beaten the Cardinals.

sox reaction to manny news

Manny Juices

ESPN is reporting that Manny was caught taking steroids. Did he take them in 04 or 07? Does this taint the Sox' victories?

from Gammons

The Red Sox this week asked John Smoltz to slow down his rehab. Smoltz, who will join the club this weekend and be examined by strength and conditioning coach Mike Reinhold, insists it is nothing major. "I will be pitching in June," Smoltz texted.

are the blue jays for real?

best run differential in the AL east.

plus, batters are hitting only .197 off their bullpen. wow.

liking nick green

but 6 errors in 17 games?!

good news/bad news

Josh Bard’s WHIP at AAA: 0.55. Michael Bowden’s ERA at AAA: 0.64.

Our MLB-level starters have a 5.52 ERA thus far w/ a 1.58 WHIP.

Yikes.

will the real

josh beckett please stand up?

which edition is this?

what's wrong w/ his command?

you know things are bad when your ace starts a game and your right fielder has to come in to finish pitching it. oh, and when you only get one hit all night.

paging clay bucholz!

but hey, i like masterson, who's going tonight. momentum is as good as your next day's pitcher, right?