Despite some ribbing from my nocturnal friend, Da Guy, I still didn’t bother to stay up and watch the Sox again last night. Instead I opted to catch the highlights when I woke up this morning. NESN actually does a condensed game from 8-9 but by then I got all I needed with the highlights.
But I did notice this: NESN Sportsdesk is sponsored by Comcast (channel 851 and 51 for me). Fox Sports New England is now called Comcast Sports Network (channel 852 and 52). Isn’t that a conflict of interests? You want viewers watching your station yet you sponsor the competition? Seems the monopoly is fucking itself.
To the game itself. Dice-K has continued his dominance after being released from my fantasy team. He picked up his 11th win with seven and a third inning pitched and allowed just two runs in the eighth. Probably the best news was that Hideki Okajima didn’t allow inherited runners to score when he came into the game. Then Papelmania works a clean ninth (thanks to Jacoby) and became the first Sox pitcher to have three straight 30 save seasons. Ya!
So as I indicated yesterday, we shouldn’t get too excited about this being it’s Seattle and all, but it’s good to see the Sox winning again. This afternoon they face their toughest opponent on the hill in “King” Felix Hernandez. If they can take this game it should build good momentum to this coming weekend’s showdown with the Yanks who are 3.5 games behind the Rays for first. With their win and the Rays loss yesterday, the Sox sit just a half game back.
So has Theo been burning up the phones like I told him to? Maybe. ESPN has reported the following:
Boston targets Damaso Marte
The Boston Red Sox have heightened their interest in Pittsburgh relief pitcher Damaso Marte according to a team source.
The Red Sox are one of a dozen teams believed to be looking to add Marte to their roster, but the Pirates are asking for two prospects in any deal for their coveted reliever, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
I suppose this is an improvement if it comes at the cost of Grandpa Timlin’s release. Just check out the stat comparison of the two.
ERA HLD SO WHIP
3.55 15 46 1.16
ERA SV SO WHIP
6.00 1 15 1.67
The best stat not listed. Marte is 33 (sure a Dominican 33 is probably 36. Just ask Miguel Tejada) opposed to Timlin who is 42. Marte’s salary is half of Grandpa Timlin’s and Marte was on the 2005 White Sox team that won the World Series (knocking out the Sox in the process) and had a 0.00 ERA in two appearances. Oh and did I mention that Marte is a lefty? Even better is that righties are batting .205 against him and lefties at .255.
In case you haven’t figured it out, I like that potential move. I really would like to see them get another bat. Oh wait, they’re going to get one on Friday with the return of David Ortiz. Great news for everyone not playing the Beantown Bonghitters in Fantasy Baseball.
I like Marte as a pickup, as long as we don’t have to return more than one premium prospect. However, I don’t see him replacing Timlin, but rather the unstable Javier Lopez, the current LOOGY on the roster. Marte is pitching better against righties this year, but that’s likely an aberration, and the Sox have Hansen and Masterson, who are already right-handed specialists who can get grounders in bushels. It’s their job to unseat Timlin this year, not Marte’s.