Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Buchholz Locked Up For The Next Five Seasons

With Josh Beckett avoiding free agency and signing an extension yesterday, the Red Sox has four-fifths of its current rotation under contract or club control for the next five years.

Theo Epstein:

Knowing we have Josh and Jon Lester and John Lackey and Clay Buchholz all signed through 2014, there's no guarantees in baseball, but it should mean that we have outstanding starting pitching for that period. That's the building block on which we can go about finishing off the rest of the club.

In addition, Daisuke Matsuzaka is signed through 2012 and top pitching prospect Casey Kelly is starting the year in Portland (AA).

Dustin Pedroia and Daniel Bard are under contract through 2015 and Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury are under contract for the next four seasons (through 2013). It's a hell of a foundation!

Theo, on going four more years with Beckett:

No change in philosophy. I still believe shorter (contracts) is better. I still believe in avoiding risk, but I also believe we operate in the real world, not some fantasy world where you can pick the type of player and contract that you want to sign. You don't get to pick and choose.

A few days after spring training began, Kevin Youkilis yelled out to his teammates:

Can we score a bunch of runs on Opening Night so we don't have to hear about this [alleged unavoidable offensive drought] anymore?

Yook did his part, becoming the first Red Sox player to have three extra-base hits (two doubles, one triple) on Opening Day in almost three decades. Carlton Fisk hit two home runs and a double on April 6, 1973, also at Fenway and also against the Yankees (a 15-5 win).

Pedro Martinez said when the Red Sox suggested having him throw out the first pitch of the season, "right away I got turned on by it. I guess they wanted to give a surprise gift to the fans and to the Yankees, and they felt I would be one of the biggest surprises."

Jerry Remy is doing well:

I feel like myself again. I put the weight back on that I lost. I feel strong, and mentally I'm doing well. ... [2009] was just a year I'd like to forget ...

Ryan Westmoreland attended Opening Night with his parents in Theo Epstein's luxury box. A club press release stated Westmoreland has made "significant gains" since his surgery on March 16. His father, Ron: "[H]e's trying to get back to a point where he can live a normal life. If baseball is in the cards, it's a bonus. Right now, we're just concentrating on quality of life."

Pawtucket: Boof Bonser gets the ball in Pawtucket's season opener on Thursday. Matsuzaka will start on Saturday.

NYY Infield Earning More Than 16 Teams

The Yankees' starting infield will earn $85.2 million this season.

That is more than the entire payroll of 16 teams: Atlanta, Rockies, Orioles, Brewers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Blue Jays, Nationals, Cleveland, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Rangers, Athletics, Padres, and Pirates.

New York also has the four highest-paid players in the game this year: Alex Rodriguez ($33 million), CC Sabathia ($24.2), Derek Jeter ($22.6), and Mark Teixeira ($20.6). John Lackey ($18.7), at #12, is the only Boston player in the Top 25. Last year, the Yankees had six players in the Top 25, while Boston had none.

Beckett Signs 4/68 Extension

It's official:

It'll be four years and $68 million. Press conference will be this afternoon at Fenway Park as many predicted.

Back with more in a little bit.

(SoSH discussion)

Pedro!

More pics (and NESN video clip). It would have been a completely perfect three minutes if not for the unnecessary and utterly insipid music. And not surprisingly, ESPN botched the entire thing, showing only a short snip of the pitch after the fact.

Schadenfreude 94 (A Continuing Series)

John Harper, Daily News:

Opening Day losses don't get more exasperating than this. When your ace can't hold a 5-1 lead, when your bullpen spits up a two-run lead quicker than you can say Chan Ho Park, your first thought is that 2009 suddenly seems like a long time ago. ...

Perhaps Sabathia needed to do a few more wind sprints in Florida. ... [He] seemed to run out of gas in the sixth ... Either that or the Sox aren't going to be as offensively challenged as we've all been led to believe. ...

Damaso Marte once again seems to have lost his way. ... Joba Chamberlain wasn't exactly the dominant reliever of old, either, allowing a vital insurance run in the eighth on a walk and two singles.

Matt Gagne, Daily News:

Is Jorge Posada having early communication problems with the pitching staff?

George King, Post:

On a wonderful spring night to open the season, the World Champions flushed a three-run lead in the sixth and a two-run bulge in the seventh and watched the Red Sox stumble out of New England's living room with a 9-7 victory that was witnessed by 37,440.

[Sabathia:] "It was the season-opener and we got five runs off Beckett. It just got away from me." And from David Robertson, Chan Ho Park, Damaso Marte and Joba Chamberlain.

Brian Costello, Post:

Last year [on Opening Day] in Baltimore, [Sabathia] allowed six earned runs in 4.1 innings and did not strike out a batter. So this year was a step in the right direction.

Last night's stinker comes after a rough spring for Sabathia. He allowed 15 earned runs in 18.2 innings in Florida ...

Ben Shpigel, Times:

The Yankees cruised into Fenway Park on Sunday night as the defending World Series champions. They left on Monday morning thankful for a day off. ...

To dethrone the Yankees, the Red Sox spent the off-season focused on improving their pitching staff and their defense. Questions abounded about their offense, but Boston battered 12 hits over all and scored four runs against the Yankees' bullpen.

The Yankees consider their bullpen a strength, but each of the four relievers surrendered a run or allowed an inherited runner to score. ...

G1: Red Sox 9, Yankees 7

Yankees - 020 300 200 - 7 12  1
Red Sox - 010 013 31x - 9 10  0

After retiring the first five batters on 13 pitches, Beckett gave up solo dongs to Dumbo and Granderson -- and then singles to Swisher and Gardner. CI tangibly grounded out to end the second.

Youkilis doubled to start the second and Beltre brought him in with a one-out sac fly to deep center.

The bottom of the order got to Beckett in the fourth. Cano doubled and two outs later, Swisher walked. Then Gardner and Jeter singled -- and pulled somewhat of a surprise double steal. Beckett couldn't get the third out in the fifth and was pulled with two men on: 4.2-8-5-3-1, 94/54.

Two-out singles -- all crisp line drives -- by Drew, Cameron, and Scutaro brought in a fifth-inning run. An error moved the runners up, but Ellsbury struck out looking with runners at second and third. CC lost his command in the sixth. FY walked, Victor doubled into the left field corner, and Yook smoked a triple over Swisher's head into the right field corner. With one out, Beltre's single to Cano's right tied the game at 5-5. But New York came right back in the seventh. Ramirez put two guys on and Okajima let them come around to score.

The Sox took the lead after the stretch. Scutaro singled off Park and Pedroia homered to left. When Yook doubled, Marte came in and wild pitched him to third. Then Dumbo's passedballa (!!) gave Boston its first lead of the night.

In the eighth, Bard allowed a two-out walk, but retired Teixeira on an FC. In the home half against Joba, Cameron singled with one out and Scutaro walked. With two outs, Pedroia singled to right to make it 9-7.

In the ninth, Papelbon retired Slappy and Cano, then allowed a two-out single to Dumbo. He got Granderson to ground to third for the final out.

Beckett, RamRam and maybe Jeemer were shaky, and there were no real fielding gems. Damn shame we can't hit/score.

CC Sabathia / Josh Beckett

Yankees                 Red Sox
Derek Jeter, SS         Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
Nick Johnson, DH        Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Mark Teixeira, 1B       Victor Martinez, C
Alex Rodriguez, 3B      Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Robinson Cano, 2B       David Ortiz, DH
Jorge Posada, C         Adrian Beltre, 3B
Curtis Granderson, CF   J.D. Drew, RF
Nick Swisher, RF        Mike Cameron, CF
Brett Gardner, LF       Marco Scutaro, SS

2010 W-L Contest

Here are the entries. Good luck!

             W - L   RS  DIFF
  
Rick F      100-62  920  +184
Jere S      100-62  899  +180  jere
  
Edward N     99-63  889  +196
Justin M     99-63  882  +127
Matthew K    99-63  819  +167  mattymatty
  
Steve S      98-64  893  +161
9casey       98-64  880  +158  9casey
Tim B        98-64  869  +163  SoSock
Ofer C       98-64  866  +201  aconformer
Joe G        98-64  844  +156  joe grav
Sean O       98-64  840  +165
Allan W      98-64  835  +120  redsock
Geoffrey W   98-64  822  +151
  
Jonathan A   97-65  900  +150
Franco B     97-65  857  +150
Rich G       97-65  856  +142
James C      97-65  855  +165
Andrew B     97-65  854  +164  seawolvesfan
John Q       97-65  850  +103  The Omnipotent Q
  
Tim L        96-66  889  +162  tim
Richard L    96-66  873  +178
Jeff L       96-66  868  +141  zenslinger
Matthew B    96-66  855  +182
Steve T      96-66  818  +139
Dan C        96-66  801  +126
  
Ignacio C    95-67  876  +298
Joel F       95-67  800  +100
  
Philip H     94-68  845  +197  vrictare
  
Lewis S      93-69  856  +141
Matt M       93-69  843  +194
  
Jeff R       90-72  775  +125
  
Peter L      89-73  720  + 72  Lord Lynch

Check out that consecutive string of RS in the 97 group -- and James C's and Andrew B's picks are nearly identical!

Predictions: Globe, Herald, MLB, SI, NYDN

Globe:

AL East
Abraham     Red Sox, Yankees, Rays
Benjamin    Yankees, Red Sox, Rays
Ryan        Yankees, Red Sox, Rays
Gasper      Rays, Red Sox, Yankees
Mazzarotti  Yankees, Red Sox, Rays
CHB         Rays, Yankees, Red Sox
[Everyone picked 2nd-place ALE team as WC]

World Series
Abraham     Twins over Phillies
Benjamin    Cardinals over Yankees
Ryan        Phillies over Yankees
Gasper      Phillies over Angels
Mazzarotti  Cardinals over Yankees
CHB         Phillies over Yankees

Herald:

           East     Wild Card  World Series
Silverman  Yankees  Red Sox    Yankees over Atlanta
Tomase     Red Sox  Yankees    Yankees over Rockies
Lauber     Yankees  Red Sox    Yankees over Phillies
Borges     Yankees  Red Sox    Phillies over Yankees
Callahan   Yankees  Red Sox    Mariners over Phillies
Buckley    Yankees  Red Sox    Phillies over Yankees

MLB.com (Mike Bauman, Hal Bodley, Jim Duquette, Peter Gammons, Jeff Nelson):

              Bauman    Bodley    Duquette  Gammons   Nelson
AL East       Yankees   Red Sox   Yankees   Yankees   Yankees
AL WC         Red Sox   Yankees   Red Sox   Red Sox   Red Sox
AL Pennant    Yankees   Red Sox   Red Sox   Red Sox   Yankees
NL Pennant    Phillies  Phillies  Cardinals Rockies   Cardinals
World Series  Phillies  Phillies  Red Sox   Red Sox   Yankees
AL MVP        Mauer     Mauer     Teixeira  Upton     Rodriguez
AL CY         Hernandez Hernandez Lester    Hernandez Hernandez

SI's Joe Lemire previews the AL East:

Yankees     100-62
Rays        95-67
Red Sox     93-69
Orioles     76-86
Blue Jays   64-98

Bill Madden, New York Daily News:

Red Sox     96-66
Yankees     93-69
Rays        88-74
Orioles     78-84
Blue Jays   71-91

ESPN Predictions

The "experts" at ESPN have posted their picks. The relevant stuff:

                   ALE      ALWC      AL       WS
Jorge Arangure Jr. Yankees  Rays      Rays     Phillies over Rays
Matthew Berry      Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Phillies over Yankees
Steve Berthiaume   Red Sox  Yankees   Yankees  Phillies over Yankees
Aaron Boone        Red Sox  Yankees   Yankees  Phillies over Yankees
Jim Caple          Yankees  Rays      Twins    Giants over Twins
Tristan Cockcroft  Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Yankees over Rockies
Jerry Crasnick     Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Rockies over Yankees
Richard Durrett    Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Yankees over Phillies
Gordon Edes        Red Sox  Yankees   Yankees  Cardinals over Yankees
Pedro Gomez        Red Sox  Yankees   Yankees  Yankees over Rockies
Christopher Harris Yankees  Red Sox   Red Sox  Red Sox over Phillies
Orel Hershiser     Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Yankees over Phillies
Tony Jackson       Yankees  Mariners  Yankees  Phillies over Yankees
Eric Karabell      Yankees  Red Sox   Red Sox  Phillies over Red Sox
Tim Kurkjian       Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Phillies over Yankees
Keith Law          Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Yankees over Cardinals
AJ Mass            Yankees  Rays      Yankees  Cardinals over Yankees
Joe McDonald       Yankees  Red Sox   Red Sox  Red Sox over Atlanta
Joe Morgan         Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Phillies over Yankees
Amy K. Nelson      Yankees  Red Sox   Red Sox  Cardinals over Red Sox
Rob Neyer          Yankees  Red Sox   Red Sox  Red Sox over Cardinals
Buster Olney       Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Rockies over Yankees
Peter Pascarelli   Yankees  Rays      Yankees  Atlanta over Yankees
James Quintong     Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Yankees over Phillies
Karl Ravech        Red Sox  Yankees   Red Sox  Red Sox over Rockies
J.P. Ricciardi     Red Sox  Yankees   Red Sox  Phillies over Red Sox
Brendan Roberts    Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Yankees over Phillies
Mark Saxon         Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Yankees over Dodgers
Jon Sciambi        Yankees  Red Sox   Red Sox  Red Sox over Phillies
Dan Shulman        Red Sox  Yankees   Red Sox  Red Sox over Phillies
Mark Simon         Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Yankees over Phillies
Chris Singleton    Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Phillies over Yankees
Jayson Stark       Red Sox  Yankees   Red Sox  Phillies over Red Sox
Rick Sutcliffe     Yankees  Red Sox   Yankees  Rockies over Yankees
Jon Weisman        Red Sox  Yankees   Red Sox  Red Sox over Cardinals
Gene Wojciechowski Yankees  Rays      Rays     Rays over Phillies

All 36 ESPNers picked the Yankees to make the playoffs; 6 had the Red Sox staying home in October.

AL East: Yankees 27, Red Sox 9

AL WC: Red Sox 21, Yankees 9, Rays 5, Mariners 1

AL Pennant: Yankees 22, Red Sox 11, Rays 2, Twins 1

WS Champs: Phillies 11, Yankees 9, Red Sox 7, Rockies 3, Cardinals 3, Rays 1, Giants 1, Atlanta 1

WS W-L:
Phillies  11- 9
Yankees    9-13
Red Sox    7- 4
Rockies    3- 3
Cardinals  3- 3
Atlanta    1- 1
Rays       1- 1
Giants     1- 0
Twins      0- 1
Dodgers    0- 1

Arm Out Like A Hack's Arm, Gately Blasts Through B.U. Country

One of the possible weak spots in Gately's AA recovery-program of rigorous personal honesty is that once he's jammed himself into a black-as-water Aventura and watched the spoiler throb as he turns over the carnivorous engine, etc., he often finds himself taking a little bit less of a direct route to a given Ennet-errand-site than he probably could. If he had to come right down to the heart of the issue he likes to cruise around town in Pat's car. He's able to minimize the suspicious time any particular bit of extra cruising adds to his errands by basically driving like a lunatic: ignoring lights, cutting people off, scoffing at One-Ways, veering wildly in and out, making pedestrians drop things and lunge curbward, leaning on a horn that sounds more like an air-raid siren. ...

He likes to make a stately left onto Commonwealth and wait to get out of view of the House's bay window and then produce what he imagines is a Rebel Yell and open her up down the serpentine tree-lined boulevard of the Ave. as it slithers through bleak parts of Brighton and Allston and past Boston U. and toward the big triangular CITGO neon sign and the Back Bay. ... The giant distant CITGO sign's like a triangular star to steer by. ...

Below the split on Comm. it's Boston U., Kenmore and Fenway, Berklee School of Music. The CITGO sign's still off in the distance ahead. You have to go a shocking long way to actually get to the big sign, which everybody says is hollow and you can get up inside there and stick your head out in a pulsing neon sea but nobody's ever personally been up in there.

Infinite Jest, 475-477

Red Sox Announce Plans To Return Fenway To Original 1912 Conditions

A return to the good old days!

Book Review: Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself By David Lipsky

In March 1996, David Lipsky was on assignment for Rolling Stone, accompanying David Foster Wallace for the end of his promotional tour for Infinite Jest. The assignment fell through -- Lipsky never submitted anything to the magazine -- and the interview tapes went into storage.

After Wallace committed suicide in September 2008, Lipsky was asked to write a eulogy of sorts for RS: "The Lost Years & Last Days of David Foster Wallace".

Shortly after it was reported that D.T. Max, who published an article in The New Yorker about Wallace and his unfinished novel The Pale King (due April 2011), had signed a contract to write a biography of DFW (also 2011?), Lipsky also signed a book deal. Last September, I posted: "I'm not sure what form his book will take, but I'd be thrilled with an introduction and a complete transcription of the interviews."

It turns out that I am pretty much getting my wish*! Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace will be published on April 13. It is roughly 350 pages and is mostly Wallace's own words.

* When I noted this at The Howling Fantods, site owner Nick Maniatis replied "it's better than that. There's a neat introductory piece, and David Lipsky's thoughts and observations appear throughout the text without disrupting the conversations."

From the book copy at Amazon*:

They lose to each other at chess. They get iced-in at an airport. They dash to Chicago to catch a make-up flight. They endure a terrible reader's escort in Minneapolis. Wallace does a reading, a signing, an NPR appearance. Wallace gives in and imbibes titanic amounts of hotel television ... They fly back to Illinois, drive home, walk Wallace's dogs. Amid these everyday events, Wallace tells Lipsky remarkable things — everything he can about his life, how he feels, what he thinks, what terrifies and fascinates and confounds him — in the writing voice Lipsky had come to love. ... Then Lipsky heads to the airport, and Wallace goes to a dance at a Baptist church.

* Amazon has that "search inside" function for this book. Oh no. There goes the next five hours.

Some reviews: Maria Bustillos (The Awl) calls it "intoxicatingly intimate", Marie Mundaca (Hipster Book Club) says it's "ambling, fun, and a little intense ... [like being] in the back seat driving with [your] smartest friends", and Andrew Shaffer (Pop Matters) says it's "as close to an autobiography as we'll ever get". Zac Farber thinks it's "occasionally mesmerizing" and will likely appeal more to "academics, the literati, and hard-core Wallace disciples" than casual readers.

Lipsky has taken the time to do three lengthy interviews via email. Two of them are at Mark Athitakis's American Fiction and The Howling Fantods. But the whopper is with the wallace-l list serve group. List overseer Matt Bucher collected questions and sent them to Lipsky. He posted the Q&A at his site today: "Rarely do we get to see such an extended portrait of a writer during the moment their masterwork enters the public arena."

I'll snip my question and Lipsky's answer (he goes into this kind of depth (or more) for every question):

Allan Wood: Is there any indication that DFW knew or hoped or imagined that IJ would be the important novel it has become? We've read [Little, Brown editor Michael] Pietsch saying that after he read some of the manuscript, he wanted to publish IJ more than he wanted to breathe. Did Wallace give any indication that he felt he had really nailed it?

David Lipsky: That's funny, Allan. I really smiled when I read this, because I asked the exact same question, in two parts, in more or less the exact words that you did.

Lipsky: "Michael Pietsch's presentation. He went to his sales force, at their conference, and said, 'This is why we publish books.'"

David: "I wasn't there. I know he really liked it. And I know he really read it hard, because he helped me — I mean, that book is partly him. A lot of the cuts are where he convinced me of the cuts. But also, editors and agents jack up their level of effusiveness when they talk with you, to such an extent that it becomes very difficult to read the precise shade of their enthusiasm. What's being presented for you and what they really feel."

And then at little later I asked your second part — exactly the way you did.

Lipsky: "But when did someone come to you and say, 'David, you really nailed it'?"

David: "It's very odd, because Michael would say really nice stuff to me, and he'd say it in the context of having critical suggestions. So I could write it all off as you know, Well he, this is the sugar that's making the medicine go down.

"And Charis [Charis Conn, his first Harper's editor] liked it, but Charis likes everything I do. There was some stuff — because Mark Costello is really good friends with Nan Graham, who knows more about the publishing industry than anybody. She was DeLillo's editor, which as far as I'm concerned does it for me. So I can remember — when they did this postcard thing, and they wanted to do signed bound galleys and sent me boxes full of paper — my not knowing what to make of it. And calling Mark and having Mark find out, I presume from Nan, that this meant that they were going to support the book, and that they were into the book or whatever. Which given that the book is a thousand pages made me think that they thought it was a pretty good book."

I think David hoped it'd be a great book. Mark Costello told me David announced to him all at once in college, "I want to write books people will read 100 years from now." David said he worked harder on this book than any other. But he was immensely prickly with himself — he graded himself on a very steep curve — so he didn't take the early reviews seriously. He said, "The book takes at least two months to read well. If two years from now, I've got people who like have read the thing three times, who come up and say, 'This thing's really fucking good,' then I'll swell up ... like, if I have a bunch of conversations, like with this guy Silverblatt [Michael Silverblatt, host of NPR's Bookworm], or with Vince Passaro, or with like David Gates, somebody who clearly read the book closely. And a bunch of people are saying it's good, then I'm probably gonna start feeling wholeheartedly good about the book. As it is, there's a kind of creeping feeling of a kind of misunderstanding."

He also said a great thing about how you start to write a really good book. "I think I have a really low pain threshold. I think the 'I'll show people,' or 'People are really gonna like this' - thinking that way has hurt me so bad. That when I'm thinking that way, I'm not writing. That that's this thinking in me that's gotta reach this kind of fever pitch, and then break. In order for me to even start — not to get in the groove, but to get started ... And I would still hear the, 'This is the best thing ever written,' and 'This is the worst thing ever written.' But it's sort of like, you know how in movies there will be a conversation, and then that conversation gets quieter, and a different conversation fades in. I don't know, there's some technical word for it. Just, the volume gets turned down. ... I mean, this is absolutely the best I could do between like 1992 and 1995. And I think though that if everybody'd hated it, I wouldn't be thrilled, but I don't think I'd be devastated either. It's about that it got, it became alive for me."

RLYW's Season Simulations

Replacement Level Yankees Weblog plays the 2010 season 100,000 times in each of five simulation programs (and offers the usual wheelbarrow of caveats).

Marcel

          W     L     DIV    WC    W+/-   RS+/-  RA+/-
Yankees  97.1  64.9  49.4%  20.3%  -5.9   -17    -24
Rays     89.6  72.4  23.4%  19.7%   5.6    13    -29
Red Sox  89.1  72.9  22.5%  19.6%  -5.9   -52     -9

(W+/-, RS+/-, RA+/-: 2010 projected wins, runs scored, and runs allowed, respectively, minus 2009 actual totals. So Marcel projects the Red Sox to win almost six fewer games than in 2009, while scoring 52 fewer runs and allowing 9 fewer runs.)

CHONE

          W     L     DIV    WC    W+/-   RS+/-  RA+/-
Yankees  95.2  66.8  38.1%  22.9%  -7.8   -13    - 6
Red Sox  93.8  68.2  35.7%  20.3%  -1.2   -50    -46
Rays     87.2  74.8  19.1%  16.5%   3.2    12    -10

Oliver

          W     L     DIV    WC    W+/-   RS+/-  RA+/-
Yankees  98.7  63.3  44.2%  25.4%  -4.3     0    -38
Red Sox  94.3  67.7  29.3%  23.7%  -0.7   -66    -68
Rays     92.0  70.0  23.9%  22.0%   8.0    13    -55

PECOTA

          W     L     DIV    WC    W+/-   RS+/-  RA+/-
Red Sox  92.3  69.7  32.9%  20.1%  -2.7   -39    -27
Rays     91.7  70.3  31.3%  19.3%   7.7    15    -48
Yankees  90.4  71.6  27.7%  19.4% -12.6   -38     19

CAIRO

          W     L     DIV    WC    W+/-   RS+/-  RA+/-
Yankees  97.7  64.3  41.1%  24.1%  -5.3   -34    -45
Rays     94.2  67.8  29.5%  24.4%  10.2   -20    -99
Red Sox  93.9  68.1  27.6%  24.6%  -1.1   -48    -51

Overall

          W     L     DIV    WC    W+/-   RS+/-  RA+/-
Yankees  96.1  65.9  40.7%  22.3%  -6.9   -20    -19
Red Sox  92.9  69.1  30.3%  22.7%  -2.1   -51    -40
Rays     91.2  70.8  25.4%  20.7%   7.2     7    -48

PECOTA projects the Red Sox as East winners -- while still seeing them as three games worse than 2009 -- but that is more due to a huge drop-off from Yankees. Also, its data is only as of February 15. And just about everyone has the Rays (19 GB) back in the fight.

RLYW likes pie charts:
SG says the Yankees' usual risk is "their continued reliance on players in their mid 30s and their ability to both stay healthy and be productive" -- Posada is 38, Jeter turns 36 in June, and Rivera is 40 -- but "that's generally worked out pretty well most of the time".

Opening Day Roster

Courtesy of the Globe's Peter Abraham & MLB's Ian Browne:

LINEUP
Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Victor Martinez, C
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Mike Cameron, CF
Marco Scutaro, SS

BENCH
Jason Varitek, C
Jeremy Hermida, OF
Bill Hall, INF/OF
Mike Lowell, 3B/1B

ROTATION
Josh Beckett
Jon Lester
John Lackey
Tim Wakefield
Clay Buchholz

BULLPEN
Jonathan Papelbon
Daniel Bard
Hideki Okajima
Ramon Ramirez
Manny Delcarmen
Scott Atchison
Scott Schoeneweis

DISABLED LIST
Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boof Bonser, Jed Lowrie

Sox Close On Beckett Deal; TJ Surgery For Tazawa

The Red Sox are reportedly close to agreeing on a four-year contract extension with Opening Day starter Josh Beckett. Sports Illustrated and MLB.com posted reports of 4/70 and 4/68, respectively.

Peter Abraham reports that Scott Atchison will be in the bullpen when the Sox head north, with either Scott Schoeneweis or Joe Nelson in the final spot. Alan Embree (who allowed four hits and four runs in one inning yesterday) will not make the team.

Junichi Tazawa is scheduled for Tommy John surgery next Tuesday.

The Herald's Gerry Callahan is still trying to convince you the 2010 Sox are doomed:

The pitching and defense approach has a certain snob appeal. Anyone can win by just, you know, bashing the ball all over the park. All those home runs and RBI and three-run rallies - as Theo Epstein would say, how primitive. ...

[D]id you know that Mike Cameron and Adrian Beltre combined for fewer RBI than Jason Bay had last season (119-114)? And that was in almost one thousand at-bats (993). What if that happens again this year? Is everyone going to be OK with that? And one more nagging question: Did you realize Bay was a butcher in left field last year? Me neither. ...

Someone has to hit. ... Ortiz is the only hope.

Callahan also tries his hand at stand-up comedy by saying Epstein has had "about as much luck with shortstops as Nancy Pelosi has had with plastic surgeons". Enjoy the veal.

Bernie Carbo talks quite openly to the Globe's Stan Grossfield about his battles with drug addiction:

I played every game high. I was addicted to anything you could possibly be addicted to.

John Lackey makes his final spring start today against the Twins at 1 PM. The regular lineup is expected to play and the game is on MLBTV.

Tito's Oatmeal

Terry Francona announced his lineup to start the season:

Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Victor Martinez, C
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Mike Cameron, CF
Marco Scutaro, SS

Tito says it's not perfect -- with lefties Ortiz and Drew back-to-back and three righties at the bottom -- but "it's probably the best way to start the year".

Boof Bonser (right groin strain) and Jed Lowrie (mononucleosis) were placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to last Friday. Both players could be activated on April 10. Daisuke Matsuzaka will also go on the disabled list before Opening Night.

And speaking of G1, NESN will broadcast the game in the Boston area, though it will be on ESPN2 elsewhere. ... So will NESN be available on MLBTV?

Tazawa Might Need Elbow Surgery

Junichi Tazawa was examined by Dr. James Andrews earlier this week and has a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Surgery is a possibility.

There are reports that the team has offered Josh Beckett a four-year contract extension. Beckett made his final start of the spring on Monday night against Tampa Bay (6-6-3-1-8, 94). He finished camp with 17 strikeouts in his last 11 innings.

Jon Lester makes his final start of the spring this afternoon.

Exile On Main Street - The Outtakes & The Price

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Red Sox Clinch Mayor's Cup

Nice afternoon at the yard for the Sox, 11-5 over the Twins.

Victor Martinez and Kevin Youkilis each had four hits; Martinez also scored four times and drove in three. Dustin Pedroia had three hits and scored three times. David Ortiz hit a three-run home run, then was pinch-hit for by Tug Hulett, who clubbed a three-run dong himself. Tug leads the team with 13 RBI.

Clay Buchholz (4.2-5-4-0-7) started for the Sox. He allowed all four runs -- and threw 51 of his 87 pitches - in the first and second innings, before settling down. HH said he was "thinking about results before they even happened. If you're thinking negatively and throwing a pitch, it's hard to think about all that stuff and executing a pitch right." But he was able to get back on track.

Pitching assignments, taking us to the Yankees at Fenway next Sunday night:

Monday — Josh Beckett vs Rays; Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boof Bonser, and Manny Delcarmen (minors).

Tuesday — Casey Kelly vs Rays; Tim Wakefield (minors).

Wednesday — Jon Lester vs Baltimore; Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima (minors).

Thursday — John Lackey vs Minnesota.

Friday — Buchholz vs Washington; Red Sox leave Florida.

Saturday — Wakefield and Matsuzaka at Washington, 4 PM.

Then home to Boston!

Sox: Four Years Tops For Beckett Extension

With Josh Beckett in his free-agent year, media reports of a possible contract extension mention John Lackey's 5/82.5 deal as a comparison point (Lackey is by far Beckett's #1 similarity comp at B-Ref). However, Gordon Edes says the Red Sox are apparently not willing to go more than four additional years with Beckett.

Edes writes that although Beckett is a year younger than Lackey, the team has concerns about Beckett's right shoulder.

Early in his minor league career, Beckett had evidence of some fraying in his rotator cuff, which led his former team, the Florida Marlins, to limit how much he threw, according to a major league source. And when the Red Sox acquired Beckett from the Marlins in 2005, Sox officials who inspected his medical records were concerned about his shoulder, but not enough to walk away from the deal, according to a baseball source with direct knowledge of those trade negotiations.

A four-year deal would keep Beckett in Boston through 2014 -- he would turn 35 the following season.

How About Insane And Widespread?

ESPN's Jayson Stark calls it an "insanely widespread theory":

To hear the way people have been talking about them this spring, you'd think the Red Sox had gone out this winter and burned all their bats in a giant bonfire. ...

Is anybody actually paying attention out there? ...

Baseball Prospectus' fabled PECOTA system projects that the Red Sox will score 846 runs this season. Is that fewer runs than they scored last year? OK, so it is. Precisely 26 fewer. A run a week.

Even 846 runs would have been 3rd best in MLB last year. And Boston was 3rd best, with 872 runs, only 12 runs away from 2nd best.

One scout told Stark this spring:

They're still going to score runs. I just don't see where they're going to have enough thump to break a game open with back-to-back homers.

Once again, we hear about a loss of thump or thunder. Yet that scout concedes: "What they've got is a bunch of guys who can keep an inning going, rather than the old kaboom."

What's wrong with a long inning? If the runs get scored just as often, is it really important how it gets done? (Yes, Boston, you outscored the Twins 7-5, but your long seven-run inning was less thumpy than Minnesota's back-to-back home runs in the fourth, so they get credit for the win.)

PECOTA Projection
STAT   2009   2010   CHANGE
Runs    872    846    - 26
BA     .270   .277    +  7
OBP    .352   .357    +  5
SLG    .454   .449    -  5
HR      212    179    - 33

The 2010 Sox are projected to have the exact same OPS as the 2009 team (which was 2nd best in MLB). And Stark notes that according to the calculations of John Dewan/The Fielding Bible, the Red Sox project to allow as many as 87 fewer runs this year. Combining those two projections is at best totally crude, maybe just plain wrong, plus a projection is not a prediction, but what the hell:

         RS    RA   Pythag    Actual
2009    872   736    93-69    95-67
        -26   -87
2010    846   649   102-60      ?

David Ortiz: "I don't pay attention to any of that crap people have been talking about."

Which presumably means the good stuff, too -- since the team has to actually go out on the field nearly every day for the next six months and stay healthy and score those runs and not allow those other runs and win a lot of games.

The people predicting a slight dip in offense, but a better run differential, have various statistical data to buttress their expectations. The gloom-and-doomers have offered .... what, exactly? ... a superficial glance at the roster and snark?

Opening Night: Josh Beckett

Starting pitchers have been announced:

S 0404 vs NYY - Josh Beckett
M 0405
T 0406 vs NYY - Jon Lester 
W 0407 vs NYY - John Lackey
T 0408
F 0409 at KCR - Tim Wakefield 
S 0410 at KCR - Beckett
S 0411 at KCR - Clay Buchholz
M 0412 at MIN - Lester
T 0413
W 0414 at MIN - Lackey
T 0415 at MIN - Wakefield
F 0416 vs TBR - Buchholz
S 0417 vs TBR - Beckett
S 0418 vs TBR - Lester

Boston signed lefty Scott Schoeneweis to minor-league deal and acquired infielder Kevin Frandsen from the Giants. They also released Brian Shouse.

Mike Lowell fouled a ball off his left leg in his first at-bat today and left the game. Ian Browne: "Upon contact, Lowell immediately fell to the ground and appeared to be in considerable pain."

The Sox scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth this afternoon to beat the Blue Jays 3-2. Both runs off Lester (6-6-2-2-5 ) were unearned.

Back Of The Rotation Still Unclear

Tim Wakefield went six innings yesterday against the Marlins (6-6-3-2-5, 73/51). He said he feels great, though he got tired in his final frame, allowing those three runs (ending a string of 12 scoreless innings)

Daisuke Matsuzaka followed (2-2-1-0-0, 25) -- allowing a one-out single and two-out triple in the seventh, followed by a 1-2-3 eighth -- and is expected to go three innings on Monday night.

We know that Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and John Lackey will open the season against the Yankees (likely, but not officially, in that order). Terry Francona may have tipped his hand when he said that all of the players will go to Washington for a game against the Nats on April 3, the day before the opener, "even Beckett". But after that ...

Where Wakefield and Clay Buchholz, and then Matsuzaka, will fit in unclear. Peter Abraham of the Globe estimates Dice being ready (with roughly 25 spring innings under his belt) around April 23.

Wakefield:

I'm very curious, not knowing. Normally, I kind of know what's going on.

Jeremy Hermida is batting .432 (16-for-37). ... Mike Cameron is slugging .733 (6 singles, 4 doubles, and 2 home runs in 30 AB). ... Catcher Gustavo Molina is 5-for-5 in six games!

It looks like Brian Shouse (0.96 ERA in 9.1 IP) will be cut loose, perhaps making room for Alan Embree. ... Pitchers Felix Doubront and Dustin Richardson, and catcher Mark Wagner were optioned to Pawtucket.

Today: Jon Lester faces a Blue Jays split-squad at 1 PM. Sore-wristed Dustin Pedroia is not in the lineup. Just another day of rest, presumably, though FY said he was benched because "I told Tito he looked like Corrado Soprano."

Matsuzaka To Face Marlins Today

X-rays on Dustin Pedroia's left wrist are negative. He is not in today's lineup, but will play tomorrow.

FY downplayed the injury: "I'm a quick healer. I don't have that many bones, so they heal quick."

Terry Francona:

He's OK. There's no swelling. Actually, he's a little bit sore higher, which is real good. He got a clean bill of health.

The big story regarding today's 1 PM game against the Marlins is that Daisuke Matsuzaka is scheduled to throw two or three innings of relief.

Josh Beckett (5-3-1-2-9, 85/56) was back to his sharp self against Pittsburgh, after a poor start last time out following a cold.

By far my best day in probably two weeks. I had finish to my pitches, and I felt like I could throw any pitch in any count. That's the feel you want to get at the end of spring training.

Mike Lowell says his right hip feels much better than it did last season. However, an NL scout watched him play yesterday and remarked:

How he looked today, I would not have any interest in him. I don't think he's moving very well at all. Right now, his swing is very upper-body dominant. ... It looked like he was swinging an iron gate.

The Marlins' interest in Lowell is described as "minimal at best".

SG links to a video of Kevin Youkilis asking his teammates to vote on his Opening Day facial hair. We need an uncensored version.

Pedroia Sprains Wrist; X-Rays Today

Dustin Pedroia sprained his left wrist diving for a ground ball in yesterday's game against the Twins. He will have some precautionary X-rays today. Terry Francona: "There's limited swelling."

Clay Buchholz had a rough start: 1.1-4-6-3-2, with three wild pitches. Once guys got on base, "I knew they were going to run because just about all of them are pretty quick on the bases. I started thinking too much about them running and making a certain pitch at a certain time. I paid for it."

Manny Delcarmen's fastball is still topping out at only 92. Boof Bonser felt tightness in his right groin on Monday.

The Sox sent Michael Bowden, Ramon A. Ramirez, and Aaron Bates to Pawtucket. Peter Abraham looks at who might fill the final few roster spots.

Josh Beckett faces the Pirates today.

Rolling Stones Releasing Remastered Exile With Never-Even-Bootlegged Outtakes (!), So Why Am I Pissed Off?

On May 18, the Rolling Stones will release a remastered version of Exile on Main Street, aka The Greatest Rock And Roll Album of All Time*, with a second CD of ten previously unreleased outtakes from the "Exile era" (1969-72), and some video goodies. Several of the outtakes are completely new even to the obsessive collector, so why am I annoyed instead of being deliriously happy?

*: Don't waste your time - :>) .

Here's why:

The band has gone back and added guitars, vocals, and percussion to some of the nearly 40-year-old tracks, and Mick Jagger has written and sung brand new lyrics for an instrumental.

This is utter bullshit. (And I cannot believe that some Stones fans (judging by posts at the It's Only Rock & Roll discussion board) are cool with it, or taking a wait-and-listen attitude (which actually may not be a bad idea, but it would ruin my rant, so no go); though not everyone).

Some type of funny business was hinted at in the press release (my emphasis):

The unearthed tracks ... have undergone a unique evolution, while staying true to the essence of the 1972 album.

In the words of Lee Elia, my fuckin' ass.

Jesus!! WTF? The Stones finally decide to open its vault a wee bit -- none of the many previous re-releases (save the 40th anniversary edition of Get Yer Yas-Yas Out) have anything extra on them -- and they still found a way to fuck it up.

Jagger was roughly 26-28 years old when the band recorded the songs that eventually ended up on Exile. And the entire band was at the peak of their creativity. Assuming Mick worked on "enhancing" these old tracks last year, he was 64 or 65 years old -- with the last truly great song he wrote nothing more than a distant memory. His voice and mindset cannot possibly the same.

Almost all of the songs on 1981's Tattoo You were culled from various studio sessions dating back to 1972. The Stones either completely re-recorded the songs or worked with the old tapes. This is something different. These 10 tracks are not being presented as a brand new Stones album. They are being sold with the already-existing album in a manner that has been done a lot over the last decade or two, releasing demos or in-progress versions of songs either on the official album or considered for inclusion but dropped. It's a way of giving fans a deeper look at what the band was creating at that time (and an easy way to get them to spend money on another copy of something they already own).

It's not a perfect analogy, but ... what if Martin Scorcese released a new DVD of Taxi Driver, with some clips of a modern-day Robert De Niro acting out some scenes that were cut from the classic film. Sure, De Niro was 32 then, and is 66 now, but that shouldn't affect anyone's enjoyment of a totally-cool, behind-the-scenes experience, right?

The new Exile will be sold in three formats: (a) the remastered 18-track CD; (b) a deluxe edition, with the 10 bonus tracks; and (c) a super deluxe set that also includes a vinyl edition of the album, a documentary 30-minute* DVD with footage from Cocksucker Blues, Ladies and Gentlemen..., and Stones In Exile (a new film that includes footage from the recording sessions), as well as a 50-page collector's book with photos (for roughly $150).

*: A total 30 minutes? Wow!

(End Part I)

Mauer Signs Extension With Twins

Damn.

8/184, full no-trade, for 2011-2018. Mauer turns 27 on April 19.

Two Weeks

The regular season starts in exactly two weeks -- Yankees at Fenway!

(... with ESPN on mute!)

Pictures From Saturday

Amy was at the Red Sox's 6-0 win against an Orioles split-squad yesterday and took some pictures. Here is Jacoby Ellsbury in his new #2 jersey (probably asking FY how he can quickly send a bottle or two of wine north of the border).
More pics here.

BP Interviews With Francona, Ellsbury

David Laurilla has two interviews up at BP.

There's a co-Q&A with LBJ and Twins prospect Ben Revere about stealing bases, and Laurilla gets Tito's thoughts on a handful of aphorisms from guys like Earl Weaver and Casey Stengel.

Return Of The Hombre

Alan Embree, 40, signed a minor league contract with the Red Sox today -- and was given his old #43 again. He threw a 33-pitch session today. Embree's 2009 season with Colorado ended in July when a line drive fractured his right tibia.

Ryan Westmoreland was moved out of the Intensive Care Unit at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center and into the Neuro Rehabilitation Unit.

Tim Wakefield (5-2-0-2-3, 65/38) was sharp against a split-squad Orioles team today, and Boston snapped a five-game losing streak, winning 6-0. Jacoby Ellsbury was back in the lineup after being sick; he went 0-for-3.

Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a 44-pitch bullpen session on Friday (after being in Boston on Thursday night as his wife gave birth to their third child, their second daughter) and will throw two innings at the minor league camp Sunday morning.

Mike Lowell talks about adjusting to first base.

Dice Throws BP

54 pitches!

John Farrell:

No restrictions, no hesitation, he feels good about himself. How he feels about himself is a huge component at this point, and all those are positive signs. We don't want to skip any steps along the way here. We want to be sure that he has ample time ... to build a foundation that's going to endure an entire season.

Matsuzaka felt like he had good life on his fastball and good command of his breaking stuff. There was no indication of any back or neck problems. He is expected to throw a bullpen session on Friday and work in a minor league game on Sunday. However, his delayed start in camp will probably mean he'll begin the season on the disabled list.

One candidate for the final spot in the bullpen is Scott Atchinson, who has pitched five innings this spring and allowed no runs and no walks (5-4-0-0-5). ... In addition to Jed Lowrie battling mononucleosis, Jacoby Ellsbury did not play yesterday because of a sore throat and Gil Velazquez was out after jamming his thumb into first base. Josh Beckett, who missed a start because of a cold, is expected to pitch on Friday.

No Grapefruit game today, but Clay Buchholz will pitch in a minor league game.

Lackey Set To Face Mets

If the rain allows it, this afternoon's game against the Mets will be on MLBTV. John Lackey will make his third start of the spring. His first two starts: 5-3-0-0-1.

Jonathan Papelbon (5 games, 5 innings, 0 runs), Hideki Okajima, Ramon Ramirez, Manny Delcarmen, and Daniel Bard (4 innings, 7 K) are scheduled to pitch in relief. All of the non-outfielder starters are in the lineup.

Yesterday, lefty Felix Doubront pitched three innings of one-hit ball against Tampa Bay, extending his spring shutout streak to seven innings. David Ortiz got two hits for the second day in a row and John Lester threw 60 pitches against Houston. But Boston did not score in either of its games, losing 3-0 to the Astros and 7-0 to the Rays.

The source of Jed Lowrie's fatigue? He has mononucleosis. He has missed four games.

Report: Westmoreland Surgery Successful

Alex Speier, WEEI:

The Red Sox issued the following release about the surgical procedure performed on 19-year-old Ryan Westmoreland to remove a cavernous malformation in his brain:

According to the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ, Red Sox minor league outfielder Ryan Westmoreland today underwent successful surgery to remove a cavernous malformation in his brain. Dr. Robert Spetzler performed the surgery. The announcement was made by General Manager Theo Epstein. Following the five-hour procedure, Westmoreland remains in the intensive care unit but has come through the surgery well. Due to the complexity of this surgery, Ryan will face a difficult period initially before beginning his recovery.

ESPN.com reported that it will be a few days before a prognosis for Westmoreland's recovery will be available. ...

"I got a text from his good friend saying that surgery couldn't have gone better," said minor league first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who considers Westmoreland a good friend, and had sent the outfielder texts in recent days. "If everything was successful – which it is – it's a long road back. ... I don't know what his process back will be, but it's a long way back."

Anthony DiComo, MLB.com:

Fellow prospect Anthony Rizzo, who underwent chemotherapy for Hodgkin's disease in 2008 ... said that his own medical troubles paled in comparison with those of Westmoreland.

"Before my first chemotherapy, I was more scared than I've ever been in my life," Rizzo said. "I was being strong for my family, but I couldn't imagine what he was going through with the surgery and all the things that could happen."

Review: Maple Street Press Red Sox Annual

Seeing the annual pre-season baseball magazines on the newsstand is a sure sign of spring, but for a serious Red Sox fan, the information offered in them on her favourite team is usually no more than five pages and is presented from a somewhat dull, mainstream perspective.

Maple Street Press and editor Jim Walsh have solved that problem. Now in its fifth season, the MSP Red Sox Annual is an essential part of any Red Sox fan's pre-Opening Day reading list. Written in collaboration with the Sons of Sam Horn -- though mainstream writers like Ian Browne, Adam Kilgore, and Michael Silverman also contribute -- the 2010 annual features 128 pages of Red Sox information -- with no advertising of any kind.

[Note: I purchased the annual in 2006-09, but received this year's edition for free, thanks to Cecilia Tan.]

Walsh's goal is simple -- "provide diehard fans with a variety of insightful viewpoints from people that know the team best". The contributors have a progressive view of the game and its statistics -- something is perhaps best shown in Mark Brown's use of advanced metrics to make the argument that J.D. Drew has been "Earning His Keep":

The resentment towards Drew is hard to pinpoint, but much of it stems from his failure to conform with traditional but outdated statistical expectations for power-hitting corner outfielders. ... He's also been characterized by some as insufficiently aggressive, emotionally detached, and ambivalent towards winning.

But a closer look at Drew's numbers, taken on the whole and in proper context relative to his American league peers, suggests he has not only performed at an elite level, but that he's been worth every penny of that [5/70] contract.

Gordon Edes recently spotlighted Brown's article at ESPN here.

Other highlights (full TOC can be seen here): Art Martone examines how successful Theo Epstein's philosophies have been over the last seven seasons; Chuck Korb crunches the numbers behind the team's defensive overhaul; Steve Mastroyin says the offense should remain at an elite level; Alex Clapp and Dan Brooks analyze Jonathan Papelbon's mechanics and pitch selection through Pitch-f/x data; and Alex Speier and Brandon Magee offer 12 pages on the minor league system.

There are also full-colour pages on each of the expected starters (lineup and rotation), showing spray zones, hit zones, pitch zones, and some statistical splits. Thus, we learn that, in 2009, Dustin Pedroia batted .433 on pitches up and in, Mike Cameron hit .556 off curveballs from lefties, Victor Martinez, when hitting from the left side, had the highest line-drive % of anyone in the lineup, Jon Lester almost never threw a changeup to a left-handed hitter, and Clay Buchholz went to his curveball only 1% of the time when he was behind in the count (and 23% of the time when he was ahead).

[MSP also published annuals for the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Cardinals, Phillies, Dodgers, Mariners, and Twins. They do other sports, too, but who cares!]

If you want to order a copy, go to the main SoSH page first and then click the MSP ad (the board gets bit of coin back as a sort of referral fee). At $12.99, the Annual costs only a little more than a hot dog and beer at Fenway. But it's far more satisfying.

SoSH On Westmoreland's Surgery

Some interesting (and personal) comments related to Ryan Westmoreland's brain surgery today. Start here.

Bits Of News

David Ortiz came into today's exhibition game at 1-for-19, but Flo eased some of the panic by going 2-for-2, with a dong and a walk, though Boston lost to the Orioles 8-4, as Tim Wakefield (3.2-9-5-0-1, 57) had a rough outing.

Tiz: "On April 2, who gives a fuck what you did in spring training?"

Mike Lowell made his spring training game debut by playing first base for the first time since four games in AAA 1998. ... Bill Hall was at shortstop, a position he has not played during the regular season since 2006. ... The plan for Daisuke Matsuzaka to throw 40 pitches of BP was scratched. Maybe on Wednesday. ... Happy 31st birthday to Yook. ... Jed Lowrie has felt fatigued since Thursday and has undergone a variety of tests.

Yankees Suck, Honey

Ryan Westmoreland To Undergo Brain Surgery On Tuesday

Jon Heyman tweets that one of the Red Sox's top prospects, 19-year-old outfielder Ryan Westmoreland

was diagnosed with a cavernous malformation in his brain and is having surgery

The Herald's John Tomase adds that

According to the team, Westmoreland departed camp on March 4. He was diagnosed the next day at Massachusetts General Hospital, had consultations with three leading experts in the field, and on Tuesday will have surgery performed by Dr. Robert Spetzler of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

According to the Toronto Brain Vascular Malformation Study Group, cavernous malformations are not a cancer, so they do not spread. Cavernous malformations are a cluster of abnormally dilated blood vessels that resemble raspberries, and they are typically less than three centimeters in size.

Symptoms often include headaches and sometimes seizures, with the most serious cases resulting in a hemorrhage. It's unclear what symptoms, if any, Westmoreland was experiencing.

Theo Epstein:

The entire Red Sox organization stands in support of Ryan as he courageously deals with this issue. Ryan is a remarkable kid and a talented player, and we understand that many will be concerned about his health. He is getting the best medical attention the world has to offer, and we will have more information soon. Until then - out of respect for Ryan's privacy and at the request of the Westmoreland family - we will not have any further comment.

A bit more info on cavernous brain malformations here and here.

That's some scary shit for a teenager to deal with. Best wishes for a successful recovery.