Remember when you were a kid and you'd get to stay up to watch your favorite show and the show would end in the middle of something important while the words, "Stay Tuned To Next Week's Episode" would flash on the screen? What a load of garbage that was! Not, in its own way, unlike the on-going Yu Darvish saga, the outcome of which, we've come to find out, won't be revealed until next week, and that's only if you do your chores and don't make pee-pee in your pants. Otherwise you'll have to wait till you get to school and ask your friends what happened.
Link time!
There was a great punk band that I used to listen to in my youth by the name of Propagandhi. They had a song called This Might Be Satire which was, in fact, satire. I won't get into the details of the song -- this is a family blog -- but I was reminded of it today by the most recent post on The Platoon Advantage. The Common Man, who I've heard tell is somewhat uncommon (shh!), takes a look at sportswriters who are willing to indict baseball players for imagined offenses. OK, steroids. He therefore concludes they're all plagiarists. It's wonderful.
Two time podcast guest and writer for the Providence Journal Brian MacPherson is decidedly not among the above group of plagiarizing sportswriters. Therefore it is perfectly acceptable to tell you about his latest work, in which he makes the case that a proven closer isn't a requirement for a successful 2012 Red Sox season. It's not difficult to agree. Anyone they bring in isn't going to be quite as good as Papelbon, proven closer or not. The idea is, always has been, and must be to build the best quality bullpen with the most depth and to do so for the least money, though that is admittedly a tertiary concern. Ben Cherington's job has to be acquiring the best bullpen pitchers he can get his hands on. If his last season is any indication, Mark Melancon can fit into that group.
Obligatory Alex Speier link: Mr. Speier did a podcast with ESPN's Keith Law yesterday (warning: clicking the link will start the podcast playing) in which they discussed the Mark Melancon/Jed Lowrie trade in some detail. Of note: the "Alex Speier Is On The Radio" intro song and some stuff about pitchers or something.
The intrepid Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe caught up to second newest Red Sock Mark Melancon and got his thoughts on his trade from Houston to Boston. Other than showing a bit too much reverence for the Yankees, he sounds genuinely excited to be headed back to the AL East. In other Melancon-related news, Sons of Sam Horn have a thread going which discusses Melancon's recent addition of a cutter to his repertoire and what that might mean going forward.
Curious what the enemy is thinking about the Sox latest moves? Well Steven Goldman is hardly the enemy, in fact I'm a huge fan of his, but as a Yankee blogger he'll have to do. Mr. Goldman discusses the deal in the latest at his Pinstriped Bible blog in his typically even handed and intelligent way. Mr. Goldman can't even muster up the false indignation to call Melancon, a player who was traded twice not of his own volition, a traitor.
Speaking of Yankees blogs, SG at Replacement Level Yankees Weblog has his latest 2012 season projections up. With the caveat that they're almost certainly all wrong, SG ran the simulation 100,000 times and the Red Sox averaged 91 wins and are the primary contender for the Wild Card, three games behind the 94 win Yankees. So yeah. Whatever.
Finally, I just made it through this whole article without mentioning Nick Punto! Gimme some candy! And get Mr. Punto a juice box while you're at it.