Red Sox Looks to Build Depth

Peter Gammons reports that the Red Sox are close to signing Rocco Baldelli. The added right-handed bat will also give the Sox more depth in the outfield.

The Boston Globe has now chimed in the John Smoltz situation and also feels the Sox are close to inking him to a 1 year, $5.5 million deal.

UPDATE 2:33 EST 1/8 - It's official, the Red Sox have brought in Rhode Island native Rocco Baldelli. The former Ray is believe have received a minimal amount of guaranteed money with large incentive clauses.

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Cheesesteaks for Everyone

The Philadelphia Phillies captured their second ever World Series title, and first since 1980, by downing the Tampa Rays tonight, 4-3. The game picked up where it left off on Monday, with the Phillies batting in the bottom of the sixth. With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Pedro Feliz singled home pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett with the go ahead run. Then it was up to Brad Lidge to close things out in the ninth. After allowing a broken bat single to Dioner Navarro, Lidge retired pinch-hitter Ben Zobrist on a line drive and struck out pinch-hitter Eric Hinske before dropping to his knees in celebration. The win closed out the series in five games as the Phillies won all three home games.

Pat Burrell led off the bottom of the seventh with a double that nearly left the yard off of J.P. Howell. With Chad Bradford on in relief, Shane Victorino failed in two attempts to get a sacrifice bunt down, but then pulled a Bradford delivery on the ground to first baseman Carlos Pena to move Bruntlett to third base. (Bradford was an odd choice by Joe Maddon since he's a ground ball pitcher and the Phillies needed a bunt or pulled groundball.) With the infield in, Feliz singled back through the middle to put the Phils up 4-3. A great diving stop by Aki Iwamura prevented a possible bigger rally.

The Phillies had taken an immediate lead when play resumed. Geoff Jenkins doubled to lead off the sixth against Grant Balfour and moved to third on Jimmy Rollins sac bunt. Jayson Werth brought Jenkins home with a single to shallow center.

The Rays came right back in the top of the seventh on Rocco Baldelli's game tying home run off of Ryan Madson. But this was not to be the Tampa Rays night.

We chose the Rays to win the series in six games due to their starting pitching, but we did say the Phillies had an advantage in the bullpen and that certainly played out.

Congratulations to the Phillies, especially manager Charlie Manuel.

Is is Spring Training yet?

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A Ray of Sunshine

If you didn't get to see last night's game 7 of the ALCS, you missed out on a tense, well played nail-biter. The Rays emerged with a 3-1 victory to gain their first shot at a World Series title and in the process prevented the Red Sox from a possible World Series repeat.

Some big game performers emerged last night, both in victory and defeat. Matt Garza garnered the ALCS MVP after he won his second game of the series to go along with a 1.38 ERA. He allowed a first inning home run to Dustin Pedroia, but only allowed one more hit through 7 innings plus a batter in the eighth.

Then Joe Maddon mixed and matched his way through the final two innings. Jason Bartlett, who made a crucial error in game 6, committed another misplay on Alex Cora's grounder to start the eighth. Joe Maddon sent for Dan Wheeler, who gave up a single to Coco Crisp before getting Pedroia to pop out to left for the inning's first out. J.P. Howell came on to get David Ortiz to bounce into a force out for the second out, but Chad Bradford issued a walk to Kevin Youkilis to load the bases. Maddon then went to his stud rookie prospect, David Price, to go up against left-hander J.D. Drew. After mixing off-speed pitches with 96-mph fastballs, Price got Drew on a check swing strike three for the final out of the inning.

Price walked Jason Bay to start the ninth, but struck out Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek, and induced a game ending ground out from Jed Lowrie. Second baseman Aki Iwamura snared the grounder and took it to the bag himself to send the Rays into celebration.

Lost in the game was another outstanding performance by Jon Lester, who was arguably the Red Sox best starter this season. He scattered six hits over seven powerful innings. But with Carlos Pena on first and two out in the third, he hung a pitch to Evan Longoria who smacked into the right field corner. It bounced around enough to get Pena home just ahead of the relay from J.D. Drew to tie the game at one apiece.

Willy Aybar led off the fifth inning with a double and Dionner Navarro reached on an infield single in the hole at shortstop. A field good story was then in the making when Rocco Baldelli singled in what proved to be the game winner. Lester beautifully worked out of a possible bigger inning to keep it a one run game.

Aybar struck again with a huge home run in the seventh that provided a much needed insurance run. Then it was all down to the bullpen, and unlike game 6, they were up to the task.

* * * * *

Don Zimmer threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.

There were 40,000 plus fans last night. We wonder where they were all year.

Now we can relax while watching the WS. Don't really care who wins, though we will probably root for the Rays.

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The Pennant Race - 8/11

The Rays just keep on trucking. They squashed the Mariners, 11-3, on Sunday to set a franchise record with their 71st win. They also moved 4.5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East after Boston lost to the White Sox, 6-5 on Sunday. The Yankees dropped back to 8.5 out.

The AL Central will be a fight to the finish with the Twins continuing to breathe down the White Sox' necks. Just a half-game separates the two teams. The Twins are also just 1.5 back of the Red Sox for the Wild Card.

The Angels, of course, are racing to the finish line in the AL West.

The Phillies continue to cling to the lead in the NL East, 2 games ahead of the Mets and 2.5 ahead of the Marlins. The Cubs have a healthy 4 game lead over the Brewers, while the Cardinals continue to fade, 7 games back, though just 3 out of the Wild Card.

And in the not so wild West, the Diamondbacks lead Manny and the Dodgers by 1.5 games.

The Diamondbacks got a big time performance on Sunday from their ace, Brandon Webb, who went out and became the majors' first 17-game winner. Bad news too though for AZ, as second baseman Orlando Hudson was lost for the year with a dislocated wrist.

The Diamondbacks go on the road to face the Rockies and Astros this week.

The Dodgers and Giants have always crushed each other's hopes no matter who was better, and that continued this weekend as the Giants took two walk-off wins in their three games. The Dodgers led 2-1 in the 10th on Saturday, but after the Giants tied the game on an error, Aaron Roward sent the Giants home as winners with a single.

A two run rally in the 9th on Sunday gave the Giants another come-from-behind win. With the score tied 4-4, light hitting Eugenio Velez provided the game-winning hit.

Manny is still doing his part though, hitting .459, 4-11 in 9 games. Tough week ahead for the Dodgers though, as they host the Phillies and Brewers.

The Mets were hoping to get a sweep over the Marlins, but Josh Johnson again showed how much Florida has missed him. He allowed 2 runs and 5 hits over 7 innings to improve to 3-0, 3.19, in his 6 starts this season. After establishing himself as the most consistent Mets starter after Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey has gotten pounded in two of his last three starts.

The schedule is favorable for the Mets this week as they go on the road to face the Nationals and Pirates.

The Phillies dropped the first game of their series with the Pirates on Friday, but got a huge start from Brett Myers (7.2, 1 ER, 5 H) on Saturday and came from behind on Sunday when Chase Utley belted a 2-run home run. It was Utley's first home run at home in over a month.

The Phillies go west for the Padres and Dodgers before returning home for a big 8-game homestand.

The Cubs took 2 of 3 from the Cards with a big outing from Ryan Dempster on Sunday. Dempster recorded 85 saves over the last three seasons, but has really stepped up in his return to the rotation, recording his 13th win in a 6-2 Cubs victory.

The Cubs visit the southeast this week to take on the Braves and Marlins.

CC Sabathia's reps must be drooling all over themselves. They had to be concerned when their big left-hander was slow out of the gate, but after turning things around in Cleveland, he has been dominating National League hitters with the Brewers. Sabathia tossed a complete game shutout of the Nationals on Friday. It was his fourth complete game in seven starts since the trade to the NL, and he now has seven complete games on the season. That total in today's game is like completing 35 games back in the 1970's.

Another pending free agent, Ben Sheets, gave the Brewers another lift on Saturday, when he tossed a complete game shutout of his own. Ned Yost finally relented and used the pen on Sunday in a 10 inning Milwaukee win. It came on a Gabe Kapler walk-off home run. Yost does have a concern now though: Ryan Braun's lower back. The stud second-year player injured it on Saturday and missed yesterday's game.

The Brewers visit SoCal this week to face the Padres and Dodgers.

Wait a minute. Are we imagining things? Well, not in this case. That really was Rocco Baldelli in Tampa's lineup on Sunday. The injury-prone outfielder went 1-4 with an RBI in his first major league game since May 15, 2007. His timing was perfect with Carl Crawford landing on the DL with a hand injury. Crawford felt something pop in Saturday's game and its been diagnosed as a tendon problem.

Tampa managed just a split of the four game series after blowing a lead in Saturday's game, but they still extended their lead with the Red Sox losing 2 of 3 over the weekend. Boston and Chicago go at it for a fourth time tonight.

The Rays travel to Oakland and Texas this week.

Much has been made of Clay Buccholz in Boston, especially after his September no-hitter, but the right-hander has struggled in his first full season in Beantown. Yesterday's loss dropped him to 2-8, 6.32 this season. The Red Sox also lost Tim Wakefield to the DL with a sore shoulder and Bartolo Colon has been slow in rehabbing an injured back. The Red Sox may turn to David Pauley or could pull Justin Masterson back out of the bullpen to take Wakefield's spot in the rotation.

The Red Sox start a 6-game homestand on Tuesday with Texas and Toronto coming to town.

The White Sox have hit five home runs in the first three games of their series with the Red Sox, and have belted a major league-leading 165 for the season. They have seven players in double figures, with Carlos Quentin leading the team with 31. Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome are both closing in on the 30-mark while Nick Swisher and Joe Crede are approaching the 20 home run level.

The White Sox host KC for a 3-game series and then go out west to face the slumping A's for 3 games.

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Around the Horn - 3/6

Serious news out of Cardinals' camp. Team doctor George Paletta says Albert Pujols has a high grade tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The tear seems to have also caused bone spurs, inflammation and arthritis in the joint. Pujols will need Tommy John surgery if and when the ligament finally gives out.

Rondell White earned the nickname RonDL because of his frequent inactivity due to injuries. Well, pretty soon Moises Alou may be known as Moises DLou. The Mets left fielder didn't even wait until the regular season to make his 1st trip to the disabled list this year. Alou is set to undergo hernia surgery and is out 4-6 weeks. The Mets HAVE to be looking for a right-handed bat.

Bartolo Colon had his 2nd positive bullpen throwing session and is on track to make his first spring start for Boston March 15.

When will the Rays finally cut bait with Rocco Baldelli? Baldelli was too sore to DH today after playing last on Tuesday. Is there such a thing as a hamstring transplant?

According to SI's Jon Heyman, the White Sox and Giants continue to discuss a Joe Crede deal, but so far can't agree on the players involved.

According to a source of Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, White Sox 1st Baseman Paul Konerko can still be had in a trade.

The Mets' Johan Santana bounced back from a rocky 1st outing with a solid 3 inning performance on Wednesday. The ace left-hander allowed a run on 2 hits, while walking 1 and striking out 4.

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Wednesday Hot Stove

The Orioles continue to shop Erik Bedard, with the Dodgers and Mets showing a lot of interest, but the team hasn't decided if they really want to move their best pitcher. The O's have denied having any interest in free agent outfielder Jose Guillen.

Melvin Mora is working in the outfield while playing winter league ball. The O's may move Miguel Tejada to 3rd next season, if they decide to hold on to him. Source

The Rays are sending Rocco Baldelli for extensive tests to determine if is continual hamstring problems are being caused by an underlying problem. It's not the 1st time a team has had an issue like this. The Mets actually re-taught Jose Reyes how to run to help prevent hamstring injuries. Source

The Padres have had extensive talks with free agent outfielder Geoff Jenkins, who has indicated he would like play for them. Source

The Rockies have reached the conclusion that they will most likely not be able to re-sign left-hander Jeremy Affeldt. Amazing how much attention there is for mediocre lefties. Source

According to Newsday, the Mets have set their sites on the A's Danny Haren and Joe Blanton. It's not the 1st time the Mets have tried to acquire one of the right-handers. Source

It's not looking like Aaron Rowand will be returning to his original team. The White Sox and Rowand were on completely different pages in their contract discussions. Source

HA - the Twins have signed utility man Howie Clark to a minor league deal. Who cares? A-Rod has to know what town to yell "HA" in.

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