Random Thoughts (July 7, 2010)

And the hits just keep on coming. Add the name of Kevin Youkilis to the walking wounded of the Red Sox. While it does not look like Youk will join the likes of Dustin Pedroia, Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, and Jacoby Ellsbury on the disabled list, his ankle injury last night did force him to leave the game and that cost the Sox a realistic chance of beating the Rays. As soon as Youkilis left the game, David Ortiz stopped having any chance of seeing a pitch to hit. You have to give Rays skipper Joe Maddon credit for turning Youk's absence into a major advantage for his club as he gave Niuman Romero the chance to be the hero for Boston, not Big Papi. While it looks like the sky is falling for Red Sox Nation, there is no reason to hit the panic button quite yet. Despite all of the injuries, the Soxare still in the hunt for a playoff spot and one can reasonably expect the team to improve once the disabled list morphs into the starting lineup... One area that the Red Sox must improve is their bullpen. It is by far the biggest weakness with this team, especially in middle relief. Closer Jonathan Papelbon is not having his greatest season but he is 19-for-22 in save opportunities and I would not want to imagine the Red Sox bullpen without him as the anchor. The other bright spot is set-up man Daniel Bard. He has been outstanding as Terry Francona's primary option in the 7th and 8th innings. The one issue is his high amount of appearances (40) this early in the season. Pitching on a pace of almost every other game is a recipe for a potential burn out come the end of the year when he will be needed the most. The middle relief corps of Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, Ramon Ramirez, and Scott Atchison has been inconsistent and is a major reason why they are a mediocre 13-14 in one-run games and why the team's record in extra inning games is 2-7. With the price of relief help on the trade market likely to be expensive, look for Theo Epstein to try and solve this problem by seeing if there are any internal answers. Felix Doubront - who put in a solid effort last night in his start in replacement of the injured Clay Buchholz - and Michael Bowden (who has already made the switch) are two of the team's prospects at Triple-A Pawtucket that could be converted from starters to middle relievers. Another name in Pawtucket to keep an eye on is Rich Hill, who could fill the key role of situational lefty in the 'pen... The NBA free agency recruitment period ends at midnight tonight and players can officially sign contracts tomorrow. The rumors of a LeBron James-Dwayne Wade-Chris Bosh superteam in Miami (or Chicago) look very slim although the latest reports claim that Wade and Bosh will team up on South Beach, leaving James to stay with the Cavaliers or jump to either the Bulls or Knicks. I believe that LeBron will remain with Cleveland but give him self the opportunity to terminate his contract after two or three years in order to start this process all over again with the possibility of jumping to the Nets, who will be situated in Brooklyn by 2013. That does not mean the Bulls and Knicks have no shot at LeBron. Joining the Bulls gives him the best chance at competing for titles for the next decade because of the young nucleus in Chicago of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng. The Bulls would also have the ability to sign at least one more impact free agent - like Carlos Boozer - to compliment James. The Knicks do not have that deep of a roster but with Amar'e Stoudemire locked up, James might wish to head to the Big Apple... Enjoy the Knuckler tonight...