Dodgers Make Offer To Roy Oswalt

Rumors are going around that the Dodgers have made an offer to Roy Oswalt, but it is also being reported that the two sides are not close. From everything I have read it sounds like it is just a matter of time before the Rangers sign him. The Dodgers, Red Sox, Orioles, and Phillies are said to all be in the running, but from the start we have heard the Phillies and Rangers were the most likely. I see no chance the Red Sox will be in this. They already made him an offer during the offseason and he didn't jump on it, plus they really don't have a spot for him at this time, unless they change course and send Bard back to the bullpen.

Oswalt is rumored to be making his decision within the next week or so.

Rangers 6, Red Sox 3

One day it's a lousy starting pitching performance. The next it's an impotent offense. Then the next, the bullpen blows a save. The Sox have lost games in just about every possible way this season.

It really feels like September. Not just because of the brisk weather last night, but because the Sox are losing in new and interesting ways each night.You never know who you'll see fail when you come to the ballpark.

Beckett did well last night. Good. Maybe very good. Not great, but good enough. The offense was quiet, apart from a Youkilis homerun. But Franklin Morales sabotaged the Sox' chances of winning the game with his 3 run outing.

There's a new villain every night. A new player to display a shamed look on his face. But the image of Sox players limply hanging on the dugout rails is the same sorry sight from last September.

It's getting annoying.

Fenway Park turns 100 on Friday, and the Sox welcome the Yankees. New York is 6-6, so these are two struggling teams trying to remember how to win. Buchholz faces 2-0 Ivan Nova.

-The Captain

Rangers @ Red Sox Preview

Wow, last night was ugly. I really thought Lester wouldn't have a game like that. I hope it's a one game thing, but that was one of the worst I have seen in awhile. Tonight we get Derek Holland vs. Josh Beckett.

Beckett perfectly sums up the Red Sox season so far, up and down. In his first start he went 4 2/3 innings letting up 7 ERs and 5 of those runs coming from HRs. In his next start he went 8 innings allowing just 1 run. What I do find a bit alarming about Beckett is that he had just 1 K in that outing, and has just 4 in 12 2/3 innings of work.

Things won't be easy for Beckett tonight. We saw what this Texas lineup can do last night, and Beckett is 0-1 with a 7.79 ERA in three career starts versus Texas at Fenway. One guy that just owns Beckett is Hamilton, he is 6-14 (.429) with 2 HRs.

Going against Beckett is Derek Holland, who is my favorite player not on the Red Sox (Lester is my favorite player overall). He is coming off his first full year in the majors and did a damn good job going 16-5 with a 3.95 ERA. He seems to be picking up where he left off as he is 1-0 with 3.38 ERA in 2 starts and has 13 Ks in 13 1/3 innings. The one thing I must point out against those two starts is that they were against Seattle and the White Sox, so the Red Sox should be more of a challenge, but I guess that depends on what Red Sox lineup shows up tonight.

I have no stat to throw at you as to why the Red Sox will win tonight. The only thing I can say is PRIDE. They need to show some, because that was disgusting last night. I'm going to say they will show some tonight, but like I said I got nothing to back that up.

Red Sox win 6-5
Player of the game: Pedroia
Game starts at 7:10pm

Rangers 18, Red Sox 3

Buy some Dramamine and don't eat an hour before game time because this Sox season is shaping up to be a motion sickness inducing roller coaster ride of dizzying highs and soul crushing lows.

After two very good starts, Jon Lester dropped an utter turd on the mound last night, only getting 6 men out. He threw 80 pitches in his 2+ innings of work, only 46 of which were strikes. He allowed 8 hits and walked 4. It was ugly.

Even uglier was Mark Melancon's outing. 6 batters faced. 2 of them walked, 4 of them got hits, 3 of them hit homeruns. He's allowed 5 homeruns in 2 innings of work. His ERA is now 49.50.

I fear that the rest of the season will be much like the first 11 games. The Sox will look invincible at times. Then at other times they'll look like a AAA team that's been drinking heavily.

But hey, Texas is good. Really, really good. I love hearing people say "there's no guarantee the Wild Card comes from the AL East this year." No shit. The Rangers have pitching. And as we saw last night, some very scary hitting.

Josh Beckett faces Derek Holland tonight. It'll be interesting to see which Josh Beckett shows up.

-The Captain

Rangers @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox lost a tough one last time out (1-0 to the Rays), but they did win 3 for the 4 games in that series, so there were a lot of positives to come out of it. The Red Sox bullpen has looked pretty good and their rotation seems to be coming along. The lineup is up and down, and I think we are going to see a lot of that with Ellsbury/Crawford out, Youk not playing very well, and holes in parts in the lineup. Don't get me wrong they can still put up runs with guys like Pedroia, Gonzo, and Ortiz, it's just if one or more of those guys don't hit it can get rough.

Tonight we see Colby Lewis vs. Jon Lester. Colby Lewis, who was 1-2 with an 8.22 ERA in three starts in last season's series. Onyl lasted 3 1-3 innings in a 12-7 loss at Fenway on Sept. 3. Overall he is 2-3 with a 5.01 ERA against Boston. Saying that Lewis has started this year on fire going 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA and 15 Ks in 12 2/3 innings. One guy Lewis going going to have to look out for is Adrian Gonzalez. In his 7 at bats against Lewis he has 6 hits, 2 of them HRs, and a walk. Ortiz is also 5-15 against Lewis with 3 of those hits being HRs.

Lester has been the Red Sox best pitcher so far this year. He hasn't got a win yet, but it is not his fault. In 2 outings so far he has going 15 innings with 10 Ks. In his career against the Rangers he is 3-1 with a 3.48 ERA, which is pretty impressive for the lineup the Rangers throw out there every year.

The Rangers have won three of their last four series at Fenway, going 8-5 there since 2009. I am terrified of the Rangers lineup, and I worry about Boston's a little bit right now trying to keep up. That being said I really think Lester is taking the next step in his career.

Red Sox win 6-4
Player of the Game: Ortiz
Game starts at 7:10pm

RED SOX LINEUP:
Aviles, SS
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Youkilis, 3B
Sweeney, RF
Ross, LF
Saltalamacchia, C
Repko, CF

Ian Kinsler Gets Paid

After talks appeared to stall last week, Ian Kinsler says he and the Texas Rangers have agreed to a new $75 million, five-year contract. The deal reportedly has an option for a sixth season, meaning it could run through the 2018 season. ESPN

I like this deal a lot and it makes sense. Kinsler has been a hell of a player and has supplied a ton of power and baserunning for a potent Rangers line up. Kinsler hit .255 with 32 homers and 77 RBIs in 2011. He also stole 30 bases, joining the 30-30 club for the second time in his career. He had 31 homers and 31 stolen bases in 2009.

He's one of the best 2nd baseman in the league and if you figure he's worth 75, Robinson Cano will be at least over 100 million.