Re-signing Beckett was a no-brainer

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Excuse me if I don't do any back flips or call Theo a genius for signing Josh Beckett to a four-year extension. Why? Because I don't pat people on the back for making easy decisions.

When the Red Sox signed John Lackey to a lucrative deal this offseason, it was believed by some that the front office was preparing to let Beckett hit the free agent market at the end of the season with Lackey acting as his replacement. I had to chuckle.

And that's not a knock on Lackey, who is a fine pitcher. But Josh Beckett, whether you want to call him the ace or not, has been the anchor of the Red Sox pitching staff and there was no reason to let him go.

If the team is ready to pay $8.6 million to a player who is now playing for a division foe and pay another $12 million for a player who is essentially a backup designated hitter at this point in his career, it had better have been ready to pay the man with 65 wins and a .657 winning percentage and a 5-1 postseason mark in four years with the team.

With him retained, the Red Sox could have one of the most formidible pitching staffs in baseball for a long time. Beckett, Jon Lester and Lackey are now all assured spots in the rotation (barring something unexpected happening, of course) from now until 2013 and possibly 2014 if the Red Sox pick up Lester's option that year. Clay Buchholz, who many teams would love to have as a second or third starter down the road, is also under Red Sox' control until 2014. Granted, this is all with the unrealistic assumption that no one gets hurt, traded, etc.

Normally, I am not a fan of long-term deals with pitchers because so few of them have worked out and likewise, the deal with Lackey makes me nervous because he has had difficulty staying healthy. Beckett hasn't had such issues with the Red Sox, starting at least 30 games in three of the four seasons he's been in Boston. It's especially impressive after getting a reputation for being injury-prone with the Marlins, although he often voiced frustrations with them, once calling himself the healthiest man on the DL.

Beckett seems like an old man simply because he's been around forever. He pitched his first game at 21 years of age and will turn 31 in May, so the odds of this extension turning out to be a Mike Lowell-esque disaster are not as high.

I don't know if I like using the term "big game pitcher," but the bottom line is if you were looking for someone who fit that description on the Red Sox, it would have to be this guy. Given is track record, age and the fact that the price tag wasn't all that unreasonable, given what the team has handed out in terms of contracts recently, this was a no-brainer.

So congrats, Theo, on making maybe the easiest decision in your professional career.

Not Buying What Theo is Selling

By Dan Shouse
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Heading into the season opener against the New York Yankees, the Red Sox newly discovered philosophy of "run prevention" will be put to an early season test.

The John Lackey signing was great, and Adrian Beltre and Mike Cameron will certainly bring better defense to the Red Sox lineup, but something just doesn't seem right with the Red Sox new focus on pitching and defense.

For years, Theo Epstien has preached high on base percentage, and loved players who were tough outs at the plate. Theo had players who could work the count up and down the lineup. Now we are supposed to believe that run prevention is the way to go? What happened to getting guys who were great at getting on base? What ever happened to building up the opposing teams pitch count? This worked great in the past, and brought a pair of World Series Championships to Boston. If it is not broke, why fix it?

I like Mike Cameron, but really, he is a rally killer. Red Sox Nation will not be happy the first time he kills a rally by striking out on 3 pitches, and bails the other team out of a jam. The whole run prevention mantra reeks of Theo trying to cover up for bad off seasons the last few years.

It all started with the failed Mark Texiera signing after the 2008 season. The Red Sox dropped the ball with Tex. The Sox could have matched the New York offer. What was the difference between the Red Sox and the Yankees offer? Maybe 10 or 12 million? Over the course of an 8 year contract the Red Sox would have only had to pay another 1 or 2 million a season. That is long reliever money, and something the Red Sox could have easily done.

Same goes with Jason Bay. The deal that he got from the Mets was something that Theo and company could have beaten. Guys like Bay, who are good for 30 HR and 100 RBI every year, are not easy to find.

The killer is the both Texeria and Bay should be productive throughout their contracts, and have little risk, with big upside.

Even if Beltre has a huge year, he could be one and done in Boston because he only under contract for one year. Cameron is clearly nearing the end.

I know the Sox have a bunch of talent in the minors, but will Red Sox Nation really put up with a bridge year to 2011 or 2012. The Red Sox should be able to put a winner on the field every year with the fiances they have. They are the only team that can really compete with the Yankees in that regard.

Adrian Gonzalez from San Diego is name that keeps getting brought up to add some punch to the Sox lineup, but he will cost the Red Sox some of their prized prospects. Tex and Bay could have been here without having to give up any players.

The failed signing of Tex and Bay will come back to haunt the Red Sox. If not for John Lackey, it really could have been a lost off season for the Red Sox.

As it looks now, the Red Sox seemed to be destined to lose a lot of 2-1 or 3-2 games. At the end of last season, the Red Sox needed to add offense and failed. Theo tried to sell the Nation on run prevention, but in the end it could add up to an 88 win season and no playoffs. Will the Nation find this acceptable? I hope Theo is right about the new found faith in pitching and defense.

Maybe it is the way to go, and the Red Sox will continue to win 95 games and play deep into October. For some reason, I just don't see this happening, and the Sox will be on the outside looking in come playoff time.

McNabb to the Raiders? Not good for the Patriots

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Personally, I find the Donovan McNabb soap opera fascinating. The latest McNabb trade rumors has the Eagles sending their embattled QB to the wasteland properly known as the Oakland Raiders. There have been reports that McNabb will not report if that is the case, but what really can he do. At this point, you might be asking who cares about this, and what does this have to do with the New England Patriots? Well, if you recall, the Patriots received the Oakland Raiders 2011 1st round draft pick in return for Richard Seymour just prior to the start of the 2009 season.

Most people, like myself, still thought this was a pretty good deal because there was no way the Raiders could improve that much for this pick not to be a top 10 pick, right? Well, we just may be wrong. If McNabb does get sent to the Raiders, then they are a much better team than most people realize. They managed to win 5 games last year, and should easily be a .500 team with the addition of Donovan McNabb. The Raiders will still lack any decent receivers, but have a solid stock of running backs that line up behind a decent offensive line. My guess is Zach Miller turns into an All Pro Tight End thanks in part to having a quarterback who can actually throw the rock. It also helps they have a pretty decent defense. While they struggled against the run, the Raiders defense was 7th in the NFL in pass defense.

What will the Patriots do about this? Well, the Patriots will most likely not move this pick prior to, or during, the 2010 draft. Why? I don't see a new CBA being agreed to by either the owners or players without a slotted salary for rookies. The Patriots know this and will have two first round picks with a locked in salary. What do I think they should do? To heck with the slotted draft system, I want to win. The 2010 draft is being referred to the deepest draft in who knows how long. Use the 2011 first rounder to move up and get an impact player at a position of need like an edge pass rusher or offensive lineman.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to the new draft style?

Here's what I have to say

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Excuses are like you know what, and so are opinions.

Well, here's my two cents on 10 different topics in the world of sports.

1. The baseball offseason was great since the New York Yankees won the World Series title. Now, unfortunately, the Red Sox fans are coming out of the woodwork and talking major smack again. Really? You know the Yanks are the defending champs until someone -- if they can -- dethrones them. So shut it. The peace and quiet was so nice.
2. The Boston Celtics are not frauds, but they're also not a championship-caliber team. They are flawed and look old. They choked again in the clutch. How do you let the Houston Rockets beat you at home? Unacceptable.
3. Tim Tebow doesn't have a strong arm, he isn't very accurate and the bottom line is that he's not going to be a great pro. Tebow's QB skills need a lot of work -- why do you think he completely changed his throwing motion in hopes of impressing scouts? He is a college QB, not a pro. No questioning his heart, desire, toughness and leadership at all. I just question his QB skills at the pro level. He'd make a great H-back.
4. The Patriots better not draft Tebow in the first or second round. Please, please, please draft a linebacker or defensive end in the first round.
5. I'd love to really watch UFC, but am not going to buy it on pay-per-view. Is the UFC on cable at all?
6. Is there anything better than the baseball package on DirectTV? Well, the Sunday Ticket is pretty sweet, too.
7. Why would the MLB season start at night when the Yanks visit the Red Sox on Sunday night? Really bad decision MLB. Opening Day should always be during the day. How many children that need to go to school and adults that have to work during the morning will stay up and watch a four-hour game between these two rivals? Poor, poor, poor.
8. Does it really matter that the Bruins make the playoffs or not? Either way, they're not going to win the Stanley Cup. After what happened last season, anything less than a trip to the Stanley Cups finals would be considered a bad year. If you can't score, you can't win.
9. I'm not really a soccer fan, but it's hard not to watch Team USA in the World Cup. When is the World Cup anyway? June or July? Well, I've got my Team USA soccer hat and t-shirt ready to go. U-S-A, U-S-A!!!
10. Root for Tiger Woods all you want. He makes me sick to my stomach, and I hope he never wins a tournament again.

Ingy's 2010 MLB Predictions

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Well, now that we are just a few days away from the start of the 2010 season, it's time for the country's baseball pundits to put their money where there mouth is. I am no different. Being the overly opinionated man that I am, I must publish my preseason standings, playoff picks, and choices for the major baseball awards. Feel free to ridicule all you want. As always, we'll revisit them, whether good or bad, at the end of the season. Off we go!

MLB Divisional Standings:

AL East:

1. New York Yankees

2. Tampa Bay Rays

3. Boston Red Sox

4. Toronto Blue Jays

5. Baltimore Orioles

AL Central:

1. Minnesota Twins

2. Chicago White Sox

3. Detroit Tigers

4. Cleveland Indians

5. Kansas City Royals

AL West:

1. LA Angels

2. Seattle Mariners

3. Texas Rangers

4. Oakland A's

NL East:

1. Philadelphia Phillies

2. Atlanta Braves

3. Florida Marlins

4. New York Mets

5. Washington Nationals

NL Central:

1. St. Louis Cardinals

2. Cincinnati Reds

3. Chicago Cubs

4. Milwaukee Brewers

5. Houston Astros

6. Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West:

1. Colorado Rockies

2. LA Dodgers

3. San Francisco Giants

4. Arizona Diamondbacks

5. San Diego Padres

MLB Playoffs:

American League: Yankees over Angels Twins over Rays

Yankees over Twins

National League: Phillies over Dodgers Cardinals over Rockies

Cardinals over Phillies

World Series: Yankees vs. Cardinals

New York Yankees - World Series Champions

Post Season Awards:

American League: MVP: Joe Mauer - Twins

Cy Young: Felix Hernandez - Mariners

Rookie of the Year: Austin Jackson - Tigers

National League: MVP: Matt Kemp - Dodgers

Cy Young: Roy Halladay - Phillies

Rookie of the Year: Jason Heyward - Braves

Fantasy Baseball: Positional Rankings - Closers

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Welcome to the final category of the Fan Fanatic Sports fantasy baseball breakdown. I will send you all a hearty good luck in your fantasy season as the 2010 season begins this Sunday night in Boston. If you know me, then you know that the closer is my least favorite fantasy position. I kind of liken it to a kicker in fantasy football. If you have one of the elite's than that's fantastic, but if not, you can always find one, or two during the season. Year in and year out, there are always closers who start the season in the position lose their jobs. The reverse can be said as well. Every season some unknown puts up 20+ saves.

The Top 20:

1. Mariano Rivera - Yankees

2. Jonathon Papelbon - Red Sox

3. Jonathon Broxton - Dodgers

4. Brian Wilson - Giants

5. David Aardsma - Mariners

6. Huston Street - Rockies

7. Heath Bell - Padres

8. Francisco Cordero - Reds

9. Carlos Marmol - Cubs

10. Francisco Rodriguez - Mets

11. Brian Fuentes - Angels

12. Joakim Soria - Royals

13. Jose Valverde - Tigers

14. Adam Bailey - A's

15. Ryan Franklin - Cardinals

16. Trevor Hoffman - Brewers

17. Billy Wagner - Braves

18. Rafael Soriano - Rays

19. Brad Lidge - Phillies

20. Bobby Jenks - White Sox

The Elite:

Until Mariano Rivera has a bad year, he'll be tops on my list. This guy is the best closer in the history of baseball, and should be a first ballot hall of famer. He still pitches for the best team in baseball, so you can bank on 35+ saves. I actually surprised myself by putting Papelbon at the #2 slot. He's got to prove he can bounce back from a poor 09' season. I also think the Sox offense will put them in a lot more close and late games. Speaking of close and late games, let's talk about Jonathon Broxton and the Dodgers. They have a very good lineup, but their pitching has a serious lack of depth in the rotation.

The 2nd Tier:
Despite the hatred I have for the SF Giants, you have to appreciate the job Brian Wilson has done for them. He has 79 saves the past two seasons and dropped his ERA by almost two full runs from 2008. He was rewarded a week ago with a nice extension. After him there are so many closers that are about the same. Some of those guys are Huston Street, David Aardsma, and Heath Bell. Just remember, you can always find a closer.

On the Rise:

Chris Perez - Now that Kerry Wood will miss the first 6 weeks of the season, Perez is the man for the Indians. If you can pick him up, he may not be just a fill in due to Wood's inconsistency.

Mattt Guerrier - Unless the Twins make a trade for a closer, he's my pick to take a strangle hold on the position. He's had an ERA under 3.50 for 4 out of the past 5 seasons. He isn't a strike out pitcher, but had a very nice WHIP of 0.97 in 2009.

LaTroy Hawkins - He'll start out as a set up man for the Brewers, but you never know when Trevor Hoffman will start showing his age. I'd keep an eye out for him as the season goes on.

On the Slide/Watch out:

Andrew Bailey - Bailey, the rookie of the year last year, starts out the season banged up. He may be ready for opening day, but I never trust a pitcher who a career high in innings the previous year and has a bad elbow.

Trevor Hoffman - I know I'll catch some flack for putting Hoffman here. I'm not saying he's going to have a bad year, but he does bear some watching. He is 42 years old! He had a great season last year, but how long can he keep putting numbers up.

Brandon Lyon - I am not sure what the Astros were thinking when they handed Lyon a three year deal during the off season. It looks like he lost the closers job to Matt Lindstrom with a very poor spring.

Well, everyone I hope you all enjoyed the rankings. Good luck in your fantasy draft!

NCAAs a microcosm of UNH's season.

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

(Note: This is the first of a three-part series analyzing the performances of all three Hockey East teams in their respective regionals in the NCAA tournament last weekend.)

In a lot of ways, New Hampshire's postseason experience summed up how the entire season had gone for the Wildcats.

In the Hockey East tournament quartefinals, the Wildcats came back from a 4-2 deficit to beat Vermont, 7-4, but then got shut out in back-to-back games and were bounced from the tournament, leaving their hopes of playing on the national stage squarely on the shoulders of others.

The pieces that needed to fall into place for the 'Cats did so and they made it into the tournament as a third seed in the East regional, which featured two upstate New York teams in RIT and Cornell.

In the first round, UNH played beautifully, out-shooting, out-skating and outplaying Cornell in a 6-2 upset victory. Hobey Baker top-10 finalist Bobby Butler was the catalyst with two goals and an assist, while the ever-underrated Paul Thompson scored twice, including the game-winner.

UNH dominated a very good Cornell defense and fired 36 shots on Ben Scrivens, who Barry Melrose spent most of the first period calling the best goalie in college hockey. Five of those shots got past Scrivens.After the Big Red opened the scoring with 48.8 seconds remaining after getting outplayed all period, UNH potted two goals on just six shots. The goals were on consecutive shots, actually, in the final minutes of the period.

Bobby Butler took advantage of a turnover in the Cornell zone and tied the game with a goal that actually went through the net. It took a stoppage and a review to decide it was a goal, reversing the initial call of no goal. Mike Sislo added another goal 26 seconds later on a nice feed from Greg Burke after Blake Kessel forced a turnover in the neutral zone. Those two goals gave UNH the momentum going into the third, leading to three more goals, including Thompson's game-winner less than three minutes into the third, UNH's third goal on seven shots since the start of the second.

But the next round against upstart RIT was a totally different story. While RIT had topped Denver, there still was a sense that UNH was a clear favorite in the conference. Instead, a day after playing possibly the best game of their season, the Wildcats gave away their season with the worst two minutes.

With the game tied, 1-1, UNH gave up three goals in 94 seconds. In an eerily similar way to how they beat Cornell, the Wildcats gave up goals just 13 seconds apart at 13:23 and 13:36. Just 1:26 later, RIT put the game away. Just like that, it was over.

As was the case all season, UNH was the model of inconsistency. The offense did nothing against an RIT defense that is not outstanding after embarassing one of the best defenses in the nation and as a result, the Wildcats remain maybe the team with the highest number of futile and heartbreaking efforts in the national tournament ever.