WEEI.com – BALTIMORE – With the Aug. 31 deadline for waiver trades having come and gone with Mike Lowell not having been dealt, the 36-year-old said that he was excited that he would be playing what are almost certainly his final weeks as a major leaguer in a Red Sox uniform.

While a lack of playing time had led Lowell to hope for a trade for much of the season, the fact that he is now getting an opportunity to play with the Sox has offered him contentment in Boston. In the end, he was glad that the deadline passed without him moving to another club.

“Obviously, at different points in the season, if it was going to a place where I would have played, I would have been happy with it,” said Lowell. “But the fact that I’m here with these guys, I feel like I have a great chance – whatever happens – to finish my career in this uniform. That’s a really good thing.

“I’m enjoying playing. Personally and collectively, I think we all want to play better, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes,” he added. “The fans have treated me tremendously since the first day I got here. … I look at it as a privilege to be in this uniform. I choose to focus only on all the good things to happen in the last five years.”

Oh cut the shit Mikey. I know you’re fooling the entire city of Boston, but I’m onto you dawg. If it was really a privilege to be in the Red Sox uniform than you would have kept your mouth shut for the last 12 months when you weren’t playing every day. Instead, you bitched non stop once Victor Martinez was acquired and the Sox used him at first and Youk at third every once in a while. As if that wasn’t enough you spent the first four months of this season bitching that you needed more playing time and how could you ever get in a rhythm without constant at bats and blah blah blah. Well guess what? You have been playing pretty much every day since Youk went down and you still suck! Constant at bats my ass. Get out of town you clown. You can’t decided to play nice all of the sudden after shitting on everyone all summer long. That’s not how it works around here, at least not in my book. Keep pretending this is 2007 and get a grip on reality. You will not be missed on this team. At least not my the front office, and not by me.

Nice move guys. Way to try and suck me back in. Well I’m not biting. Sorry.

It’s still only the Orioles.

You still had your “ace” give up 5 runs over 6 innings.

And you still only won by 3 runs.

Win 5 more in a row and maybe I’ll think about taking you back. But for now, I’m more excited for tonight’s pre-season football game than I am about any Red Sox game, and I hate pre-season football.

Well, it was a good run, but anyone who still thinks the Sox are going to make the playoffs is out of their freaking mind. Don’t ask me why, but I still had hope entering last nights game against the Orioles despite losing two of three to Tampa. But when the Sox lost that game, I lost all faith.

Don’t get me wrong, with three games left against the Rays and six remaining against the Yankees it is by no means mathematically impossible, but you have to beat the shitty teams, it’s as simple as that. After losing two tough games over the weekend I expected the Sox to be fired up and ready to play, especially against one of the worst teams in baseball. An average victory of less than 8 runs a game should have been a disappointment. Instead, they play tight. Just watching the guys out there it was hard to believe that they were thinking about doing anything in October other than playing golf. Obviously this isn’t the case as the Red Sox are made up of 25 Manny Ramirez’s, but it was clear that the frustrations of the season had become too much for them to overcome.

Mike Lowell once was throwing equipment for the second time in a four days after a called third strike call. Marco Scutaro botched two plays at shortstop and nearly threw his glove. David Ortiz is arguing after every strike call made on him (usually he only argues every other strike call).

But I’m not even mad at them. If I was a player on this team, you can bet your ass I would be frustrated. When teetering on the brink like they were it’s easy to fall the wrong way. This team has nothing to be ashamed of. I have said it a million times already and I will keep saying it until opening day next April. It’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t watch a healthy 2010 Red Sox team, because they could have been real special.

I know, I know, it’s nearly impossible these days to take both games of a day night double header.

I know I shouldn’t have been expecting much with Tim Wakefield going up against Felix Hernandez.

I know that complaining about gaining only a half game on the Yankees and Rays is annoying.

But…

Don’t ask me why, but I just had this feeling all night long that we would some how pull this game off. Like I wasn’t worried one bit when the Mariners went up 3-0 or 4-1 because I knew (well, thought I knew) that the Sox would come back. Even when it got to the ninth and there were two outs I was convinced that Jed Lowrie was going to single and Ryan Kalish was going to hit a bomb to send it into extra frames.

I was wrong.

And I shouldn’t be as disappointed as I am, but god dammit we could have picked up a game and a half on BOTH teams ahead of us. Instead, we are still 5.5 back with six weeks remaining. They have Thursday off and head to Tampa for a weekend series that could make or break the season. The Sox have six games remaining with both the Rays and the Yankees. This is where they need to do some serious damage if they want to make up what otherwise would be an insurmountable number.

Notes…

Whenever Bill Hall gets a huge hit, he always seems to make some bonehead play in the field. It’s really like clockwork. He had a big lead off pinch hit double in the eighth inning and when he went out to second for the top of the ninth he couldn’t get the ball out of his glove and botched a throw on what would have been a double play. No damage was done because of it, but it is really getting silly. We need two or three DH spots for this team because we got a lot of guys who can hit but can’t field worth a damn (Papi, Lowell, and Hall to name a few).

I can’t decide whether watching Josh Beckett yesterday pissed me off more or gave me hope. It was awesome to see him pretty much throw six no hit innings, don’t get me wrong. But watching him in the seventh did nothing more than serve as a reminder about how much he has sucked this season. Knowing he has that kind of stuff and still has an era over six really blows. There is no better way to put it. Forget all of the million other injuries they have had this year. If Josh Beckett was the real Josh Beckett, they would probably be winning the division.

Felix Doubront hasn’t given up a run in his last five innings. He is officially the first guy I want coming into the game leading to Bard and Papelbon. And where did this filthy curveball come from? I watched him pitch in spring training and last year and it was average at best. He is making lefties look silly out there.

White Sox to claim Manny Ramirez – Manny is expected to hit the waiver wire any time now. The Dodgers, like the Red Sox two years ago, are simply fed up with him and want him gone. According to FoxSports, the Chicago White Sox are prepared to claim him and try and work a deal. This was probably the best news that I have heard in a while because you know the Devil Rays would kill to add him to their lineup. And say what you want about Manny, when he is on the field, the dude can hit. If you put him in that Rays lineup they become that much better and you can bet your ass teams will fear him.

I love how Rajon Rondo quit on Team USA – According to WEEI.com, Rondo claimed there were family matters and other things he needed to attend to before the NBA season started. Call me insensitive, but I’m calling bullshit. Rondo was pissed that he wasn’t getting the love that he deserved so he walked out, and I am perfectly OK with that. The kid thinks he is kind of a big deal and demands the respect of a top player in the league. Nothing wrong with that. I guarantee you if he was the starter and not Derrick Rose he would not have quit the team, and you can take that to the bank.

Belichick on Maroney: “I think he’s ready” – Coach Bill talked earlier today about Laurence Maroney and whether or not he was over the case of fumblitis that he contracted last season, and it sounds like he is in pretty good shape. I have been waiting a long time for Maroney to put up an all pro year. In fact, I think I have predicted it for at least the last two, if not three seasons. He is like Alex Gordon (Roayls 3B). Every year I claim he will live up to his lofty potential, and every year he ends up on my fantasy team, and every year he ends up disappointing. Please don’t do me wrong again Laurence. I beg you.

Can we have Lackey pitch every game against the Mariners? Is there a way this can happen? Because he sucks against every other team, even the shitty ones, but for whatever reason dominates the Mariners. Yea, I get that they suck and all, but it’s not just that. The stuff he had in both his starts this year against them has been disgusting. First, he took a no no into the eighth inning out on the left coast earlier this year, and just last night he showed us a fastball that Boston fans haven’t seen since he mowed us down last fall in the playoffs en route to striking out ten over eight innings. Someone needs to play these two tapes on repeat until the guy can figure out his act and pitch like that every game. Please.

Mike Reiss took a look at the Patriots 2008 draft earlier today and the results were not pretty. Two third round picks are no longer with the team (Shawn Crable and Kevin O’Connell) and their second round pick is struggling to make the team (Terrence Wheatley). Good thing they cleaned up in 2009 and 2010 to make up for it.

Anthony Rizzo now has 23 home runs while playing most of the year at AA Portland. For those who don’t know, Rizzo is only 21 years old, and missed a season battling Hodkins Lymphoma. People need to keep an eye on this kid, because he is on the fast track to major league stardom. The Sox are due to produce a home run hitter from their farm system one of these years, maybe he can be the first.

Buster Olney made an appearance on WEEI earlier today and sounds pretty confident that Johnny Damon will end up with the Red Sox when all is said and done.

Olney said that he expects that, despite Damon’s initial misgivings about returning to the Red Sox (who were awarded a waiver claim of the outfielder on Monday), he will be convinced to return to the team for whom he became an icon from 2002-05 and then a villain while a member of the Yankees from 2006-09.

“Knowing what kind of a teammate he is, knowing that he’s a good guy, a genial guy, once he starts getting the text messages and phone calls from the people he played with in Boston, I think he’ll be sold on the idea eventually of going back to Boston,” said Olney. “It’s fairly clear he has some hurt feelings about how it ended when he signed with the Yankees. I think the one thing those guys are probably going to tell him is, look, if you come back, the first time he gets in the batter’s box, let’s say on Friday night in Tampa Bay and all those Red Sox fans are at the Trop, they’re going to give him an ovation. They’re not going to boo him.

“And we know this, too: No matter when he comes back, a reunion in 2014, fans in Boston are always going to love him for how important he was to that team in 2004. So, I think he’s going to be talked into it. I might be completely wrong, but that’s my gut feeling.”

While Olney said that part of the incentive for the Sox in claiming Damon was to keep him away from the Rays and Yankees, he also would have value to the Sox. Olney described the Sox’ motivation in claiming the outfielder as a 60-40 split between the idea that he could help and the opportunity to block their rivals from acquiring him.

Olney is a guy I trust and respect in the industry so whenever he says something I usually listen. So if he says that the Sox have sincere interest in Damon and thinks it will happen, then so be it. Now, that being said, I still don’t like it. Call me stubborn, but I am not about to turn around and let bygones be bygones and cheer this guy the second he steps up to the plate. Remember, this is the same Johnny Damon who left the Red Sox for the Yankees over one year in his contract. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he went on to say his World Series ring that he won with the Yankees meant more to him than the ring he won in ‘04 with the Sox. I could have lived with the first mistake, but sorry, I just can’t get over the second. And lets face it, is Johnny Damon really going to be the difference in this team making the playoffs or not? It is going to take a small miracle for it to happen anyways, adding an old .275 hitter isn’t going to make that miracle any more likely.

Adding Damon, in my opinion, is nothing more than a publicity stunt by the guys selling tickets. Next thing you know Pedro is going to be coming out of the bullpen, Bill Mueller will fill in at 2B while Pedroia is out, and Kevin Millar will be seen handing out shots of Jack in the dugout. If fans want to stand up and give Damon and ovation than that’s there business. But until he wins us a game in the playoffs I’m going to sit with arms crossed and a scowl on my face every time he steps into the box, and if you truly are a die hard, you will too.

According to John Heyman of SI.com, the Red Sox have claimed Johnny Damon off waivers from the Detroit Tigers. Contrary to popular belief, this in no way means that he is coming to the Red Sox or that the Red Sox ever had any intentions of bringing him here. Since many don’t fully understand the way August waivers work, I’ll start by briefly explaining them.

July 31st is the official non-waiver trade deadline. This is the last day that teams can trade with each other without using the waiver wire. Once the deadline is passed, trades can still be made, but they have to  go through this process.

First, it is normal for 80% of the players in Major League Baseball to be placed on waivers at some point during the month of August. It is common procedure more than anything and a little bit of gamesmanship. Once a player is placed on waivers every team is presented with the right to claim him. The order is based on standings from the bottom up and your league (AL and NL) gets first dibs. So when the Red Sox placed Mike Lowell on waivers the Orioles or Mariners (whoever was worse at the time) could claim him or pass. If everyone in the AL passed then it went to the worst NL team and up from there.

If the player clears waivers than the team is free to trade with anyone at that point. But if the player is claimed, which most are, there are three things that can happen:

1 – The player can simply be given to the claiming team, this is often done with high salaried players.

2 – The player can be pulled back. This is what happens 99% of the time and is what happened when the Sox put Jonathan Papelbon on waivers earlier this month. This is where the gamesmanship comes into play. Teams are always curious who will end up claiming each player. They file this information and hope that it comes in handy down the road come future trade discussions.

3 – The two teams can work out a trade. This is what happened with Billy Wagner last year. Because of his high salary he made it all the way to the Red Sox (he cleared all the NL and most of the AL) before getting claimed. The Sox and Mets quickly worked out a trade than sent two minor league players to the Mets and the Sox ended up with an extremely useful bullpen addition for the stretch run.

Once claimed, there is only a 48 hour window for a trade to happen or for the team to give the player away. After that time has expired, the player is automatically pulled back. Often time you will see a team claim a player with no intention of working out a trade simply to block him from going to another team. For example, you can bet your ass the Red Sox have claimed just about every outfielder to come through this year attempting to block them from ending up with the Rays, Rangers, or Yanks, all teams that could use another bat. While the Sox are risking being the recipient of an unwanted salary dump, they will gladly pay if it means their competition isn’t getting stronger.

So all of that brings us back to Damon. Knowing what we know now, is this a legitimate interest in Johnny Damon by the Red Sox, or is it simply a ploy to keep him from going to a team that may need him even more in the Yankes, Rays, and Rangers?

Honestly, I think it’s both. While Johnny Damon has a no trade clause and has openly spoken out against returning to the Red Sox I think Theo would be happy to have him back. Why wouldn’t he want a veteran guy who can play the corners, hit a little bit, and has a ton of playoff experience. Now, I don’t think he is going to go out of his way to get Damon as the number one motive behind this move was clearly a blocking tactic. But if the right deal were to fall in place, I don’t think you would see the guys in the front office too upset about having him back.

The fans on the other hand, are a different story.

If I never provide any useful information or insight for the rest of my life I’ll be OK with it. Because I knocked the Clay Buchholz thing out of the fucking park. No, this is not another rant about how awesome I am and me saying I told you so again, two lines is enough for me, it’s just me saying that Clay Buchholz is the man.

During another dominating performance yesterday, Buchholz lowered his American League leading ERA to 2.26 allowing no runs in six innings spanning two rain delays while striking out seven. The kid now has gone 23 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. During this run he has seen his ERA drop from 2.66 to 2.26. Now sitting at 15 wins for the season, the kid has exceeded even my lofty expectations.

I remember watching a game back in May when he faced the Yankees. He allowed five runs over five innings walking five and only striking out one. He lost the game and his record dropped to 3-3 for the year. Daisuke was about to come back off the DL and people were calling for Buchholz to be sent to the pen rather than Wakefield. It was almost as if Buchholz was pitching scared, being safe, trying to save his job rather than going out and simply pitching his game. Luckily, Tito announced that it was indeed Wake going to the bullpen and Clay proceeded to string together five consecutive starts allowing less than three earned runs.

Why is this significant? Because his entire time in the big leagues he has always had to look over his shoulder and wonder if this start was going to be his last. Never was he sure than he had solidified a spot in the rotation, not until this decision was made at least. Putting Wakefield in the pen gave Buchholz the confidence he needed to go out there and be himself. He no longer had to worry about making a bad pitch and losing his job, the Sox were behind him 100% and he has since taken off.

Now, if the Sox had one game to win and you asked me who I wanted to pitch all things being equal I wouldn’t even hesitate before calling #11. And it’s getting to the point where everyone else in Red Sox Nation is starting to figure that out too.

I posted this on Twitter yesterday, but it needs to be said again. According to Alex Speier of WEEI.com, Ryan Westmoreland will rejoin the Red Sox organization by suiting up for, and practicing with, the Lowell Spinners (8/31 – 9/2) and the Greenville Drive (9/3 – 9/6) as they end their seasons. While he won’t play in any games, the fact that he is even joining the teams and participating in drills and practicing is nothing short of a miracle.

As you know, it was questionable whether or not Westmoreland would live through the surgery, let alone regain the motor skills need to continue to lead a normal life. Now, just five months after the surgery his physical therapy has been reduced to just once a week and his baseball activities have increased by the day. Able to run the bases, throw, and swing both off a tee and at soft toss, his recovery has been described as remarkable by all doctors involved.

It’s obviously too soon to tell if Westy will ever regain the skills that landed him atop the Red Sox farm system entering the 2010 season, but right now I am just happy to see the kid able to get back to what he loves. If he never played another day of baseball in his life I’m sure he would be heartbroken, but so long as he is able to lead a normal life I’m sure you’ll hear no complaints from the Red Sox and the Westmoreland family.

Figures, no more than six hours after I make a post that includes comments about how I am starting to feel good about this bullpen, Papelbon comes in a screws up what should have been an easy win. What makes it even worse is that he has been pitching great of late. It’s rare that the Red Sox are in a position to win a game that John Lackey starts these days so to let one slip away really is a kick in the balls. Now, instead of climbing to only 3 games back of the Rays we sit at 4 back and lose any momentum we had built during the three game win streak. It’s was likely a real long plane ride to Texas, but at least they can look forward to not having to face Cliff Lee this weekend. It could be worse though, Paps could have beat the shit out his father in law like Francisco Rodriguez of the Mets.

Notes…

- David Ortiz hit his 25th home run of the year yesterday marking the seventh time he has done it during his time with the Red Sox. Only Jim Rice (7) and Ted Williams (14) have as many 25 home run seasons for the Sox.

- Jarrod Saltalamacchia made his debut in the starting lineup and boy did he impress. Not only did he have no problems getting the ball back to the pitcher, but he gunned Aaron Hill down at second base, and went 2-4 at the plate with two doubles. Sure, it’s only one game, but it’s hard not to think we may have gotten a future all star in this deal.

- When Pedroia comes back, Lowrie needs to play first base. He is now batting .313/.441/.500 on the season and is hitting everything in sight. He doesn’t need to play every day, but he can’t simply go back to not playing at all, not when Mike “I have no lateral movement” Lowell is first on the depth chart. Maybe have him play once or twice a week at short and second and than two games at first. Marco has only had four days off this year so odds are he would welcome a few breaks here and there.

- Despite yesterday’s performance, I’m still not impressed with John Lackey. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but this just isn’t his year. His velocity is down, his location is off, his strikeouts are down, and he is giving up way too many hits. I know it’s kind of stating the obvious, but I had still been holding out hope for him. Not anymore. Consider me officially off the John Lackey bandwagon. When we make the playoffs I want Lester for game 1, Buchholz 2, Beckett 3, and Daisuke 4 (wow, that was hard to write).