Most cut days are fairly bland and unexciting.  A few trades happen, but most of the time the only stories come from releases and players moving to injured reserve.  The Patriots were far more involved this year with two trades and a few surprising moves.

Injury – Brandon McGowan was a surprise pickup last season and played well early on.  He seemed to disappear at the end of the year, but he still made a difference for the defense.  He will be missed, but not as much as some will make you think.

Trades – To replace McGowan, the Patriots traded a conditional pick to the Chiefs for safety Jarrad Page.  A very similar player, Page was holding out for a better contract.  He appears to be another rental project for the Pats, who might sign him to a long term contract if he impresses the team enough.  LB Tracy White, a career special teamer, was also in a trade.

Surprise moves – The biggest surprises were the cuts of long term special team players Pierre Woods, Sam Aiken, and Eric Alexander.  Woods and Aiken provided were solid reserve players while Alexander was on essentially every special team squad.  The other somewhat surprise was Derrick Burgess at OLB.  Had he not skipped the beginning of camp I would be more surprised, but if the coaches saw a lack of effort then it makes sense for him to go.  All other cuts were not surprising.

Undrafted additions – DL Kyle Love and LB Dane Fletcher made the roster this year after not being drafted.  Belichick has an outstanding track record with undrafted players, including Gary Guyton, Mike Wright, and Randall Gay.  Love will likely not be active during the season while Fletcher could help at LB.  I keep seeing him listed on the inside, although he is a tweener player who was a sack leader at Montana St so he might end up on the edge,  He has all the physical attributes, he just wasn’t drafted because he went to a small school.

On a final note, it looks like the Shawn Crable adventure hasn’t ended yet.  The Patriots signed him today to the practice squad.  No other team signed him during the preseason and the Patriots may have seen improvement over the past few months to take another chance.  This could be interesting to watch if the OLBs have issues early in the season.

Gronk certainly earned his roster spot for the 2010 season

A clearer picture emerged from the final preseason game on who will likely remain on the 2010 Patriots and who will need to find a new team.  Damione Lewis’ release has already been announced so we know he’s out.  Here’s who are most likely on the team this season:

QB: Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer – Pretty easy.  Zac Robinson didn’t show much, but he could be a practice squad addition this season.

HB: Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, Benjarvis Green-Ellis – The group remains the same this season as they will all have their individual roles that Belichick tends to give his runningbacks.  Green-Ellis is perpetually on the bubble, but his versatility will keep him on the team.  Thomas Clayton will be at the top of the speed dial if the Pats need a mid season signing.

WR: Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Brandon Tate, Taylor Price, Sam Aiken, Matt Slater – Keeping seven receivers on the roster seems a little nutty, but we all remember last season.  Aiken stays as a special teams mainstay and Matt Slater’s versatility as a returner, gunner, receiver, and safety will give him a job on this team.

TE: Alge Crumpler, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez – The TEs have been the talk of the preseason and looked very impressive.  A good mix of receivers and blockers makes this group a potent threat and a possible change in offensive strategy.

OT: Matt Light, Sebastian Vollmer, Mark Levoir – This is a hard group to project.  Belichick doesn’t seem too impressed with this group after Levoir so expect a tackle or two on the practice squad.  Levoir is the pick because of his experience in the offense already.  Although they traded for Ojinnaka, Belichick does dwell on mistakes.  Once Kaczur is back his versatility will make a difference whether he starts or not.

C/G: Stephen Neal, Nick Kaczur, Dan Connelly, Dan Koppen, Rich Ohrnberger, Ryan Wendell – This group has a lot of young players who will need to step up.  Ohrnberger was asked to step up Thursday and Belichick had a lot of good words for his performance.  Wendell also seems to be a player the Patriots believe in so he makes it.

DL: Vince Wilfork, Gerard Warren, Mike Wright, Myron Pryor,Ron Brace, Brandon Deadrick – You’ll see a lot of these players on the field regularly as Belichick will use their strengths on difference defensive packages.  The real question will be who steps up for Ty Warren, out for the year with a knee injury.  Deadrick becomes the bubble selection because he didn’t play Thursday.  Looks like the team knows he’s staying on board or he would have been cut earlier this week.

OLB: Tully Banta-Cain, Rob Ninkovich, Jermain Cunningham, Derrick Burgess, Pierre Woods – Marques Murrell couldn’t keep his hot streak up and was edged out when Burgess returned.  Woods and Ninkovich provide too much special teams experience.

ILB: Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, Gary Guyton, Eric Alexander – Tyrone McKenzie gets edged out by Eric Alexander, who has been a staple on special teams for years and used on short yardage situations as well.

CB: Darius Butler, Devin McCourty, Jonathan Wilhite, Terrence Wheatley, Kyle Arrington – Leigh Bodden’s injury means Wheatley actually gains from his strong preseason performance and makes the squad.  Arrington also stays due to his strong special teams abilities.

S: Brandon Merriweather, James Sanders, Brandon McGowan, Patrick Chung – Not a shocking group of names here.  Sanders was somewhat on the roster bubble, but he makes it with the major injuries over the past few weeks.

Specialists: Stephen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, Jake Ingram – No competition means their jobs are safe.

There it is.  Don’t shocked if a trade occurs or one of the special team players are switched out, but I don’t expect many surprises with this group.

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.

NBC Sports – Alex Rodriguez has fired uber agent Scott Boras and is now being represented full time by Pittsburgh attorney Jay Reisinger.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today was the first one to run with this this morning, but for reasons that are unclear, the link disappeared as soon as it showed up.  Not sure why USA Today would pull his story, because it was essentially accurate. Nightengale’s report went that A-Rod is “using” Reisinger and has “abandoned” Boras, though Nightengale says that if he ever needed more contract work, “Boras is only a phone call a way.”

Nightengale’s report inspired me to make a couple of phone calls and I’ve learned that all of what he wrote is technically true, but it’s a bit more stark. I’m hearing from reliable sources that A-Rod has definitely fired Scott Boras. Did so about a month ago.  It wasn’t really ugly or anything, which is why we didn’t hear about it at the time, but it happened and the relationship is over. Enter Reisinger.

When I first read this story I laughed my ass off, who wouldn’t? The biggest agent in the world had just lost his biggest client. It’s great. Anyone who despises Scott Boras (which should be everyone) should love seeing him lose business, whether it is someone huge like A-Rod, or a stiff like Alex Cora.

But my joy took a quick 180 as a remembered a very important detail. A-Rod is currently signed through 2017. Thats seven more seasons for those counting at home. Why does this matter you ask? Because Boras is going to collect his cut of that contract until it expires as he was the one who wrote it when it was signed in 2008. For those of you who are curious there is approximately $174 million to be earned over those years. Once he plays out those years, A-Rod will be 42 years old, and any money he makes at that point will be chump change compared to what Boras has taken from him to this point.

In the end, it really works out great for Boras. He no longer has to deal with the public shit storm that A-Rod brings. And he gets to quietly collect enormous checks for the next seven years while doing no work. Not to bad of a gig, huh?

Tonight should be fun. Have the office Fantasy Football draft at a local bar after work, and the Patriots will be closing out their pre-season schedule as well. Seeing as there is no money involved I’ll likely get sucked up in the meaningless football game and draft a shitty team, but it is what it is. Here is what I will be looking for out of the Patriots as I debate whether or not to take Tom Brady with my second round pick.

WWLMD – What will Laurence Maroney do? – The most talented back in the system has been a ghost since the first game against the Saints. I have always liked Maroney. I have always defended Maroney. I have always thought Maroney has got a bad rap. Hell, in what could be his last year here, why stop now? Unless there is an injury that no one knows about, this guy needs to play tonight. Until Laurence Maroney is out of football I am going to keep on saying that if given 20+ carries every week the guy will put up all pro numbers. What hurts him is the lack of touches. I liken him to a pinch hitter in baseball. Often even the best hitter on the team struggles coming off the bench for one at bat a game. Maroney is this guy. But if you constantly keep him in the action he will produce. This is why I don’t understand why he hasn’t been getting touches. Maybe it is beyond my level of football comprehension, but if Maroney doesn’t get the majority of the carries tonight, I am going to be a little disappointed. One of the big things I think the Patriots need to do differently this year is focus more on the running game, and Maroeny could be a weapon for you. What’s the point of keeping him around if you aren’t going to utilize him?

No Leigh Bodden, No Problem – Hopefully. I have high expectations for this defense going into the season, especially the defensive backs. Despite their youth, Darius Butler, Devin McCourty, Pat Chung, and Brandon Meriweather ooze talent. Combined, they could easily be the best defensive backfield in the league. But that’s a big if. Last week Sam Bradford picked them apart, especially Butler and McCourty. Hopefully they each have a closers memory and have already forgotten it, cause it was ugly. What you don’t want is for them to get embarrassed again and have to mull on that for a week and a half going into the season. A solid performance tonight could really set the tone for practice leading up the Bengals and the rest of the season.

Will Tyrone McKenzie finally show up? I was super excited about this kid last year after they drafted him out of USF in the third round, then he tore his knee up before training camp even started. He was deemed fully healthy again going into this year, but we haven’t seen much of him. We know Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes have solidified the starting jobs in the middle, but there is still competition to be the first to sub in. Right now Gary Guyton looks to be ahead of him on the depth chart, but McKenzie was seen with the green dot on his helmet during practice indicating that he will spend a lot of time leading the defense tonight. His upside is huge, but you don’t win playing time based on upside. He is going to need to put a good performance together tonight if he wants to earn some early snaps this season.

Can we get a GD injury update? Jermaine Cunningham and Julian Edelman have been missing from practice, Cunningham since after the Saints game, and Edelman since after the first quarter last week. We know Ron Brace has a sprained ankle. Aaron Hernandez has been practicing in shorts with an unknown injury. Brandon Meriweather was back on the practice field, but he too left last weeks game. Can someone please tell me what is going on? I doubt tonight’s game will be any help, but it would be nice to see some of these guys on the field just to show me that they are OK. I’m not so much worried about Edelman and Meriweather (although last time I said that Bodden ended up on IR) as they have gotten some good game time thus far. But it would be nice to see Hernandez, and especially Cunningham back in the lineup. Cunningham had the chance to win a starting position going into camp and we hardly got to see him. Hernandez had a solid couple of weeks, but we haven’t seen him since. Obviously it is more important to get them ready for week one, but the more game time you can get these rookies, they better off they will be entering the season. Hopefully all the missed practices and games were a precaution and we can see a little of them both tonight.

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.

ESPNBoston.com – The Boston Celtics are set to sign free-agent guard Delonte West, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge confirmed to ESPN Boston.

West, selected 24th overall by Boston in the 2004 NBA Draft, spent three seasons with the Celtics before being dealt to Seattle in the draft-day package that brought Ray Allen to Boston (along with the draft rights to Glen Davis).

West didn’t last a season in Seattle before being flipped to Cleveland in a three-way trade. He has spent the last two-plus seasons — seasons marred by off-the-court troubles — with the Cavaliers, saving his finest efforts in the 2008-09 postseason before losing his starting job last season. Cleveland traded West to the Minnesota Timberwolves last month and he was waived soon after.

West is likely to garner the veteran minimum, which for a sixth-year player is little more than $1 million. If it’s a one-year deal, the league will pay a portion of that salary, so Boston will only be on the hook for the salary of a two-year veteran, which is $854,000.

Should he make the opening day roster, West will be ineligible for the first 10 games of the season after being suspended by the league following a guilty plea on weapons charges in the state of Maryland.

This may be the single biggest pick up of the off season for the Celtics. Everyone knows the heat are going to go 81-0 next season, but when they get to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics we’ll have the Trump card. The Celtics, voted the biggest trash talkers in the league according to SI.com, will no doubt remind Lebron every time he has the ball about that time in Cleveland where Delonte was banging out his mom. Then Delonte will just shoot him a wry smile and wink. BAM! Lebron neutralized. There just isn’t any coming back from that. It’s easy to ignore the “I laid yo mama” jokes when it obviously isn’t true. But when you know the guy actually hit your mom, you just need to bow your head in shame and let the man move on. Game, set, match. Celtics win.

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.

Today was the day for all NFL teams to reduce their rosters to 75 players.  Most moves for the Patriots were fairly mundane.  Daryl Richard, Bret Lockett, and Josh Barrett’s move to season ending Injured Reserve were expected while Terrence Johnson was expected to be cut eventually.  The shocker came with Leigh Bodden, who will miss the season with a shoulder injury.  His presence stabilized a secondary in turmoil last season.  Yes, they still gave up many big plays, but few were from his efforts.  One of the most underrated corners in football, he played consistently week in and week out.  Fortunately the Patriots are deep at cornerback, although no corners with more than two years of experience remain.  The talent is there to step up, but they will have to react like the 2004 Patriots rather than the 2008 Patriots.

The Patriots play their final preseason game Thursday, which will likely act as a final test for players on the bubble.  Brian Hoyer won the backup QB job last year with his play in the final game so don’t be surprised to see a young guy step up and solidify his roster spot.  After that, final cut day is Saturday, when teams must shed 22 players off the roster to get down to 53.  I’ll be back with predictions later this week on who makes the roster and who will be left behind.

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.