Watching the End of the 2010 Season

I had looked forward to atttending my first game of the Red Sox 2010 season at Fenway Park on Thursday night, August 19th. The Sox were playing their last game vs. the Los Angeles Angels, a team that has fallen into mediocrity in 2010. In fact, the Sox, at gametime, were 9-0 vs. the Angels in 2010.

As it turned out, when I left Fenway later, I felt I had witnessed the end of the season. The game included several familiar themes: Josh Beckett pitched poorly and had some of his fastballs knocked around. The Red Sox could not hit at all against a good pitcher, Ervin Santana. The Sox bullpen performed poorly too.

Overall, it was a bit boring and discouraging to watch the Red Sox Thursday. Yes, they're less exciting without the injured Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia in the lineup. Yet, despite that, the team still lacks "punch" or electricity. Adrian Beltre was the only hitter who got me extra curious from my seat in close proximity to home plate.


The dynamic of the game was all too familiar to many others in 2010: The Sox fell behind by a few runs and you just didn't feel very confident they could mount a comeback. This has been a year when everything has seemed to depend on the starting pitching - and, besides Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester - the starting pitching has come up short.


Beckett has had a terrible year. Yes, he was on the disabled list for close to two months, but, when he returned, he displayed the same weaknesses he's experienced during much of his tenure on the Sox. He has failed to locate his fastball well and this has hurt him tremendously because he throws his fastball so, so often. (too often!) He's often left his heater too much down the middle and paid the price. Also, Beckett has often been unable to get his curveball over the plate; in fact, he seems to not even use his curveball as much as in the past. On Thursday night, he barely threw his curve until his last inning or two. He also still doesn't throw his changeup very often. Granted, it's not a high-quality change-up, but, it still could help keep hitters off balance.


Right now, Beckett is an "average" pitcher who the Red Sox treated like a "star" by giving him a big, four-year contract extension back in the spring. He's earning $12 million a year now, but that amount goes up during the contract time, I believe. It seems, now, anyway, that the Red Sox and GM Theo Epstein made a serious mistake to sign Beckett before they had to. His old contract was due to expire at the end of this season, and, certainly, his abysmal performance in 2010 would have impacted Epstein's thinking about re-signing him. I, for one, advocated that that Sox should wait until the end of this season to decide on whether to re-sign Beckett, but, the vast majority of baseball writers in this area recommended locking Beckett up for years.


The Red Sox also, of course, just signed John Lackey to a long-term, expensive contract, and, he, like Beckett, is pitching way below expectations. Lackey has given up more hits than almost all pitchers in the American League in 2010. His won-loss record is very misleading; he has received terrific run support and gotten some key breaks to win games he would have otherwise lost. All season, the key to Lackey's mediocrity has been the lack of movement on his fastball. For some reason, his fastball, also a key pitch in his arsenal, has lacked the same zip it has had in the past. The result has been that often when Lackey has left fastballs around the strike zone, opposing hitters have smacked them all over the park.


So, Beckett and Lackey, two likely fixtures in the rotation for the next few years, have been disappointing not only in 2010, but, because they've shown troubling tendencies that might be difficult to reverse in the future. I suppose the only consolation here is that both these guys seem to love winning and have some "fight" and motivation to work on improving their mechanics so they can return to winning ways.

The Sox simply don't have the talent to keep up with the Tampa Bay Rays or the NY Yankees for the weeks remaining in the season. The team has had an extraordinary number of injuries and the injuries alone probably would have kept them from competing in the playoffs. When you then factor in the poor performances of Beckett, Lackey and others, it's been amazing the Sox have done as well as they have.

The question now is: Will the Red Sox make some significant moves to improve the team for 2011? The team didn't do much to avoid some of the likely problems of 2010 (such as the bullpen and gaps in the hitting lineup) It would seem they'd feel some pressure to shake things up and add a few talented players for next season.

There are so many other problems facing the Sox:

• Manny Delcarmen seems to have lost his effectiveness. Perhaps it's related to past injuries, but, unless he can find solutions to his serious problems, he should not be allowed a slot in the bullpen in 2011.
• Hideki Okajima also just lost his way this season. Injuries seemed a more likely explanation for his troubles, but, it's unclear if he can return to his terrific form in 2007 or even 2008.
• Jonathan Papelbon must find a way to get the old zip back in his fastball, or, he will continue to decline. His salary has slowly risen as a result of his choosing to submit to the arbitration process, and, now, he earns more than the quality of his pitching. It's unclear Papelbon can get back his "giddy-up," but, it appears he'll only remain on the team one more season (2011) at best. He may be traded in the upcoming offseason.
• The lack of other good relief pitchers: The Sox should not be relying on guys like Scott Atchison, Dustin Richardson or Michael Bowden. Atchison has had a few good outings, but a number of lousy ones too. Bowden is a kid who needs more work in the minors. I ask anyone: Would these three show up in the Yankee bullpen? No way.
• The Red Sox must decide what they want to do with Jacoby Ellsbury. The relationship between Ellsbury and the Sox may now be too damaged to repair. I don't think Ellsbury is a good enough hitter to worry too much about losing, anyway, but, either way, the Sox need to regain the trust of Ellsbury and vice versa.
• Regarding JD Drew, I guess the only thing they can do is wait for his giant mistake of a contract to end, but, what a Big Mistake it was for Theo to ever sign this guy! Drew has had an even more disappointing year than his past few - but I barely have noticed the difference. He just doesn't do enough to help the team - period. He grounds to the second-baseman constantly. He takes too many pitches. He chokes in the clutch. He just isn' that good. I can't wait for this guy to leave this team!
• The Sox have a very tough decision on whether to keep David Ortiz, whose contract expires at the end of this season. The Sox have an option to bring Ortiz back for one year, but he wants to sign a deal for more than one year. I love Big Papi, but, I have to say I think the time has probably come to cut ties with him. He's getting a bit older, and, despite having a decent year, his skills are more limited. He doesn't deserve 12 million a year any longer. This one is very hard because of Papi's incredibly huge role in bringing the 2004 title to Boston after 86 years, but, maybe, it's time to start a new chapter without him. Put it this way: I'd keep Ortiz only if he meets the Sox half way - and accepts a shorter deal.
• The Sox must decide whether to bring back Beltre. All season, all the baseball writers assumed the team would never pay Beltre for a new deal after 2010. Now, it doesn't seem such a sure thing because Beltre has excelled at Fenway. He carried the team this year. If Beltre and his agent, Scott Boras, can be a bit reasonable and compromise, I'd consider keeping him......but, will Boras accept anything but a giant salary after Beltre's year? Not likely........leaving the Sox without a third baseman, and, without his superb hitting.
• The Sox should find a way to let go of Tim Wakefield once and for all. He can't pitch that well anymore and he also can't stay healthy. The Sox need to cut ties with Wake.

The list goes on and on. In the end, however, I'll always think back on the 2010 season as a "bridge year" -- just as Theo Epstein clumsily labled it last winter. It seemed like a wasted, lost season in many ways. Like a season the team was simply waiting to end. Maybe, in a strange way, it was better to have all the injuries come during a year the team didn't expect to win it all.