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Coming off a four game sweep at the hands of the Yankees, the weak points of the Red Sox have been magnified and placed on a podium for all to see. Now that the Red Sox magic has stopped working its wonders on Nick Green, Jason Bay and even David Ortiz, this looks very different from the team that won 95 games last year.

The matter is very simple: the Red Sox have a good team, but not a good enough one. This season is starting to look more like 2006 by the day. Injuries and ineffectiveness have stricken the team like the Black Plague.

Extra base hits and clutch hitting is a thing of the past with these Red Sox.

Now that the magic has worn off, Nick Green is playing like the Minor League infielder the Red Sox signed this winter. Jason Bay is playing like he did in 2007; hitting .247 with 21 home runs. Brad Penny and John Smoltz have one Major League pitch each: a fastball and slider, respectively.

After a respectable start, Penny is getting lit up every fifth day, like Smoltz had been from the beginning. No word of trade talk other than potential suitors for Smoltz, recently designated for assignment, who may be headed to Pawtucket to transition into a reliever.

David Ortiz is hitting like it's April, and looked as helpless at the dish this weekend in the Bronx as he did one spring weekday series in Anaheim.

With everyone riddled in a bad funk, it takes four or five innings for anyone in the lineup to figure out the opposing pitcher and break through with a single. Continuing the pattern of the last few days, it's followed up by a walk, and then Jason Varitek or David Ortiz will come in and kill any rally that may have been getting started.

With the Red Sox currently sailing in choppy waters with no end in sight, I decided to take a look ahead to this winter's free agent crop and noticed a lot of players that fit what the Red Sox need to a T.

Hopefully Theo pulls the trigger, because building around an aging core with clearance aisle free agents and assorted reclamation projects is no recipe for success.

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