Dear Red Sox Bullpen: YOU'RE FIRED!!!!

     As I sit here at the top of the 8th inning on a Sunday Night, watching the Red Sox get their a**es handed to them as they are about to get swept by the team they are already 5.5 behind; I have to wonder a: How far is this going to go? and b: What happened?

     I wish that I had an answer to the first question of how far this is going to go, but Sox fans, I am as clueless as you are to that one. As for the second... I am going to break it down the best that I can.

     I am not going to go back that far; merely to the All Star Break. When the All Star Weekend commenced, I was feeling pretty good about the Sox. They were three ahead of the Yankees in the lead of the AL East. By all accounts, they were looking pretty good. The pitching was decent and the offense was really taking care of business. After the break, not so much.

     Since the All Star Break, they have Won 8 and Lost 13 (14 if they blow it tonight which it looks like they will) and the losses really haven't been on the shoulders of the offense. The fielding looks decent and the hitting has been about the same. So, what did I leave out? I think the headline sums it up.

    I wrote earlier about what a mistake it was in my opinion to get rid of Masterson and keep Buchholz around and after his performance in yesterday afternoons game, I stand by that! The guy has one inning or maybe two that he can be pretty solid, but after that, he breaks down.

    The bullpen was touted to be and for the past few years has been really strong, but they are truly falling apart and some of their talent may have had superb showings in the AAA but they can't handle the bigs. The only pitchers this whole year that have been really strong are, in order: Beckett, Lester, Wakefied and Papelbon (when needed). As for the rest of the bullpen, I can't even imagine why they are still around. At least they made one good move and told Smoltz to take the "Midnight Train to Georgia".

     As for pitchers that really need to be let go or sent down to Pawtucket:Buchholz, Saito, Matsuzaka, Bard, Delcarmen, Okajima, and possibly Brad Penny. I understand that if you were to get rid of that many players, it would really disrupt a program and of course I know it would never happen.

     As much as I don't want to say it, I am coming to the realization that if something doesn't change and change fast, there is a very strong possibility that there will not be an off season for Red Sox Nation. If the Yankees come into Fenway in two weeks and do to us what they have this weekend, it will be a "Sad Day on Yawkey Way"!