Come October, the Boston Red Sox Won't Be Playing For Long

I'm a huge Boston Red Sox fan.

I love them, I always will, and I hope them the best in the playoffs. I say this, but guess what? They aren't making it.

If all plays out in the American League East and the Tampa Bay Rays win th division, with the Red Sox winning the Wild Card, things will be rough for Boston.

The Wild Card would mean playing the best pitching rotation in all of baseball. With pitchers like John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Joe Saunders starting games for the Los Angeles Angels, and Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez closing them, the pitching has been brilliant.

All four of those pitchers could have been in the All-Star Game and all four are reliable in every game. No team can have a bad year when their closer is being nominated to be Cy Young and MVP. Though I believe the closer is overrated in this time of age you still have to give him a nod for the way he plays.

Then there is the Angels' hitting. Mark Teixeira and Torii Hunter have been the nice pickups by the Angels GM, both good in the field and quick with the bat. Garrett Anderson is back on the map with 15 homers and 84 RBI. Vlad Guerrero has had another good season with 24 homers and a .299 average.

The Angels are known for their speed and they have the home runs. They are ready for the postseason because they've been there before, having been swept by the Red Sox last year in the first round. They look good.

Meanwhile the Sox look good, too, but not as good.

With Manny Ramirez long gone, the team is a settled club now. David Ortiz is hitting home runs now that we're here at the end of the season. Justin Pedroia, Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis, and the young shortstop Jed Lowrie are all giving good run support as well.

Sadly, Mike Lowell is paying less attention to now and more attention to his surgery coming on his ankle at the end of the year. J.D Drew is slowly getting back after being a maybe on the roster for about a week. They aren't looking bad, but are they looking that good?

Then there's pitching.

While Wakefield is good one game and bad the next, Josh Beckett isn't that guy who ruled the mound last year. He is 12-9 at this point.

Jon Lester has been doing well ever since his no-hitter and has gone a amazing 15-6 with a 3.26 ERA.

Meanwhile, the most under looked Cy Young candidate is Mr. Dice-K Matsuzaka. In only his second year in the U.S he is 18-2 with a 2.80 ERA.

With the Dice-K/Lester/Beckett combo going, the Red Sox have their own three guys who can pitch. Plus, Jonathan Papelbon is in the bullpen. He is being hit more lately, but he knows the playoffs well.

The Red Sox look good, but when I look at those Los Angeles Angels all I can think is "wow." They are here to contend, and I see them passing the Sox.