Oh for Christsake, just shut Dustin Pedroia down for the year

Seriously... we all are impressed by how fast Pedroia came back. He's a gamer. We love him. He's our guy.

Now take away his spikes and say "See you in spring training."

He's back on the Disabled List after 2 games off of it.

And yes, it is because the same foot is hurt.

This is nuts. Why risk injuring our MVP any further?

2010 is a lost cause. Even if the Sox play better than their current pace and win 92 or 93 games, they are still playing golf on the first full week of October.

As I wrote before, 2011 looks promising provided Pedroia and Youk is healthy, Beckett pitches well and they let some of the kids play and fill some holes.

Let's see what this kid Yamaico Navarro can do in the infield. He's supposedly a dynamic fielder. Let's see his do his thing in the show.

He's already the greatest Red Sox player named Yamaico.

So Dustin... nobody is questioning your heart. We're questioning your foot.

And if the Red Sox don't shut him down, I'll be questioning their sanity!

If the Red Sox have any more injuries, it might be time to thaw out Ted's head

I mean we have access to Ted's head, don't we?

He's a lifelong Red Sox and the Sox drafted his wacko son.

Seriously, Bill Hall can't play EVERY position. We could have a cloned Splendid Splinter out in right field.

(Keep in mind everything I know about cloning I learned from the Michael Keaton film Multiplicity.)

Attention! In coming wounded Red Sox!

I've never been so depressed after seeing the Red Sox win 3 out of 4 games on the road against tough opponents.

Our disabled list has too many players that were on my "We can't survive without them" list.

Josh Beckett... Jacoby Ellsbury... Mike Lowell... Jeremy Hermida... Victor Martinez... Dustin Pedroia...

And that's NOT including Clay Buchholz who were are all holding our collective breaths isn't too hurt.

Yeah, it was fun to beat up the National League. But guess what? The Red Sox went 16-2 against the National League in 2006 and looked like a locomotive.

Then the injuries piled up... and they missed the playoffs.

The Rays are coming in, and they are going through their OWN issues. This has become as must win series for the Red Sox. They need to hold the Rays back and keep pace in the Wild Card, which they still lead.

But everyone else on the Sox had better stay healthy. Any more injuries and they might have to resort to Meatball Surgery to fix the team!

A slow motion car wreck in Flushing, Queens

Did you ever have a tooth ache that you couldn't resist poking at with your tongue?

Ever have the urge to taste something that you know will be terrible?

I am sure some of you clicked on "Two Girls One Cup" knowing full well it was going to be gross.

Sometimes we are drawn to things that we KNOW are going to suck. Hell, I remember when I saw the trailer for Lady in the Water I remember thinking "Oh man, I HAVE to see it." And it didn't disappoint in its transcendent awfulness.

Well folks that's what is going to be happening with the Mets this season.

It is going to be ugly... it is going to be squirm in your seat awkward... and I personally won't be able to take my eyes off of the carnage.

This isn't exactly a new stance for me. I've been calling for the Mets to dismantle since January.

The Carlos Beltran knee fiasco and the bringing in of Gary Matthews Jr and Kelvim Escobar (not to mention the parade of players who said "thanks but no thanks" to the Mets offers) made me realize this injury plagued veteran team is going into 2010 with MORE veterans who are injury prone.

Met fans who disagreed with me said they still have Reyes, Santana and Wright and that's not a bad foundation.

That was before this whole bizarre thyroid condition that could keep Jose Reyes out for a while.

Oh yeah we are being told that it is only 2 to 8 weeks.

After the whole Carlos Beltran knee fiasco, the Mets are clearly a good source for guessing recovery times.


And Johan Santana got rocked in his first game back from injury. Now yes, it is a spring training game and normally I don't put much stock in what is essentially a practice game.

But he is coming back from injury... and what if this is the beginning of a decline?

He's had 6 great seasons, a pair of Cy Young awards and looked like he was Hall of Fame bound... and he very well might be.

But what if he is a Bret Saberhagen, Frank Viola, Orel Hershiser, Fernando Valenzuela, Dave Stewart or David Cone type. A guy who dominated for a stretch but not long enough for a Cooperstown career.

As Santana goes into his 30s, if he is anything less than dominant, then the Mets rotation will be 5 question marks.

And David Wright showed that CitiField wasn't exactly the best place in the world for a right handed power hitter to play (something Jason Bay probably should have looked into.)

And without Beltran, Reyes nor Delgado in the lineup, why on Earth would he see a fat pitch to hit all year?


Toss in the fact that the front office is in perpetual turmoil, management that is still counting their pennies after Bernie Madoff made his way with the owners, a manager that just seems happy to be employed and having the biggest baddest baseball team in the world across town.

Forget playoffs... does any team really see this as a .500 team now?

They have no shot at the Division title. That is Philadelphia's to lose.
As for the Wild Card, would you honestly pick the Mets over the Marlins? The Brewers? The Dodgers? The Rockies? The Diamondbacks? The Giants?

Remember this is not a team that just missed the postseason last year... this is a 92 loss team that got WORSE!

They are more likely to lose 100 games in an empty CitiField.

This team reminds me of the post Messier Rangers and the Isiah Thomas era Knicks. Both teams got old, but the front office kept signing big priced players because "New York needs stars and won't tolerate a loser."

In came Fleury, Lindros, Kovalev, Jagr and Holik to the Rangers. They were expensive, the Blue Shirts missed the playoffs every year, Madison Square Garden was empty and nobody cared.

And of course the Knicks brought in Marbury, Curry, Rose and Francis... and the team became the laughing stock of basketball.

Ask any Ranger fan or Knick fan of that era if they would rather have seen young players miss the playoffs or old expensive players miss the playoffs!

Ask the MSG network how their ad revenue was during that era. I am guessing not that good.

The Rangers didn't get to be relevant again until they decided "heck, let's just play young guys."

The Knicks are nowhere near relevant and their sole plan seems to be "Hey! We'll sign LeBron James!" (If King James stays in Cleveland, there is no plan B at the corner of 34th street and 7th Avenue.)

So that's where the Mets are headed. They already are old expensive and irrelevant. But they are on the express track to being that gruesome YouTube video that you dare your friends to watch.

I would say "blow the team up" but the problem is it already has blown up... the Mets just don't know it yet.

It might be time to implement OPERATION FAKE INJURY!

It's getting really ugly.

It's worse than "Babe Ruth as a Boston Brave" territory.

Even Papi is saying he stinks!

And I will say it...

The Red Sox need to put him on the Disabled List!

But Sully, you say, Papi isn't hurt.

Well to quote Dick Cheney.... so?

Seriously, was Phil Hughes hurt last year when the Yankees put him on the D.L.? I doubt it.

That was a "We were banking on this pitcher and he is stinking up the joint" situation where the Yankees knew that keep throwing him out there was going to kill his confidence (Todd Van Poppel anyone?) but sending him down would mean admitting failure.

So he's hurt! Yeah... that's the ticket.

The Yankees pulled that same stunt with Ching Mien Wang this year. We kept hearing "there's nothing wrong with him physically" and then BANG he's on the DL for a while.

I am convinced the Yankees suddenly found out A-Rod needed surgery once the distractions were piling up and they got wind that the drug testing in the WBC was a wee bit more strict than Bud's.

And it's not just the Yankees... last year the Indians put Joe Borowski on the DL because... well... he stunk.

So come on! Claim that Big Papi has damage in his primary ulnacartal muscle.

Do you know what the primary ulnacartal muscle is?

I didn't think so! I just made it up! But send a camera crew to Mass. General, have an actor wear a doctor's outfit and say that with a straight face!

Seriously, you'd buy it. Mass General is a pretty great hospital and chances are they would know what the primary ulnacartal muscle is and how it is vital for bat speed.

Get one of those bad ass splints for Papi to wear when he is on camera. That will explain everything!

And then here comes the painful part: 

Tell Papi it is over.

The Red Sox need to turn the page. I hinted at this during the off season, but it is time to cut bait. 

If Theo is great at anything it is knowing when the party is over. And this party is oooooover.

I mean let's list what Papi has to gain by leaving now:

- He will be the most loved Red Sox star ever. 

Notice I didn't say the best. But who is more LOVED? And before you say another name, remember fans booed Ted, Yaz and Rice.

And none of them delivered a World Series title, let alone two!

- He is not putting his Hall of Fame Candidacy in danger.

Why? 

Because he isn't going to the Hall of Fame. 

He only had five great seasons. That's not enough. 

Just ask the likes of Dale Murphy and Dave Parker whose Hall of Fame candidacies can't get off of the ground.

- The Manny Factor

I'll say it. Ortiz sees what is happening to Manny and he sees what is going to happen to Manny's legacy.

It will never be the same.

Now David Ortiz has never tested positive for anything. Guess what happens if that primary ulnacartal muscle is frayed and he misses the rest of the season?

He never will test positive for anything.

And his drop in production can be attributed to his primary ulnacartal muscle.

The Red Sox need a DH. Or maybe they can go and find a left handed platoon outfielder with Baldelli and stick J. D. Drew in the DH spot.

Maybe they can have Jonathan Van Every platoon.

Now before anyone rolls their eyes and says "You are replacing David Ortiz with Jonathan Van Every?" just remember... we're not replacing 2003-2007 David Ortiz. We're replacing 2009 David Ortiz... who has fewer homers than Jonathan Van Every!

But the Sox need to put him on the DL now. 

And don't let pesky things like "the truth" or "facts" get in the way!