Why We Hate the 2010 Red Sox

Jason over at IIATMS was tasked with a challenge: rebut a Red Sox post about why they hate the 2010 Yankees. So Jason--with the help of his readers--has helped to come up with "The Top 10 Reasons to Hate the 2010 Red Sox." But I think we can find some reasons to add to the list. I'll post Jason's list below (one of my suggestions made the list at #6) and then I'm reaching out to all of you to add your suggestions in the comments as we all watch the great ESPN Red Sox/Yankees opening night promo and think about the 3 days until we start this season for real:

What are “The Top 10 Reasons to Hate the 2010 RedSox”?

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Some People Should Keep Their Mouth Shut

I think it's always true that some people should keep their mouths shut. But the past few days, I think there a few more than normal.

• Jim Rice decided it was a good idea to use his speech to a bunch of Little Leaguers to rip Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez, according to LoHud. Peter Abraham asks if it's too late to vote Jim Rice out of the Hall of Fame for being a "no-class idiot"? Why exactly did they vote him in in the first place? Rob Neyer responds by saying: "running down today's players is nothing but boring, self-aggrandizing poppycock."

• Our next idiot is Jerry Manuel show decided it was a good idea to use David Wright's concussion as an opportunity to rip on Ryan Church. Earth to Jerry, despite the injuries to your team this year, you're not totally immune. You haven't done a bang up job. Your team failed down the stretch last year. And you're supposed to be a bigger person. Ripping a guy who is no longer on the team is petty and immature.

• Speaking of the Mets, their GM is not doing much to improve his reputation. From Rob Neyer:

  • Whatever else might happen today, this is going to rank as the strangest news of the day:

  Jon Heyman has reported that the Giants claimed Gary Sheffield off the waiver wire, but the two teams could not come to an agreement on a deal.

  Last night, I contacted one of my sources, a Giants front office official, who confirmed for me that Omar Minaya was asking for "high level talent” for his aging slugger, something that Giants GM Brian Sabean was not willing to part with.

  We were also told that there is a strong possibility that Minaya will be asking for the same type of "high level talent” for Billy Wagner, if and when he decides to finally move him.

  "Minaya just doesn't get it, does he? No, he doesn't. Maybe he'll blame it on Adam Rubin.

• Three's a charm with the Mets, it seems. This has to be the most bizarre. You knew that Gary Sheffield wouldn't be a good citizen all year long. Via the New York Post: "The Mets rejected his bizarre request for a contract extension. So Sheffield, according to sources, initially became verbally abusive, then demanded he be released or traded to the Marlins, then threatened to return home to Florida, and finally just pulled himself from the starting lineup." According to the New York Times, he doesn't remember this today but can't understand why the Mets didn't send him to San Francisco. Joel Sherman think that this guarantees Sheffield unemployment in 2010. Nice work, Sheff. No wonder no one wants to go watch the Mets.

• Lastly, someone made a claim on Jose Valverde but the Houston Astros pulled him back. Why? Their General Manager, Ed Wade, doesn't want to trade anyone but Ivan Rodriguez. Ummm...This team is going no place this season (9 games back in the Wild Card, 10 games back in the NL East, and -71 run differential) and they have Valverde, LaTroy Hawkins, Miguel Tejada and maybe a few other pieces they could dump, save some money, and maybe pick up a few prospects. All three become free agents after the season is over. Nice way to run the organization.
  

Some people are better off keeping quiet.

(pictures from the Providence Journal, Getty Images, Amazin' Avenue, New York Daily News, and Delaware Online)

Tonight's Pitching Matchups

All courtesy of Play Index:

A.J. Burnett against the Mets (sorted by OPS):

                    PA  AB  H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG   **OPS**   SH  SF IBB HBP GDP
+-----------------+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+---+---+---+---+---
Gary Sheffield     38  30   9  0  0  3   6   7   5  .300  .447  .600   1.047     0   0   0   1   0
 Brian Schneider    23  23   9  3  0  0   2   0   3  .391  .391  .522    .913     0   0   0   0   0
 Daniel Murphy       3   1   0  0  0  0   0   2   0  .000  .667  .000    .667     0   0   0   0   1
 David Wright       18  15   3  1  0  0   4   2   7  .200  .278  .267    .545     0   1   0   0   0
 Ryan Church         9   8   1  0  0  0   0   1   4  .125  .222  .125    .347     0   0   0   0   0
 Luis Castillo      10   8   0  0  0  0   0   2   3  .000  .200  .000    .200     0   0   0   0   0
 Alex Cora          20  19   0  0  0  0   0   1   7  .000  .050  .000    .050     0   0   0   0   0
 Fernando Martinez   3   3   0  0  0  0   0   0   1  .000  .000  .000    .000     0   0   0   0   0
 Jeremy Reed         1   1   0  0  0  0   0   0   0  .000  .000  .000    .000     0   0   0   0   1
 Fernando Tatis      3   3   0  0  0  0   0   0   1  .000  .000  .000    .000     0   0   0   0   0
+-----------------+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+---+---+---+---+---
Total             128 111  22  4  0  3  12  15  31  .198  .297  .315    .612     0   1   0   1   2

Not bad at all. 128 PA and a .198/.297/.315 with only 7 XBH, 12 RBIs 15 BB and 31 K. Some ones to note. Alex Cora is 0-19 and Luis Castillo is 0-8 against Burnett. David Wright is 3-15 with only one XBH. Sheffield is the only one to homer against Burnett in his career and Brian Schneider has had a good amount of success.

And Tim Redding vs. the Yankees:

                    PA  AB  H  2B 3B HR RBI  BB  SO   BA   OBP   SLG   **OPS**   SH  SF IBB HBP GDP
+-----------------+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+---+---+---+---+---
Johnny Damon        5   4   3  0  0  0   0   1   0  .750  .800  .750   1.550     0   0   0   0   0
 Mark Teixeira      12   9   4  4  0  0   1   3   1  .444  .583  .889   1.472     0   0   0   0   0
 Alex Rodriguez      2   2   0  0  0  0   1   0   1  .000  .000  .000    .000     0   0   0   0   0
 Brett Tomko         3   2   0  0  0  0   0   0   1  .000  .000  .000    .000     1   0   0   0   0
+-----------------+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+---+---+---+---+---
Total              22  17   7  4  0  0   2   4   3  .412  .524  .647   1.171     1   0   0   0   0


Not much of a sample size, but pretty good success, especially since Tomko really doesn't count.

Of course, none of that will matter when they play tonight. Looking forward to it (as long as the weather holds up)