Deion Branch a hold out

Deion is holding out on both the charitable golf tournament yesterday and the three-day minicamp starting today.

In the middle of his contract extension talks, it seems he wants to send a message to management. Unfortunately, this move makes it look he hasn't been paying attention this offseason to what management was saying to him.

The Patriots let Givens walk out because they wanted to give more to Branch. Maybe he should keep that in mind before he gets too entrenched.

Also, Branch should look a little more closely at what Seymour did in his 'holdout' last year. Yes, he didn't go to the mini-camp, but he did show up at other team functions, making sure his fans, teammates and coaches knew it wasn't personal.

Mixed Results

But Pauley is being sent down today. And it was nice to see him. Sometimes we fans get so wrapped up in the big league (or those who are in AAA) that we forget about the kids struggling to make it happen. I just hope he doesn't lose faith based on his outings.

	OPP	W	L	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO
05/31	@TOR	0	0	0	4.1	11	6	3	3
06/06	@NYY	0	1	0	6.2	8	2	2	2
06/11	TEX	0	1	0	5.0	12	6	1	5

Those aren't horrible numbers (especially th game in NY) for someone who was jumped two grades to play in the bigs.

"I saw what it takes to stay here," Pauley told the Boston Herald. "I have to go down and work on getting better so that I can get back here."

And it was a good thing for the Red Sox, too. With all their injury woes, they needed someone to pitch a few innings and they got it.

Lester could have done better

But that's alright with me. I'm just glad he's here and pitching. Besides, Texas has a great hitting line up (I can't imagine how it's worse than facing New York, though... maybe it was a crowd issue?). In a few weeks, after he's pitched in about five games, we'll evaluate how he's doing.

What I'm more surprised about is the Red Sox keeping Pauley up as well. I thought he'd be done and back to AA by now, but it seems that Clement's shoulder is keeping David's dream alive.

The big question

Is the Sox pitching good enough to get the Red Sox into the playoffs this year? Right now, I'd have to say yes, but it seems that not everyone is as confident as I am. And for good reason.

Despite strong starts from Schilling (going for his 9th win), Wakefield (record is suffering from lack of hitting during his games), and Beckett (up and down, but for the most part up) and having the best (arguably) closer in the game right now in Papelbon (19 of 19 save opportunities), the Red Sox are ranked 19th in team ERA and 13th for opponents batting avg.

The Sox best starter, Schilling, has an ERA of 3.89, putting him 43rd for pitchers in MLB. The Yankees have a team ERA of 4.15, helped a great deal by Mussinas 2.42 ERA.

Opponents are currently batting .264 against the Red Sox. The Yankees have kept their opponents avg at .254. placing them in 7th.

And we make fun of the Yankees pitchers. We've enjoyed Randy Johnson's struggles, and asked why the Yankees, despite their rotation and injury woes, did not offer Clemens the 'family clause'. What does that say about our own rotation?

But, as I said before, I believe the pitching staff is good enough to get the Sox into the playoffs. With their offense and defense helping out (just ask Pauley how he feels about the defensive upgrades this year), their chances are very good.

But then again, the Yankees are currently 3rd in offensive team batting avg, while we're ranked fourth.

Did he just say what I think he said?

Bronson is doing well in Cincinnati, obviously. And now you can even find him in a Ford Commercial.

If he really is saying what I think he's saying, don't play this one at work!
SawxBlog: Bronson Arroyo - Ford Commercial

Bronson's obviously doing O.K. in Cinci...when are we going to start seeing Wily Mo on NESN commercials?