Keefe on Sports Tonight

Who Is The Favorite In The American League?

The AL appears to be wide open right now as the trade deadline approaches.  I personally like the Blue Jays to end up on top, but take a look at these intriguing numbers I put together and you decide...

Record (as of 7/21): 
1. Indians
2. Red Sox
3. Rangers
4. Blue Jays

Run Differential:
1. Indians
2. Blue Jays
3. Red Sox
4. Astros

Vegas:
1. Rangers +325
2. Indians +375
3. Blue Jays +550
4. Red Sox +600

Top 2 Starters Amongst Contenders:
1. TOR Aaron Sanchez/ Marco Estrada (both sub 3.00 ERA)
2. CLE Danny Salazar/ Corey Kluber
3. TEX Cole Hamels/ Colby Lewis or Yu Darvish whoever is healthy
4. BOS David Price/ Rick Porcello
5. BAL Chris Tillman/ Kevin Gausman
6. HOU Doug Fister/ Collin McHugh

Top Bat Amongst Contenders (using WAR):
1. TOR Josh Donaldson
2. HOU Jose Altuve
3. BOS Mookie Betts
4. BAL Manny Machado
5. TEX Ian Desmond
6. CLE Francisco Lindor

Baseball Is Back!

Red Sox Lineup and Rotation Grades

1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B - F
2. Mookie Betts, CF - F
3. David Ortiz, DH - F
4. Hanley Ramirez, LF - F
5. Pablo Sandoval, 3B - F
6. Mike Napoli, 1B - F
7. Xander Bogaerts, SS - F
8. Blake Swihart, C - F
9. Rusney Castillo, RF - F

SP - Clay Buchholz - F
SP - Rick Porcello - F
SP - Wade Miley - F
SP - "Machine Gun" Joe Kelly - F
SP - Eduardo Rodriguez - A+

Red Sox Wearing 1975 Uniforms Tonight

Sweet.  Looking good, playing good.  Can't hurt to honor the 1975 team and break out these Bad Larry's.  Think I want one.

Poet Laureate Dick Flavin Chokes On Opening Day

The Red Sox have a "Poet Laureate" and his real name is "Dick Flavin."  He was not very good on opening day.  Click below to listen to the recap from Monday's #KeeferMadness...



Keefer Madness Poet Laureate Edition

Current Red Sox Rotation

1.
2.
3. Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, Wade Miley, Joe "Machine Gun" Kelly
4.
5.



I have no use for Justin Masterson.  Maybe he goes to the bullpen, maybe he throws batting practice, who knows.

Another arm would be nice.

#SmearCampaign

Our buddy Billy Lanni started a Nationwide trend today on twitter.  Jon Lester signed with the Cubs (and NOT the Red Sox), so Lanni knew it was only a matter of time until the smear campaign would be out in full force. (See the job on Terry Francona from a couple years back.) This is how it started...

"Lester was a terrible clubhouse guy." We are the Red Sox Front Office and we approve this message. #SmearCampaign

— Billy Lanni (@BillyLanni) December 10, 2014

He continued with ones like this...

Lester thought House Party 2 was better than the original. #SmearCampaign

— Billy Lanni (@BillyLanni) December 10, 2014

The thing really took off, all day with this... Here were my contributions to the cause.

Lester gave Adam Sandler movie advice AFTER Happy Gilmore. #SmearCampaign

— Rich Keefe (@Keefe21) December 10, 2014

Lester thinks Brian Hoyer should still be starter in Cleveland. #SmearCampaign

— Rich Keefe (@Keefe21) December 10, 2014

Lester thought Jar Jar Binks was a "fun character." #SmearCampaign

— Rich Keefe (@Keefe21) December 10, 2014

Lester leaves Voice Mails. #SmearCampaign

— Rich Keefe (@Keefe21) December 10, 2014

Lester chants "Let's Go Cena!" AND "Cena Sucks!" #SmearCampaign

— Rich Keefe (@Keefe21) December 10, 2014

Lester introduced Manti Te'o to his "girlfriend." #SmearCampaign

— Rich Keefe (@Keefe21) December 10, 2014

Lester thinks George Clooney was the best Batman. #SmearCampaign

— Rich Keefe (@Keefe21) December 10, 2014

You get the idea. And it's fun for the whole family!

2015 Red Sox

How's this grab you?

LINEUP:
1. Mookie Betts, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Hanley Ramirez, LF
5. Yoenis Cespedes, RF
6. Pablo Sandoval, 3B
7. Mike Napoli, 1B
8. Xander Boegarts, SS
9. Christian Vazquez, C

BENCH:
Rusney Castillo, OF
Brock Holt, IF/OF
Allen Craig, 1B/OF
Shane Victorino, OF
Blake Swihart, C

STARTING ROTATION:
Clay Buchholz
Joe "Machine Gun" Kelly
You
Me
Rubby De La Rosa

BULLPEN:
Koji Uehara
Edward Mujica
Junichi Tazawa
Brandon Workman
Drake Britton
Matt Barnes

Keefe Talks Lester on Sports Tonight

Rich Keefe was a guest on Comcast SportsNet's Sports Tonight on Friday. He joined hosts Greg Dickerson and Lou Merloni to discuss Jon Lester and Yoenis Cespedes. The clip below they breakdown where the left hander may end up next season.

Lester and Gomes to A's for Cespedes

Trade deadline day in the majors and after all the hype, Sox starter Jon Lester was dealt to the Oakland A's. 

Complete deal:

Oakland A's Get:

Jon Lester

Jonny Gomes

$

Boston Red Sox Get:

Yoenis Cespedes

Competitive balance draft pick

Cespedes is a free agent after next season, so it's not as much of a slam dunk for the Sox as you might think. 

MORE TRADE NEWS:

John Lackey to Cardinals for Allen Craig and Joe Kelly. 

I'll have more tonight, hosting from 7pm-midnight on 98.5 The Sports Hub. 

Stephen Drew Not In Lineup... Again

$10 million.  Doesn't play against lefties and sucks against righties.  Least the future of the franchise had to move positions for him. 

The All-Red Spos Team

All the talk about Bruins-Canadiens, but what about the other big Boston-Montreal sports "rivalry?"  Here are the best players who played for the Boston Red Sox AND Montreal Expos during their career.

SP: Pedro Martinez
C: Tim McCarver
1B: Cliff Floyd
2B: Wil Cordero
3B: Mike Lansing
SS: Orlando Cabrera
LF: Troy O'Leary
CF: Carl Everett
RF: Andre Dawson
DH: Ivan Calderon

BENCH
Otis Nixon
Matt Stairs
Curtis Pride
Spike Owen
Steve Lyons

STAFF:
Bartolo Colon
Bill Lee
Oil Can Boyd
Tomo Ohka
Greg Harris
Rheal Cormier
Bruce Chen
Jeff Reardon
Ugueth Urbina
Lee Smith

MANAGER: Dick Williams

GENERAL MANAGER: Dan Duquette

BROADCASTER: Jerry Trupiano


What a squad!

30 for 30 Short: Alex Rodriguez to the Red Sox

One of the great "What Ifs" of all-time.  This is well done, if you have 20 minutes, give this a watch.  You may remember most of it, but there are a couple of gems in there. 

Grady Sizemore to the Red Sox

The Red Sox are reportedly set to sign OF Grady Sizemore to a big-league deal.  Sizemore is a 3-time All-Star, who has a 30-30 year on his resume and a pair of Gold Gloves. 

He also has not played in a major league baseball game since September 22, 2011.  So there's that. 

Really I posted this for two reasons.  I used to love Sizemore, awesome player from 2005-2008.  And I actually own this bobblehead.  Sweet piece of memorabilia from a game in Cleveland.  It's Surfin Sizemore!

Red Sox World Series Pick

Had Sox in 4 over the Rays and Sox in 6 over the Tigers... hard to beat that.

I'm going Sox in 6 over the Cardinals in the World Series.  Gotta feel real confident.

World Series MVP: Jacoby Ellsbury

ALCS Prediction

Red Sox in 6.

MVP: Jacoby Ellsbury

Rich Keefe Hosting The Adam Jones Show Tonight

Tune in tonight from 7:00pm to 12:00am on 98.5 The Sports Hub or CBSBostonSports.com.

On the table:
Patriots vs. Buccaneers
Rob Gronkowski's status
Keefer Madness
Around The NFL
Keefestradamas (4 picks for the weekend)

And the first place to react if the Red Sox win the AL East.

Also I will be back on for The Sports Hub Fantasy Football Show, Sunday 8:00-10:10am.

Cobb Returns Before Buchholz

So this happened to Rays SP Alex Cobb back on June 15th... that's 1 week AFTER Clay Buchholz made his last start before sleeping on his shoulder wrong. Well Cobb is back on the mound tonight, Buchholz was encouraged by a bullpen session yesterday...

2012 MLB Predictions

The 2012 Major League Baseball season is already underway (thanks Japan), so The Sports Brief better go on record with their picks. You will find both Besse's (in BLUE) and Keefe's (in RED). We have divisional finish, playoff picks, MVP, Cy Young, Rookie, and Manager of the Year. Also remember Keefe will be Live Tweeting during the Sox opener vs. the Tigers. @Keefe21

AL EAST (Besse)
1. Boston Red Sox
2. Tampa Bay Rays
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. NY Yankees
5. Baltimore Orioles

This division might be the toughest to pick. Tampa has the best starting five, but I question their offenseover the course of 162 games. If they make the post-season, they could win it with that staff. NYY isgetting old, and the Pineda shoulder woes lower the stock significantly. Toronto is on the right track, butI’m not convinced they have the pitching yet to compete at the highest level; that offense is somethingspecial, though. I don’t care about Baltimore.
Boston is the most balanced. The offense is loaded with weapons, and A-Gon might be your MVP. Thepitching staff, despite the injury to Bailey, is chock full of arms that can carry a long season. I think theRed Sox figure it out and win the division.

AL EAST (Keefe)
1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles

All of these teams have flaws. Pineda is already hurt for the Yanks along with Joba. The Sox just named Alfredo Aceves their closer. Tampa can't hit. Toronto is still another couple years away. And Baltimore sucks. I'll take the Yankees here, but I think it will be a good race and I believe the Top 3 will be in the Playoff mix the entire season.


AL CENTRAL (Besse)
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Kansas City Royals
3. Minnesota Twins
4. Cleveland Indians
5. Chicago White Sox

It’s not even close. What’s the record for largest margin of victory in a divisional race? Detroit mightbreak it. The MVP of this team won’t even be Verlander, Fielder, or Cabrera. It’ll be Delmon Young, whobenefits from the studs in front of him. Massive 2012 season for the underachiever.

AL CENTRAL (Keefe)
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Cleveland Indians

This division sucks. Tigers should have this clinched by mid-July. KC intrigues me. I like Besse's call of having them 2nd, but I'm still not ready to take them completely seriously. Maybe one of the 4 teams surprises us and makes it a race with Detroit, but that's doubtful. Miguel Cabrera is my pick for AL MVP (spoiler alert!), I expect big numbers at the plate, and not as many blunders in the field as some may expect.

AL WEST (Besse)
1. Los Angeles
2. Texas Rangers
3. Oakland Athletics
4. Seattle Mariners

It’s Los Angeles now, right? I can’t even remember anymore. Anyway, look at that pitching staff beforethinking about the lineup. Weaver, Haren, Wilson, Santana. Wow. And then Pujols anchoring the lineup.This team is built to win a championship.
Texas will be a tough out, as that lineup can hit with anyone: Andrus, Kinsler, Hamilton, Beltre, Napoli,Young, Cruz and more. Look at that. Guys like Young and Cruz could be hitting 6 and 7. That’s unreal.,and the starting rotation is solid, but the bullpen concerns me. Oakland will show signs of life again, asthe staff is young but talented and Cespedes will have a fantastic year in the Bay. Seattle has King Felixand Jesus Montero. That’s about it.

AL WEST (Keefe)
1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Texas Rangers
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Oakland Athletics

Just put Moneyball on the Netflix queue. Should be getting that any day now. I'm all for stats and everything, but save to say Billy Beane's antics are old hat. All the teams value On-Base now but just about EVERY team spends more money than the A's. Interesting note however, nearly all the pitchers Beane has dealt away from the A's (Hudson, Mulder, Haren, Harden, Blanton, etc.) have been sent to the NL... not Andrew Bailey! Might say something. Oh I also think the Angels and Rangers are two of the best teams in baseball.

WILDCARD (Besse)
Tampa Bay
Texas

WILDCARD (Keefe)
Boston
Texas

PLAYOFFS (Besse)
Tampa Bay defeats Texas
Detroit defeats Tampa Bay
Los Angeles defeats Boston
Detroit defeats Los Angeles

PLAYOFFS (Keefe)
Boston defeats Texas
Los Angeles defeats Boston
Detroit defeats New York
Los Angeles defeats Detroits

AWARDS (Besse)
AL MVP – A Gon
AL CY Young – Justin Verlander
AL ROY – Lorenzo Cain
AL Manager of the Year – Bobby Valentine (yea, I said it)

AWARDS (Keefe)
AL MVP - Miguel Cabrera, 3B, Tigers
AL Cy Young - Jered Weaver, Angels
AL ROY - Matt Moore, Rays
AL Manager of the Year - Jim Leyland, Tigers

NL EAST (Besse)
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Miami Marlins
3. Washington Nationals
4. Atlanta Braves
5. NY Mets

Despite the rash of injuries the Phillies face – Howard, Utley – the pitching staff is still the best inbaseball. Halladay, Lee, Hamels, and Worley! Papelbon out of the pen. And there’s enough offense toget by. Miami will be a surprise contender – a young team under Ozzie Guillen that is on the cusp ofdoing something special. That offense is sick, but the pitching isn’t deep enough to win a division crown.But don’t sleep, we’re not done with them yet.
Atlanta doesn’t worry me. I think there are now holes in the pitching staff, and the offense, althoughgood, isn’t great enough to carry. Washington is still a couple years away – wait until Harper settles intoCF there – and the Mets suck.

AL EAST (Keefe)
1. Miami Marlins
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Washington Nationals
5. New York Mets

New name, new uniforms, new ballpark, new manager, new SS.... division champs! I like what the Marlins have done this off season. They have a track record of going after it and getting results. (World Series Champs 1997 & 2003). IF Josh Johnson stays healthy they will be in good shape, but that's a HUGE IF. But Johnson, Nolasco, Buerhle, Sanchez, Zambrano is solid. Toss in an NL lineup that boasts Reyes, Hanley, Gaby Sanchez, and others and they are the team to beat. Philly still has the filthy rotation (Halladay, Lee, Hamels) but have issues in the middle of the order, how many games will Utley and Howard play?

NL CENTRAL (Besse)
Do I have to pick?
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
5. Chicago Cubs
6. Houston Astros

Honestly, this is anyone’s race. Even for the Pirates and Astros. The most wide-open division in baseball.But I think the Cardinals pitching is still very good, especially with Wainright on his way back, and theoffense is still tough despite losing Pujols. Beltran helps fill the void, providing protection to Holliday andBerkman, and if David Freese can have a healthy season, he’s going to be good.

The only other thing I’ll say about this division is that Ryan Braun will have a sub-par season. And itwon’t be because he had a lot on his mind. It’ll be because he actually was using PEDs, and he just gotoff on a technicality. Honestly, why aren’t people talking about that more? He got off on a technicality.That didn’t acquit him in the least. It just means his piss was in some dude’s fridge for a couple days.

NL CENTRAL (Keefe)
1. Milwaukee Brewers
2. Chicago Cubs
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Houston Astros

Move over AL West... this is the worst division in baseball. The losses of Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder leave few Stars. Joey Votto has just cashed in like a star, and I know he's very good, but still a notch below those other two guys. Houston will celebrate their final year in the NL with a 6th place finish.


NL WEST (Besse)
1. San Francisco Giants
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres

Lots of close games, lots of close wins. Starting pitching and Brian Wilson will take this team to a divisiontitle. The offense is still a tad weak, and I’m sad about Pat the Bat hanging em up, but Posey returns andMelky Cabrera WILL replicate 2011. I don’t see Arizona having enough to repeat as champs. The Dodgershave some exciting talent on offense, but outside of Kershaw, I can’t name a good starter. Coloradosucks. San Diego is worse.

NL WEST (Keefe)
1. San Francisco Giants
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Colorado Rockies
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
5. San Diego Padres

This division is usually a toss up and this year is no different. Pitching dominates (Linceum, Cain, Bumgardner, Kennedy, Kershaw, etc.) There aren't a ton of big bats, although Matt Kemp and Troy Tulowitzki give this division a pair of studs.

WILDCARD (Besse)
Miami Dolphins Marlins
Arizona Diamondbacks

PLAYOFFS
Miami defeats Arizona
Miami defeats San Francisco
St. Louis defeats Philadelphia

Miami defeats St. Louis

WILDCARD (Keefe)
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves

PLAYOFFS
Philadelphia defeats Atlanta
Miami defeats Philadelphia
San Francisco defeats Milwaukee

San Fran defeats Miami


AWARDS (Besse)
NL MVP – Matt Kemp, Dodgers
NL CY Young – Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
NL ROY – Yonder Alonso, Padres
NL Manager of the Year – Ozzie Guillen, Marlins

AWARDS (Keefe)
NL MVP - Hanley Ramirez, 3B, Marlins
NL Cy Young - Cliff Lee, Phillies
NL ROY - Zack Cozart, SS, Reds
NL Manager of the Year - Ozzie Guillen, Marlins

WORLD SERIES (Besse)

Miami defeats Detroit

WORLD SERIES (Keefe)

Los Angeles defeats San Francisco