All-Star teams and reserves announced.

The starters were named early this afternoon, and the managers, Clint Hurdle and Terry Francona have just released the reserves for both squads.

Here are the starters for the AL...
Catcher: Joe Mauer, Twins

First base: Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox

Second base: Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox

Shortstop: Derek Jeter, Yankees

Third base: Alex Rodriguez, Yankees

Outfield: Josh Hamilton, Rangers

Outfield: Manny Ramirez, Red Sox

Outfield: Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners

Designated hitter: David Ortiz, Red Sox

The American League Reserves:

Pitchers
Scott Kazmir, Rays

George Sherrill, Orioles

Roy Halladay, Blue Jays

Mariano Rivera, Yankees

Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox

Justin Duchscherer, Athletics

Joe Nathan, Twins

Joakim Soria, Royals

Cliff Lee, Indians

Francisco Rodriguez, Angels

Ervin Santana, Angels

Joe Saunders, Angels
Reserves
J.D. Drew, Red Sox

Jason Varitek, Red Sox

Joe Crede, White Sox

Carlos Quentin, White Sox

Grady Sizemore, Indians

Carlos Guillen, Tigers

Justin Morneau, Twins

Milton Bradley, Rangers

Ian Kinsler, Rangers

Michael Young, Rangers

Dioner Navarro, Rays

My comments: Now there is usually one of two guys who make the team and you can say, that's because his manager is the one making the selections. Joe Torre had a few when he managed the team in the late 90's where he just made off the wall picks. I remember one season he took Ramiro Mendoza and snubbed about 3 guys who should have been starting to take his set up man and took about 9 Yankees in all. Francona has done it this year by taking Jason Varitek. I am a big Varitek fan, I think he handles the pitching staff beautifully and is the true leader of the club. But even I'm not sure about Tek making this team, though on the other hand it is hard to think of another AL catcher who is better overall than Varitek.

Here's the National League team:

Catcher: Geovany Soto, Cubs

First base: Lance Berkman, Astros

Second base: Chase Utley, Phillies

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez, Marlins

Third base: Chipper Jones, Braves

Outfield: Kosuke Fukudome, Cubs

Outfield: Alfonso Soriano, Cubs

Outfield: Ryan Braun, Brewers

Pitchers
Tim Lincecum, Giants

Aaron Cook, Rockies

Dan Haren, Diamondbacks

Ben Sheets, Brewers

Carlos Zambrano, Cubs

Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks

Ryan Dempster, Cubs

Brian Wilson, Giants

Edinson Volquez, Reds

Kerry Wood, Cubs

Brad Lidge, Phillies

Billy Wagner, Mets

NL Reserves
Brian McCann, Braves

Aramis Ramirez, Cubs

Matt Holliday, Rockies

Dan Uggla, Marlins

Miguel Tejada, Astros

Russell Martin, Dodgers

Nate McLouth, Pirates

Albert Pujols, Cardinals

Ryan Ludwick, Cardinals

Adrian Gonzalez, Padres

Cristian Guzman, Nationals

My comments: Once again we have a manager who tabs a guy an All-Star because he sees him play or in this case pitch every day. Aaron Cook as an all-star? I mean really now Clint, you put Matt Holliday on the team as your representative, I don't think with the season that your team has had you can get more than one player on it. Especially a pitcher, really all Rockie fans have had to cheer about happened on the 4th of July, (that's why Holliday made it, he hit that grand slam that made it 16-15).

Francona put 6 closers on the AS team? I LOVE IT!

Sterling Pingree

Sleepless In Seattle

I'm losing sleep over this. I really am. There are very few things that piss me off, but this is one. The Seattle Supersonics reached an agreement with the city of Seattle to allow the team to move to Oklahoma City. There are so many things wrong with this.

First, Clay Bennett is a piece of shit. There, I said it. He bought this team knowing full well he was not going to keep it in Seattle, and did nothing whatsoever to attempt to keep the team there. If Seattle had paid completely for a new arena then Bennett's hand would have been forced, but considering the fact that the Key Arena is only 12 years old a new arena was not needed. The city had more pressing concerns than building an arena that didn't need to be built, especially considering the recent announcement by Starbucks. But because Clay Bennett had the hypocritical David Stern in his back pocket he was able to get away with stealing a storied franchise from a city that did not deserve it.

And I have a few choice words that I won't post here for you too, David. You allowed this to happen, hell you might as well have done it yourself. And you smiled the entire time too. You are no better than Bennett. In fact, I think you are worse. You allowed Bennett to move a team that is steeped in tradition that you knew about. With Bennett at least you know he is a sleazy business man, but with you some degree of integrity is expected, and you showed none. You went along with the good ole' boy network you have going and happily gave Bennett everything he wanted, while ripping out the hearts of Seattle fans. Frankly, you benefited from an amazing group of players and rode their coat tails to the top, but you really haven't been a good commissioner. Your ego is gigantic, you rule like dictator, and you do so by continuously showing no thought for anything but yourself.

I could go on forever, but I won't. Let's just say that writing this is one of the most disappointing columns I've ever written. I hoped it would never come to this, but it has. And to make matters worse, Bennett was allowed to take large portions of the Sonics history with him, with the caveats that maybe, just maybe, the Seattle fans can some day have it back. If they do everything the league asks, which is absurd.

The Seattle fans don't deserve this, and if this world was ideal it would never happen. Unfortunately this world, because of people like Bennett and Stern, is far from ideal. It probably doesn't make a difference to you Seattle fans, but know I feel for you. The sports world continued to lose it's never-ending battle with greed this week, and it's unfortunate the Sonics had to be the casualty.

~Aaron Jackson

You want answers......I have them.

They say never write anything for public consumption when you're angry. I was going to make a sentence long post saying I wouldn't be writing anything for a week and I would be holed up in solitary confinement for a week at my camp in the woods. I can listen to the games, and not have to see what I saw last night. That's all I'm going to say about last night.

Mr. Jackson laid out a big problem for this team, now it's time for me to come up with some options for the bullpen because right now it ain't right. There is a ton of talent in the bullpen, I've well documented how hard the bullpen throws, but right now they can't throw strikes. There needs to be an option for the more crucial moments of the game, so that guys like Hansen and Delcarmen can pitch in games when it isn't a save/hold situation. As well as the organization has done with bringing guys along, but only if they are starting pitchers. They monitor their starts and their pitch counts, but the guys that they have seemingly brought into the bullpen it's hasn't been as such except for Papelbon.

Delcarmen has had a nice little streak up until the final game of the Houston series. He was showing signs of promise and suddenly he had wrested the set up role from Okajima. It was like the team was so worried about their all-star set up man that they didn't care how they patched the hole, so they thrust Delcarmen into the role probably before he was ready. Hansen is a lot the same way, he has so much talent and really good stuff. When he started to throw well and more consistently they started giving him the 7th inning almost instantly. It's very hard to make two young guys some of your most important pitchers. Now maybe these last few appearances have been revelations, and just happened to be at the same time which is what is putting me in the Chicken Little Scenario.

Here are some options of where the team can go for bullpen help.

1. The biggest name on the block seems to be Brian Fuentes of the Rockies. The word among baseball circles are that Fuentes is going to be added to a playoff contender because Colorado is seemingly out of the running before the all-star break. Rumor has it that Tampa would like to add him and but so would the Red Sox and Yankees. A warning sign with Fuentes is he has an ERA hovering around 4, and granted that's at Coors Field but it's also in the National League. Change could be good for Fuentes, but we'll see who lands him and how he reacts to pitching on a big stage and pitching in the big bad American League East.

2. This is the option that I like the best, but it is something for it to work should be instituted at the end of this month or mid-August. Move Buchholz or Colon back into the rotation (my guy says Buchholz, but another veteran would be nice) and move Masterson into the bullpen. Not saying that Masterson hasn't been good as a starter, he has been, realistically he could be 7-1 right now. The thing that makes me believe he would be better in the bullpen the rest of the season, besides limiting his innings which is big for a guy who started the year in Portland. Plus his power sinker would be great coming out of the bullpen and he might actually get inherited runners out by getting ground balls with it. Masterson has had some problems with his control at time, but it's that power sinker that makes me think he would be more valuable coming out of the bullpen for the rest of the season, especially with someone like Clay Buchholz taking his spot in the starting rotation.

This is the solution that I think should happen, will it? Fuentes might be more likely, because there will be a battle for him between these three teams, we'll see who overpays for his services. Especially if you're the Red Sox and have better in house options.

Sterling Pingree

Acolytes Of ...Whatever The Hell The Opposite Of Hope Is

Updated as of 11:06 PM: I forgot in my original post around 10:30 that I wanted to mention the fact that I would rather not see Jason Varitek as the Sox full time catcher after this season. We are at the point that Francona should consider using the DH to replace him rather than the pitcher. It's terrible. Also, after the Rays just completed the sweep in the Trop you could hear Sweet Caroline playing in the background. Don't tell me this team isn't starting to get cocky. They are, and they deserve to be.

Let me start this by saying that I am right now watching the Red Sox bullpen blow yet another lead. They had the game under control, loaded the bases, and the Craig Hansen walked in a run before giving up a two run double. In comes David Aardsma, who manages to reload the bases. Francona is now coming out to bring in Javier Lopez. We are screwed, and are now down 7-4 in a game that should be over by now because the bullpen gave up 6 runs.

My esteemed colleague Mr. Pingree wrote a very nice piece just a month ago praising the fact that the bullpen gave up 5 runs in a game against the Kansas City Royals. He said he believed that this bullpen could throw hard, and that the runs they gave up were because the other team got lucky. I’m here to tell you that is not the case. Here is why.

Manny Delcarmen was great last year, and his numbers don’t look too bad till you realize he has a 1.25 walks/hits to innings pitched ratio. Not good. Batters are also hitting well over .300 when he gets down at any point in the count. Basically, if the first pitch isn’t a strike you can expect a hit.

Craig Hansen. A man with so much talent, but can’t do anything with it. His ERA is going to be over 5 after tonight, and his WHIP will be well over 1.5. That is terrible for a pitcher, especially one we rely on in late game situations.

Hideki Okajima has a decent ERA, but his WHIP is also high at 1.36. He has really struggled lately as well, and teams seem to be figuring him out.

David Aarsdma seems to be the best of the “Acolytes Of Hope”, posting an ERA under 3 (well, until tonight), but even his WHIP is high at 1.38.

Even Paps has struggled closing the door at times, already posting more blown saves (4) than he had all of last year. He is still pitching well, but not at the level we expect of him.

Overall, we have a 3.92 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP as a bullpen…well, over 4 ERA after tonight. That isn’t cutting it for a team that is considered the favorite to win the World Series. Lets compare those numbers to every division leading teams bullpens.

Tampa Bay Rays: 3.18 ERA, 1.21 WHIP

Chicago White Sox: 2.63 ERA, 1.18 WHIP

Los Angeles Angels: 4.10 ERA, 1.40 WHIP (In their defense, both Scot Shields and K-Rod are putting up very good numbers.)

Arizona Diamondbacks: 3.62 ERA, 1.24 WHIP (interesting side note…they have a reliever by the name of Bill Buckner. Awkward.)

Philadelphia Phillies: 2.67 ERA, 1.33 WHIP

Chicago Cubs: 3.47 ERA, 1.28 WHIP

So, there you have it. I would argue the Red Sox bullpen is the worst out of that entire group, and clearly they’ve gotta do something if they want to be in competition when it’s all said and done.

Also, just as a side note.

New York Yankees: 3.66 ERA, 1.29 WHIP

Not saying, I’m just saying…

~Aaron Jackson

It's not even like playing on the moon.

No this is not a picture of Rays Manager Joe Maddon, but you thought it was didn't you?

Manny: "What do we do now Tony?'

Tony: "We go to war."

This is the point the Red Sox need to get to tonight, because Tampa is already there. This series right now is a playoff series to them (of course we could have told them the playoffs started last week and they wouldn't have known any different.)

The point is the Rays are taking this series very seriously and are getting good pitching and a few timely hits. The Red Sox on the other hand can't close out innings, can't get the timely hit. Last night for crying out loud, the Rays acted like it was T-ball and refused to get Jacoby Ellsbury out because he might cry or something if he's tagged out and he only scored the one run and only stole one base. (Yes he was on third at the end of one these botched plays, I still think he could have stole home on Garza.)

The thing that bugged me last night (more than Garza's side burn/beard/monstrosity) was when he went out to warm up for the 8th inning and Joe Maddon took him out as the inning was about to start so he could get an ovation. Now I am all in favor of a kid getting his moment when he's pitched a good ballgame. But do it in the middle of an inning, do send him out there to throw a couple warm up tosses and then pull him out, that just delays the game more, and isn't needed. People talk about the pace of the game needed to be picked up because ratings aren't what they were last season and they are penalizing pitchers for taking too long to throw the next pitch, put a stop to stuff like this and you'll save 5 minutes and a lot of aggravation on my part. (That turned into a bit of a rant.)

Tonight isn't a must win, and anybody who makes it out to be doesn't know Jim Rice's home run total. (382) Though it would be good to win tonight and take a little bit of solice in the fact that they can win a game in Tampa. Imagine if they dropped every game in Tampa this season and some how had to play the Rays in the ALCS, the media would go nuts about how the Red Sox can't win in the giant concrete blob. I'll leave you with a couple random thoughts from the series so far:

~How many times have the Red Sox popped up in foul territory? I'm not going to look it up, I'm just going to say I think they popped into foul territory to Carlos Pena 19 times last night.

~I hate watching games played at Tropicana Field. It's a dome, it's dark and damp. Doesn't it always look like it's damp inside there? I'm surprised Joe Maddon's glasses haven't got condensation dripping from the insides of them. The Trop is terrible, because it's a dome and you don't even get the bright lights and weird hops off it. It doesn't even have the feeling like you're playing on the moon or something. (I always felt that the Skydome or Rogers Centre was like playing on some sort of moon base, especially when it was called Skydome. It all started with Wrestle Mania being held there for Wrestle Mania VI. Watch the tape, it's like it's happening in outer space or something. You're gonna have to trust me on this one otherwise.)

~ Jerry Remy was mystified by the iPod last night. Tonight they're going to show him Facebook.

~Joe Maddon is a dead ringer for Currado "Junior" Soprano?

~Where the hell is Aaron Jackson? He's like Roger Clemens in a big game over here, completely disappeared.

Sterling Pingree