According to the Globe, the Red Sox are in talks with the White Sox to trade Alex Cora for Juan Uribe:

A pair of shortstops might be changing their Sox. According to CBS Sportsline's Danny Knobler, Chicago and Boston are "deep in conversations" on a trade that would send Juan Uribe to the Red Sox for Alex Cora. Uribe, 29, is hitting .225 with 3 homers and 18 RBI in 151 at-bats. He makes $4.5 million per season. Cora, 32, is batting .279 with 0 homers and 5 RBI. A trade to Chicago would reunite him with his brother, Joey, who is the White Sox' bench coach.

And this would do what for the Red Sox? Answer: nothing. Are we going to try and bank on Uribe actually doing something the rest of the season? This move makes no sense at all. Do the Sox think Uribe has the potential to replace Julio Lugo? Or, maybe, dump Lugo and platoon Uribe and Jed Lowrie? The puzzle pieces aren't fitting together in my head.

Okay, let's put a foot tattoo right up to King Felix' ass.

Red Sox

Jacoby Ellsbury LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Mike Lowell 3B
Sean Casey DH
Jed Lowrie SS
Jason Varitek C
Coco Crisp CF

Clay Buchholz

Mariners

Ichiro Suzuki RF
Jose Lopez 2B
Raul Ibanez LF
Jose Vidro DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Reed CF
Kenji Johjima C
Bryan LaHair 1B
Willie Bloomquist SS

Felix Hernandez

No Manny, and Dusty already has a stolen base. 2 on for Youk. Actually, nevermind, Youk flies out and Lowell grounds out.

via d.yimg.com

Lowrie a National? Thank god, no.

OK, OK. The headline is purposely misleading. But get this, via SBNation's FakeTeams.com:

The Sox inquired about reliever Jon Rauch before he was traded by Washington to Arizona, but the Nationals were asking for top prospects Michael Bowden and Jed Lowrie.

-Boston Globe

That is called highway robbery, folks. At its best, too. Obviously we're not going to give up Bowden or Lowrie for a guy that just "pretty good" for the Nationals. I would trade them Wily Mo Pena though ... oh, wait.

It's no secret that the Red Sox like walks. Since the beginning of the Epstein era, the front office has prized hitters that can draw them and get on base. The Sox have been 1st in OBP four of the last six seasons (starting in '03), and 2nd in the remaining two seasons.

Sometimes an interest goes too far, however, crossing into the realm of fixation, even addiction. This year, the Moneyball-induced obsession with walks has afflicted the pitching staff, who seem to be giving up the base-on balls at a prodigious pace.

The Red Sox, before last night's game, had allowed 368 walks in 892.2 innings. This places them 4th in walks, trailing Detroit (3rd), Texas (2nd), and Baltimore (1st). For comparison, last year the Sox walked 482 in 1438.2 innings; the team's BB/9 has risen from 3.01 to 3.71 since 2007.

Unlike most issues with the Sox, the walk epidemic cannot be blamed on the pen. Rather, it originates with the starting rotation. Daisuke Matsuzaka leads the team with 57 walks in only 88.1 innings; this is good for 4th most in the league (5 behind leader Daniel Cabrera). Wakefield and Lester are also walk prone, with 47 and 44 respectively, although their high innings totals offset this (around 130 IP each). Buchholz and Masterson are even worse, with 55 BBs total in 106 innings between them.

In the pen, Aardsma and Hansen are walking more than 6 batters every 9 innings. Of the entire pitching staff, only Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon are truly good at suppressing walks. Beckett's walked only 25 in 120 IP, while Pap has allowed only 7 walks in 42.1 IP.

So what is the importance of a walk? Surprisingly little, it seems. Looking at the admittedly small sample of this year's AL teams, there isn't as strong a correlation between allowing walks and giving up runs as one might expect.

The Sox are 6th in ERA (3.82) despite all these walks, perhaps because their pitchers lead the league in strike outs. Meanwhile, Oakland, which is the AL-best in ERA (3.43), is only 9th in walks allowed (335). And the team with the fewest walks allowed, Minnesota (236) has a 4.28 team ERA, 'good' for 9th in the league. So fewer walks doesn't necessarily equal better pitching, and vice versa.

There is, however, a correlation between high walk totals and bad pitching staffs. The teams ahead of Boston in walks - Baltimore, Detroit, and Texas - are at the bottom of the league in ERA (11th, 12th, and 14th). These teams have bad pitching in general, however - they give up lots of home runs (except Detroit) and don't strike many batters out. The Sox, meanwhile don't give up the long-ball (4th lowest in HR) and lead the league in Ks.

Surprisingly enough, Boston's walk problem may not really matter at all. Or it may be a sign of bad things to come, if more hits start dropping in after Dice-K loads the bases. What do you think?

via d.yimg.com
Dice-K was strong on the hill for the Sox

Two done, one more to go. A Sox sweep of the Mariners is crucial.

The Sox picked up win No. 2 over the M's, 4-2, on Tuesday. Daisuke Matsuzaka was solid on the mound, going 7.1 innings, allowing five hits, two runs, three walks and struck out six. He threw 99 pitches -- not too bad for over seven innings of work.

JD Drew led the offense with his 18th home run of the season and a sac fly that plated another. He finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs, a run and a walk. Mike Lowell hit a double to deep left that scored Dustin Pedroia in the fifth. Jed Lowrie picked up the Sox's final run in the fifth with a sac fly of his own.

Hideki Okajima did his job. Enough said there. Jonathan Papelbon earned his 30th save of the season by retiring the M's 1-2-3 in the 9th inning.

COMMENT OF THE GAME:
"We can always rely on Dice-K to make every game a pain in the ass when we least expect to." - MerryGoByeBye (this, of course, came towards the end of Dice-K's start)

V.

Lineups:

All right. I'm just hoping for less than 3 walks from Daisuke.

Oh. And a win.

OMG. WTF can I say here people?

Atrocious, plus a side of excruciatingly painful to watch.

Signs it's going to get better? None. And the only acquisition I'm really interested in, Damaso Marte, hasn't pitched in the AL in awhile, and could easily be cost-prohibitive. Out of 8 full-type seasons, his WHIP has only been above 1.266 twice, and he has struck out 483 hitters in 453 1/3 career innings. It's all but assured that we need to get better on an internal basis.

Masterson. I'm cautiously optimistic, if only because his sinker should make him reasonably effective in those IH situations that we've to this point only been able to use Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen, Mike Timlin, Javy Lopez, David Aardsma absolutely no one in. I'm concerned about his control and HR issues, however, which basically means he'll fit right in in our bullpen.

Delcarmen. All right buddy, I'm losing faith here. I've been one of your biggest defenders, I think, as others have clearly lost all thought of using him in close situations. He's simply been easier to hit this season. Last year he threw 44 innings and walked 17 while striking out 41. This season he's at 40 2/3 with 16 BB and 40 Ks. Hits? 28 last year, 37 this year.

Oki. Same issue, really, and this could've been predicted for both. Control in terms of walk rate and strikeout rate have not changed too much. 

Timlin. Am I serious? His last 5 1/3 of ridiculouslysmallsamplesize: 4 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks. I've given up on trying to figure Timlin out, but his ability to not be afraid to f'n throw strikes means I'm ready for him to try higher-leverage work again, if only because I'm ready for hits rather than walks/gift-wrapped hitters' counts to beat us in close games.

Paps. Pass. Good job buddy, even if you haven't been as crazy-dominant as the past two seasons.

Javy. Just not sure here. He had a good stretch to begin the season, but has come WAY back to Earth. Predictable, yes, and he probably doesn't need to see the kind of work he got earlier anymore. Surprisingly enough, he's looking more like a lefty specialist, with a .741 OPS against LHHs and an .814 OPS against RHHs. That .741 isn't that great, I suppose, but it means maybe we should only throw him against weak LHHs from now on. Doesn't seem that useful.

Chris Smith. 0.97 WHIP in Pawtucket this season. 45 Ks in 48 1/3. He might be a quad-A guy, certainly, but we'll never know until he gets an extended look. Seems like a guy (8 BB this season) who would make the other team beat him rather than beating himself. Refreshing?

Daniel Bard. Well. 82 Ks in 62 innings and a 0.94 WHIP. Next season, certainly, even if he doesn't make it up to help us this season.

Aardsma. Injured, and we'll see how that velocity is when he comes back. Walks too many. Walks too many. Walks too many. 

EDIT:

Conclusions. Manny D and Oki just have to become more deceptive and get into less hitters' counts. Timlin might need to see more late-inning work, if only because he'll throw strikes. Lopez would be good if he got on another run, but as of now should be mop-up and vs. LHH's only. Aardsma shows promise, less IP than MDC with great strikeout rates over his career. Some control (we could say this about a lot of people) and he'll be a rock. Hopefully Masterson can defy his BB and HR issues as a starter during his conversion to the pen. 

via d.yimg.com -- Jason Varitek hit a two-run bomb in the fifth inning.

Thank the Baseball Gods, the Red Sox won a game.

And it looked kind of easy for them. Jon Lester was a stud on the mound, pitching 7.1 innings and allowing just eight hits, no runs, no walks and striking out six. That's a damn good line. With that start he solidified himself as the best starter the Sox have had this season.

Jonathan Papelbon saw some work and shut down the M's. He came in the 8th with one out on the board and threw two pitches to get out of the inning. He went unscatched in the ninth to earn his 29th save.

Offensively, let's thank Jason Varitek who hit a bomb to put the Sox up 2-0 in the fourth. He finished with two hits and a walk. Slump over? No. 9 hitter Jed Lowrie proved his worth as well with a single in the eighth inning that put the Sox up 4-0.

It's nice to see some production at the bottom of the lineup. The bottom four hitters (Kevin Youkilis, Coco Crisp, Varitek and Lowrie) reached base six times via walk, six times via hit and had all four RBIs.

A win is a win, but a sweep against one of the worst teams in baseball is a necessity.

COMMENT OF THE GAME:
"Ellsbury has a high MSI lately ... MSI = Momentum Sucking Index" - Drugs Delaney

It's a crazy thing called winning. I miss it.

And your starters:

via d.yimg.com -- Jacoby Ellsbury has been in a huge slump as of late, which could bump him towards the bottom of the lineup.

With Jacoby Ellsbury slumping so badly recently and David Ortiz on the verge of a comeback, it looks like there could be a lineup shuffle. Most likely that means Ellsbury will be either dropped in the lineup or benched:

Ortiz's return may have broader implications on the lineup than Terry Francona writing Ortiz's name back in the No. 3 spot and dropping J.D. Drew back to seventh. It may give Francona an opportunity to address the alarming decline in production from rookie leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury.

[...]

In his last 26 games, Ellsbury has struck out 22 times in 119 plate appearances, and walked just four times. He still leads the league in stolen bases with 35, but with a .234 on-base percentage over the last 26 games, the chances to run have been few, and he has just one stolen base and has been caught stealing three times in that span. He has not hit a home run in his last 28 games, and has just one in 48 games. He also has knocked in just five runs in his last 35 games.

The best thing for Ellsbury right now is to be dropped in the lineup. Perhaps move JD Drew to the leadoff spot and keep everyone else slated as usually. Or, Dustin Pedroia could move to leadoff with either Drew or Kevin Youkilis batting second. Nevertheless, Ellsbury would probably benefit from batting between the No. 7 and No. 9 spots.