Vote for Pedro(ia): Sox second baseman wins ROY Award

Dustin Pedroia ran away with the American League Rookie of the Year Award on Monday, adding another trophy to the Red Sox's mantle. With Kevin Youkilis winning a Gold Glove, the Sox just need Josh Beckett to win the AL Cy Young Award for the clean sweep.

Red Sox are World Champions (Again)

SOX WIN! SOX WIN! SOX WIN! And don't say I didn't tell you so. In March, I predicted the Red Sox beating the Phillies to capture their second championship in four years. I was close. Instead of the Phillies, they rolled over the Rockies, the team that beat Philadelphia in the NLDS. So I was close. I'll take it, and celebrate another tremendous season.

I am also already looking forward to pitchers and catchers, but before that, the Sox brass need to address something the minute they get off the Duck boats on Tuesday: re-sign Mike Lowell. Lowell was not only the team's MVP, the World Series MVP, but should be in the running for runner-up to A-Rod in the AL MVP balloting. He was simply outstanding, and the Sox should reward him with a new contract that keeps him in Boston for the foreseeable future.

In fact, if you want, you can sign this online petition to keep Lowell in Boston. Apparently, plenty of other already have.

Also, not that I am gloating or anything, but my prediction about the Red Sox having the best pitching in the American League (see below) also came true. I said back in Spring Training that the Sox starting five could win 70 games, but that was assuming Jonathan Papelbon was in the rotation. As it turns out, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wkefield and Curt Schilling won 61 games combined -- without a true fifth starter. Add what Julian Tavarez, Jon Lester, Kason Gabbard and Clay Buchholz did, and you get those 70 wins, a pretty impressive feat.

• Back in November I mentioned Jacoby Ellsbury, who had just finished tearing up the Arizona Fall League. I think it is safe to say Ellsbury has made a lasting impression on the Nation. The question now is what to do with Coco Crisp. Already people are speculating he will be traded this offseason, which seems a bit unfair but realistic. Crisp never got the true shot he deserved in Boston due to injury, and when he was healthy, he just didn't produce. Now, with Ellsbury's ascension, Crisp's days are surely numbered.

• Speaking of trades, looking at the Sox as they enter the offseason, there doesn't seem to be any glaring holes to fill. Should Boston re-sign Lowell, all of the infield and outfield positions will remain intact. The only area of concern could be Schilling's departure. If he leaves for sunny Tampa Bay, or other points south, the Sox will need to fill a big hole in the rotation. Although, a rotation of Beckett, Matsuzaka, Wakefield, Lester and Buchholz doesn't sound bad to me.

• And finally, here are a few things, in random order, I learned this season:
1. The left-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium is a very loud, dirty and ultimately terrifying place. Don't bring your children there, unless you want to give them an education on swearing or fighting.
2. Kei Igawa is Japanese for "terrible pitcher."
3. Watching baseball as a job is nowhere near as fun as watching for pleasure (but who's complaining).
4. Never, ever count the Yankees out of it, no matter how far back they are in May.
5. Scott Boras really is baseball's most powerful man.
6. When Manny's being Manny, hilarity is right around the corner.
7. The National League has some work to do to catch up to its AL counterparts.
8. Watching Papelbon pitch is going to be something special for years to come.

I have to say, I think SI is INSANE for picking the Angels over the Dodgers in the World Series this year. No disrespect to either team, because I think they both will be good, but World Series?

How can you pick the Angels over 1. Yankees 2. Red Sox 3. one of three teams from the AL Central. I don't even know if the Angels will make the playoffs. Maybe they'll win the west, but that isn't saying much, really. And the Dodgers? Granted, the Giants are weak, the Diamondbacks are iffy and the Padres are old and boring, but I don't think they will be able to compete with the juggernaut in the NL East.

That said, my predicition: Red Sox-Phillies in the Series. And the Red Sox will win (and I don't want to hear any "you-jinxed-it" crap).

• Biased opinion? Maybe, but after watching Diasuke yesterday, I am almost convinced the Sox will have the most dominating starting rotation of any team in years. Should Papelbon continue to throw gas, Beckett continue to adjust to the AL and Schilling prove he is still the ace, the Sox starting five could win 70 games.

• Good news for Royals fans (All 14 of you) -- Alex Gordon is officially your Opening Day third baseman. He should have an exciting year in Kansas City.

• Bad news for Cardinals fans (All 14 of you, ha! just kidding) -- Mr. 'Men at Work' has gone and done a bad, bad thing. Reminds me of that scene in the ultra-freak film, The River's Edge.

• I said it when they signed him - Jeff Suppan is going to be a force for the Brewers, who are on many people's list to surprise this year. In fact, there are so many people expecting them to be a surprise, it makes you wonder how they can be a surprise.

• If Dan Haren pitches this season as well as Rich Harden has this spring, then the A's should win the West.

Don't Call it a Comeback, He's Been Here for Years

Are we witnessing the early days of one of the greatest comebacks in major league history? After taking a whole year off, Sammy Sosa is tearing the cover off the ball for the Texas Rangers in Arizona, and if he keeps hitting with the same power he has displayed in his first four games, the Rangers are going to be forced to make Sosa their everyday right fielder/DH. That means with Barry Bonds on the verge of becoming the All-Time Home Run King, we may have a season in which we are forced to look alleged steroid users in the eye and... what, cheer them? What are our alternatives? Do we ignore Sammy's return to the home run hitting elite (if it happens)? Do we refrain from oohing and ahing at Bonds' majestical home runs?

Or do we put aside our suspicions (because right now, now matter how strong they are, that is all they are) and appreciate two hitters who, for better or for worse, know how to rake. Jury's still out on that one...

• I mentioned Jacoby Ellsbury in a post in November, but Ian Browne has a nice introduction to the Sox's centerfielder of the future. It could be that in five years, we may be talking about Ellsbury, Moss and Murphy the way we once talked about Lynn, Rice and Evans.

Or, maybe not.

• Not that we needed any reassurance, but it is nice to have some. Should the five pitch to their abilities, we're talking a runaway in the AL East. Of course, they have to avoid last year's injury bug to even have a shot.

• Is it even close? Well, maybe the Mets are a close second, but not really....

• Make sure you know your Jose Reyes' when you draft your fantasy team.

• Is this guy running for President or angling for a new deal? I can't tell anymore.

First Look at Igawa

The Yankees' latest Japanese import, Kei Igawa, who is currently slated to be the Bombers' fourth or fifth starter, took the mound in his first spring training start today and had an interesting outing. The left-hander gave up two runs in one-plus innings and struggled in a long first inning. He threw 38 pitches in the first inning and faced the first eight batters, walking three of them. But he also struck out three, accounting for all of his outs. He allowed only one hit, a leadoff single to left by Pudge Rodriguez, in the first, and was pulled after Sean Casey lined a single to start the second.

While he did walk three, Igawa was not as wild as his line may indicate. When he missed, he frequently missed by very little, and usually just on the inside. In fact, he threw most of his fastballs on the inside corner and missed by only a hair, including ball four to Ryan Raburn which drove in a run but looked like a pretty good pitch.

Most notably, Igawa debuted his impressive changeup, which seemed to confuse the right-handed hitters. Instead of dipping to the left, as changeups tend to do, Igawa's has late action dipping to the right, towards the toes of right handed hitters. The action almost looks like a curveball. His fastball was average, just hitting 90 on the radar.

• In his much anticipated reunion with the Yankees, Gary Sheffield made a very loud noise in his first at-bat, drilling an inside pitch from Igawa deep over the left field fence. The ball was well foul, and he ended up walking, but the contact was quintessential Sheffield. He did it again in the fourth, sending a laser out of the stadium with a sound most hitters just don't make when they connect.

• I tell you who looks good this spring is Hideki Matsui, the Yankees left-fielder. He looks somewhat more chisled and focused as he looks to rebound from last year's injury-shortened season. In the second inning, he roped a Justin Verlander fastball over the right field fence for a two-run homer, a screamer that just cleared the wall on a line.

• The Tigers' sent out pitching prospect Andrew Miller in tbe fourth and he pitched well in two innings. He is a tall drink of water at 6' 6'' and has an easy motion. He seems poised to join Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman in what could be the next Big Three in the American League.