MVN: Most Valuable Network

Some news and notes before a big Sunday night game featuring Hall of Famers Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens. Only Joe Morgan can ruin the night…

- The response of Josh Beckett following one of the biggest collapsing, stunning losses of the season cannot be underestimated. A true ace is identified not only by raw statistics and his performance on a game-to-game basis, but how that pitcher responds in the face of team adversity. The Yankees had all the momentum in the world after Friday night and the incompetent bullpen usage of Terry Francona, and Beckett decided to stomp all over it with his 95 mph fastball on the black and a truly magnificent curveball. C.C. Sabathia deserves Cy Young consideration for his own playoff team, that’s not arguable. But the way Beckett performed against New York on a nationally televised game probably convinced a good portion of voters. Beckett in 2007 has been remarkable. 20 wins is on the horizon for a guy that put up a 5.01 ERA last season.

- Daisuke Matsuzaka gave Red Sox fans confidence he’s not totally drained with a quality start against the Yankees Friday. His Japanese teammate, Hideki Okajima, provided the punch in the lower region. The numbers don’t lie. Jeemer’s August saw an ERA of 5.06, worse than the 1.39 he put in May, his previous high for a month. In his 4.2 innings in September, Okajima’s ERA is 11.57 with 7 hits allowed in 4.2 IP and 3 HR, two to left-handed batters on Friday. Concerning is a word that comes to mind. Okajima not only missed poorly on his fastballs last night, but he had the body language of someone physically fatigued and ready for a long stint on the pine in right field. Still, it may just be a rough patch for the valuable Okajima. I will also add that he was put in an unfamiliar situation up five runs (???) and may not have been 100% mentally.

- Jim Johnson, resident Yankee blogger on MVN.com, reacted to Jacoby Ellsbury’s clutch performance off the bench Saturday with a “he’s friggin good” comment. Surely warranted and something that has continued since his call-up last month. In only 66 AB mind you, Ellsbury is at .394/.431/.621 with blazing speed, awesome defense and a long hitting streak. Theo must have been having a swell time in the box yesterday seeing his developmental system paying dividends with Dustin Pedroia and Ellsbury 1-2. Now, where do we fit in Ellsbury when Manny Ramirez returns? The fear is that he’ll be relegated to a purely defense/running specialist mode when October rolls around, knowing Tito’s refusal in a situation as such to bench Coco Crisp. Crisp and Drew are both playing well, too. The room for Jacoby to collect at-bats later and later in the season is very small.

- Ellsbury‚Äôs performance brings up the biggest internal question for 2008. What do you do with Coco Crisp, who was signed to an extension last season and was traded for to be the everyday CF of the future? Evan brought up a Coco, Julio Lugo and prospect for Brad Lidge with A-Rod signed to play SS to me, but that‚Äôs a pipe dream. Coco‚Äôs defense and speed gives him high trade value to an NL team. I can definitely see Crisp putting up .300/.350/.420 type numbers in a JV league. It doesn‚Äôt seem realistic that Crisp sticks around in either a platoon situation or as a pure defensive replacement.

- The best part of Saturday, for me personally at least, was J.D. Drew’s huge hit in the fifth inning off Chien-Ming Wang to make it 2-1 Red Sox. Drew has been on fire in 34 September AB’s, hitting at a .353/.478/.559 clip. Of course we wanted more power and home runs from Drew, but even at a measly .265 season average, Drew has posted a .370 OBP to go along with strong defense in a tricky right field. If the September continues, Drew has a chance to finish around .275/.380/.410., best case scenario. If he performs in October, the entire season is pretty much erased.

- The official schedule is not going to be released for a while, yet some bits and pieces of the 2008 calendar are being confirmed. It’s not official but opening the season in Japan is looking very possible. With Dice-K and Okajima, the Red Sox are a hot commodity in Japan and Tom Werner is aiming towards two games vs. Oakland next April to open the 2008 year. In interleague play, Boston will play NL Central foes Milwaukee, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Houston, Cincinnati and NL West leading Arizona will go to Fenway for a three-game set, along with traditional Philadelphia. Whether all of those will remain when the final draft is released is questionable. Boston will not play Atlanta in 2008.

- Clay Buchholz hasn’t pitched since last Thursday in Baltimore when he escaped a bases loaded, no out jam and ended up picking up his third major league win. Tito isn’t planning on using him strictly vs. the Orioles, so expect Buchholz to be the first arm warming if Schilling is roughed up by a potent Yankee offense Sunday night.

- Don’t look now: David Ortiz is second in the AL in OPS to Alex Rodriguez at 1.033. The home run total may be down significantly, sure. Looking at the big picture, though, is Ortiz having a better year in 2007 than 2006? Ortiz’s BA has emerged in the top 10 in the AL at .322 following a .287 last year, and his OBP is first in baseball at .435 from .413 in 2006. Pretty astounding. His OPS+ is 168 compared to 164 and EqA is up from .326 to .328, as well. He may pass his total base mark with a couple weeks remaining.

- In terms of the playoff picture, Boston is leading the AL East by five and a half games and appeared to have the division almost wrapped up. Winning tonight would put the nail in the coffin, in my opinion. The Yankees have the Wild Card security blanket up 2.5 games on Detroit, and it should be 1.5 without the collapse Friday. The Angels and Indians both have their divisions in control, as well.

- The magic number is 9. Win tonight, and Go Pats.