Ryan_Asselta's Blog

The Patriots made their final cuts today to get down to their 53 man roster. A few suprising names on the list but the biggest surprise was QB Matt Cassell making the team. Cassell had an awful preseason starting for the injured Tom Brady and it was thought that he would be a cut day casualty. Instead QB Matt Guttierez was let go instead.

Another surprise was CB Fernando Bryant. The Pats cutting Bryant after signing him as a free agent in the offseason.

Heres the complete list of cuts:

CB Fernando Bryant

QB Matt Gutierrez

TE Tyson DeVree

DL Titus Adams

RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis

S Mark Dillard

C Mike Flynn

LB Vince Redd

LB Victor Hobson

CB Mike Richardson

T Stephen Sene

S Antwain Spann

DL Santonio Thomas

G John Welbourn

He's missed all three of the Patriots preseason games, and a considerable amount of practice time during training camp, but Tom Brady is saying today that he will be ready for the Pats season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.

On Monday during his weekly radio appearance on WEEI, Brady said that he hoped to play during this week’s preseason finale against the Giants but said "If I don't play, I'll be ready for Kansas City." Brady went on to talk about how he wanted to play last week against the Eagles and that he is doing everything he can to get better.

To me, this is one big smokescreen from the Patriots. Yes, I think Brady has a foot injury, but my guess is that it's extremely minor. At this point in his career there is not a whole lot to be gained from suiting up for some meaningless preseason games. The Pats seem content on sitting Brady, letting his foot get healthy, and then suit him up for the season opener on September 7th.

I was thinking about Brady's situation over the weekend and it made me glad that I am not a paying ticket holder to any of the Pats preseason games. Think about the fans who bought tickets, or the season ticket holders that are forced to purchase tickets, to the preseason games, only to have their team sit Tom Brady throughout the preseason. I've always thought that preseason football was a complete joke, and the Pats are only re-enforcing that notion.

For some reason I just had a feeling that Josh Beckett's arm injury was a little more serious than the Sox were letting on. Terry Francona announced Saturday that Beckett's next start has now been pushed back even further, and he isn’t scheduled to start again until Friday vs. the White Sox. Francona is saying that Beckett has some elbow inflammation. (If you haven't seen the story, check it out here)

Here was a snippet of my blog from a couple of days ago:

As far as Josh Beckett's injury is concerned....Is it me or does this seem a little odd? Beckett supposedly has felt a tingling/numbness sensation in his pitching hand. He says he's felt it for quite some time, but Terry Francona says Beckett slept on his arm wrong, before Sunday's awful start, and that’s when the tingling started. What???? Hey, I think we've all slept on our arm wrong and woken up with a tingling arm, but it's lasted for a few days? Just seems kind of odd. Could Beckett have a more serious condition that the Sox aren’t letting on about? 8/20/08

A couple of thoughts about a few issues surrounding our hometown teams.

As far as Josh Beckett's injury is concearned....Is it me or does this seem a little odd? Beckett supposedly has felt a tingling/numbness sensation in his pitching hand. He says he's felt it for quite some time, but Terry Francona says Beckett slept on his arm wrong, before Sunday's awful start, and that when the tingling started. What???? Hey, I think we've all slept on our arm wrong and woken up with a tingling arm, but it's lasted for a few days? Just seems kind of odd. Could Beckett have a more serious condition that the Sox arent letting on about? Beckett seemed pretty dejected when talking about it before Tuesday nights game. Lets just hope for the Sox sake that it's not a big deal. Yes Lester and Dice-k have been great, but without Beckett..this team is going no where in the playoffs.

As for Tom Brady and his injured foot. It's no surprise the Pats are being hush hush about the injury. Brady has been kind of limping around and stretching that right foot/leg all throughtout training camp. I first saw him favoring the leg on day one of camp and was wondering what the deal was? Of course Belichick will keep us all guessing, but he did practice on Wednesday. As for Fridays preseason game against the Eagles. I really dont think Brady should play. Let him rest up for the season opener.

Was thinking of what to blog about tonight and figured I'd throw a little question out there to you Boston Sports Fans.

Who is the most hated figure in sports right now?

Some names come to mind if you're a New England Sports Fan:

Eric Mangini, Manny Ramirez, Scott Boras, Matt Walsh, Jeremy Jacobs....etc

 
Anyone I'm missing?

After 7 1/2 years in Boston Manny Ramirez is now headed to Los Angeles. In a 3 team deal the Red Sox traded Manny to the Dodgers today, just minutes before MLB's trading deadline.

Heres the Deal:

Sox get: Jason Bay

Dodgers get: Manny Ramirez

Pirates get: Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss, Andy Laroche and a Minor leaguer

There is no doubt that Theo Epstein was simply looking to get rid of Manny. Yes Jason Bay is a good ballplayer and will probably fit in very well with the Red Sox, but the Sox gave up a ton in this deal.

In essence, they trade Manny, Hansen who was a 1st round pick, Moss and they pay the remaining $7million dollars of Manny's contract....for Jason Bay. That is a lot to give up, even for an All Star caliber player. Now the Sox will pay Manny to play for Joe Torre and compete for an NL West crown.

The bottom line was the Red Sox were prepared to do whatever it took to get Manny out of that clubhouse...even if it meant giving up a ton to do so.

Less than 24 hours to go till Major League Baseball's trading deadline and as of now Manny Ramirez is still a member of the Red Sox, but for how long? Depending on who you talk to, or read Manny could be traded to the Phillies, Marlins, Dodgers, Mets or may not be traded at all.

Manny has told Jerry Remy, among others, that he would like to be traded, but it's unclear as to whether or not Theo has made it a strong priority to move #24. My gut tells me that the Sox are indeed trying to trade Manny and if they can find the right deal, and that's a big IF, then Theo will move him.

If you've listened to any of Manny's teammates this week or even Terry Francona, it's no secret that they are tired of talking about and answering questions about Manny. Dustin Pedroia even took a shot at Manny over the weekend saying "If your name's in the lineup than you play...that's how it should be around here". Even David Ortiz, who has always spoken on Manny's behalf, seems just tired of doing so.

Personally, I think the Sox should trade Manny. It's clear they're not going to pick up his option for next year. They might as well get a serviceable outfielder and a prospect and try to win without him. I for one, think they can win without Manny.

What do you guys think? Should they trade Manny?

The never ending saga of Manny Ramirez continued tonight at Fenway as Manny pulled himself out of the Sox lineup for the 2nd straight game. Terry Francona initially had Manny in the lineup for Game 1 against the Yankees, but after Manny took some swings in the cage, he went to bench coach Brad Mills and told him he couldn’t play. Remember Manny did this on Wednesday in Seattle and had the Thursday off day to rest his sore knee.

Ya know, Seattle is one thing. Sore knee, fine sit out the Mariners game and get two straight days off with the Thursday off day.   But Friday night’s game against the Yankees? C'mon. This is a very important series this weekend at Fenway. The Sox and Rays are tied for first with the Yankees just 3 games back. They need Manny in that lineup.

This was supposed to be the night in which we celebrated the return of David Ortiz and finally got to see the Sox lineup back intact. Instead, the Red Sox are shorthanded again in the middle of the lineup.

This stuff is getting old...

Hard to believe it, but football season is officially here in New England. Just got back from day one of Patriots Training Camp. Here are some thoughts and observations....

Tom Brady: Brady did not take part in the full speed throwing drills with the rest of the QB's during today's morning session. Afterwards, he said that he will not usually throw in one of the two sessions, when the team goes thru two-a-days. Pats are practicing again tonight and Brady said his arm gets sore throwing twice a day. He also talked about how this off season he chose to spend a lot more time with friends (Gisele) and family. Brady said he lost his parking space this season...the one that is usually given to the winner of the off season workout program. Brady did not take full part this year.

Moving on: The common sentiment from all the players was that this team has moved on from last February's devastating Super Bowl loss. Brady says he and the QB's have watched the tape of the Super Bowl, but Tedy Bruschi said that he has not watched the tape. Surprisingly the players did not believe that last years loss would motivate them this season.

Injuries: Many, many regulars were not on the field for the morning workout. Rodney Harrison, Ellis Hobbs, Wes Welker, Ben Watson, Nick Kaczur, Mike Vrabel were among the notables.

Belichick; Looks like coach is in midseason form. The typical clichés were thrown out at us today. "One day at a time", "Just looking ahead to this afternoon's practice" and a favorite of mine, "Just putting one foot in front of the other". Very enlightening.

Pats will be in camp for a couple of weeks before their first Preseason game August 7th vs. Baltimore.

Before we even got to know him, James Posey is bolting from Boston and heading to New Orleans. The Celtics guard signed a new four-year, $25 million contract with the Hornets today, ending his time in Boston after just one season.

Posey had been extremely productive for the Celts this year, especially in the post-season. He basically came off the bench and locked down Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals. And who can forget his huge three-pointer in the Celtics epic comeback in Game 4 against the Lakers?

Posey will be missed, but let's not get carried away here. He is certainly replaceable, and for probably a lot less money than he was asking. The Celtics had been unwilling to give the 31-year-old a four-year contract. The Celts had offered Posey three years, but looking like this was the final contract of his career, James wanted that guaranteed 4th year. You can't blame Posey for moving on, and you really can't blame the Celtics for standing pat on their offer.

Hopefully, the Celts can find someone to fill Posey's role of defensive specialist and three-point threat. My guess is Danny Ainge had a backup plan in place, in case this day came.

Click here for more on this story.

Sox fans got some great news tonight as it looks like Big Papi is tentatively scheduled to return to the Red Sox lineup on July 25th, just in time for the Sox Yankees series at Fenway.

Now we can finally put to bed any talk of Barry Bonds coming to Boston. Along with not making any "baseball sense", as Bonds hasn’t faced live pitching since last Sepember, bringing Bonds to Fenway would have really put a black eye on a classy organization. I really don't think John Henry would have signed off on bringing the "Home Run King" to Boston. It just doesn’t fit the image that the Sox and their ownership have worked hard to establish.

So we get double the good news tonight. Papi is coming back soon, which hopefully translates into no Bonds.

• Josh Beckett (8-5) 3.70 ERA
• Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-1) 3.12 ERA
• Mike Lowell .302 AVG 13 HR's 54 RBI

For the first time in, lets just say a long long time, the American League East is a 3 team race. After the Sox got swept in St. Pete this week, the Tampa Rays amazingly grabbed hold of 1st place. That's right...the Tampa Rays! Weird stuff.

Check out the standings heading into July 4th, from this year compared to last year. It's a whole new landscape in the East.

                        W     L        GB

RED SOX      52    31         ---

YANKEEES  40     42       11.5

RAYS             33    50        19

Curt Schilling may very well have pitched his last game in the majors, which opens up a debate that will most likely go on for quite some time. Is Schilling a Hall of Famer?Personally, I do not think he is. HIs stats just don't hold enough weight. Yes he has pitched some very, very big games and has won 3 World Series', but as an individual pitcher, he is not a Hall of Famer in my eyes.

What do you think?

Here are his career stats:

Year Team INN GS W L S K BBI HA ERA WHIP

2007 BOS 151.0 24 9 8 0 101 23 165 3.87 1.25

2006 BOS 204.0 31 15 7 0 183 28 220 3.97 1.22

2005 BOS 93.1 11 8 8 9 87 22 121 5.70 1.54

2004 BOS 226.2 32 21 6 0 203 35 206 3.26 1.07

2003 ARI 168.0 24 8 9 0 194 32 144 2.95 1.05

2002 ARI 259.1 35 23 7 0 316 33 218 3.23 0.97

2001 ARI 256.2 35 22 6 0 293 39 237 2.99 1.08

2000 PHI-ARI 210.1 29 11 12 0 168 45 204 3.81 1.19

1999 PHI 180.1 24 15 6 0 152 44 159 3.55 1.13

1998 PHI 268.2 35 15 14 0 300 61 236 3.25 1.11

1997 PHI 254.1 35 17 11 0 319 58 208 2.98 1.05

1996 PHI 183.1 26 9 10 0 182 50 149 3.19 1.09

1995 PHI 116.0 17 7 5 0 114 26 96 3.57 1.05

1994 PHI 82.1 13 2 8 0 58 28 87 4.49 1.40

1993 PHI 235.1 34 16 7 0 186 57 234 4.02 1.24

1992 PHI 226.1 26 14 11 2 147 59 165 2.35 0.99

1991 HOU 75.2 0 3 5 8 71 39 79 3.83 1.57

1990 BAL 46.0 0 1 2 3 32 19 38 2.54 1.24

1989 BAL 8.2 1 0 1 0 6 3 10 6.59 1.59

1988 BAL 14.2 4 0 3 0 4 10 22 10.14 2.25 21

Seasons 3261.0 436 216 146 22 3116 711 2998 3.46 1.14