Josh Beckett

Red Sox ace Josh Beckett got rocked—again—Friday night, allowing nine earned runs in 5 1/3 innings to the Yankees, marking the third time he’s given up seven earned runs or more in a start this season.

Through seven starts (41 innings) in 2010, Beckett is 1-1 with a despicable 7.46 ERA and 1.66 WHIP.

The Red Sox find themselves tied for third place in the AL East (10 - 11) as of April 28th.  And as April comes to a close, the Boston Red Sox season thus far seems to be summed up in three words: Feast or Famine.

In winning efforts, the Sox outscored opponents 72 to 54.  However, when tossing one into the loss column, the Sox are outscored 25-60, a dismal number.

Running your mouth, egging on the competition, or just being a flat out jerk are just some of the aspects of baseball we tend to forget. And while being the casual knucklehead trash talker is to be expected, some players are known for taking things too far.

I tried to gather 10 of the biggest trash talkers and/or agitators currently in the game. Some of these players are worse than others, while some of them are just your average jabber-jawer.

Like Carlos Zambrano, big-time pitchers Justin Verlander, Jake Peavy, and Josh Beckett are off to awful starts. They are not alone. Names like Jon Lester, Aaron Harang, Javier Vazquez, Chad Billingsley, and Jeremy Bonderman join them on this list of the top ten worst pitchers in 2010.

Virtually all of these pitchers have two things in common. They were expected to be aces, stoppers, shutdown grinders, strike-one dealers. They are all disappointing.

Let’s take a look at how bad they all really are, see if they’re improving, and ask ourselves:

Is this just an April shower?

Is it me or does the game feel different when the Captain is behind the plate?

I will not argue with anyone that says Jason Varitek is near the end of his career.  I will not argue with anyone that says he needs to be the backup catcher. But after the start of this season, I must argue with anyone who doesn't agree that the game has a different tone when the Captain is at the Helm. 

Caption: From this point forward, bone-headed decisions by third base coaches that send baserunners home to be thrown out by a country mile will be referred to as a  “Bogar.” Wendell Kim is now off the hook.

Tonight’s game between the Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays was suspended by rain with the score tied, 1-1, after 8 1/2 innings. The game will be completed tomorrow night at 7:10 PM, prior to the start of the regularly-scheduled game between the clubs.

Stephen Strasburg and Aroldis Chapman are lighting up the baseball blogosphere as they make their professional debuts, and with their respective arms there is no reason that they should not be.

Both Strasburg and Chapman can reach 100 and have impressive secondary pitches, especially with their sliders.

With all of the hype surrounding Strasburg and Chapman, it makes you wonder where they would rank among the most hyped pitchers since the year 2000.

In order to make this list, you had to be a hyped arm before your rookie season.

Red Sox “Ace” Josh Beckett signed a four-year, $68-million contract extension early this week to remain with Boston through the 2014 season. The signing effectively locked in the bulk of the Red Sox’ rotation for years to come and calmed the nerves of many the Fenway Faithful.

Fantasy owners—and Red Sox fans for that matter—beware.

The Red Sox pulled quite a rabbit out of their financial hat on Monday, locking up pitcher Josh Beckett with a four-year, $68 million deal.

I must admit, I was very surprised to hear they worked out such an economical deal. When Boston inked former Angel John Lackey to a much more luxurious five-year, $82.5 million deal, it was easy to assume Beckett would be gone.

Unless an injury occurs or a trade happens, the Boston Red Sox will have four-fifths of their starting rotation set until 2014. That is because John Lackey, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, and now Josh Beckett are under team control until that year.

Yesterday, the Red Sox signed Beckett to a four-year, $68 million contract extension. The deal will pay Beckett $15.7 million from 2011-2014. Beckett also received a $5 million signing bonus.

When the deal ends, Beckett will be finishing his 14th year in the major leagues and will be 34 years old.