Nicely Played, Theo

Bleargh. Not exactlyan enthralling game tonight, with neither side pitching particularly well -- but the Devil Rays got a nice boost from the Yankees' three errors (for six in two games), and won 7-6. Jorge Posada looked awful behind the plate, with lots of strange missed signs and passed balls. Poor Andy Pettitte seems to have traded defense for run support

Of course, it was also in the 20s tonight, which probably had something to do with it; I could barely feel my hands after walking the dog. At one point Robinson Cano held his glove in his mouth between pitches so that he could get both hands warmed in his pockets. I don't imagine that growing up in the DR would really prepare you for this. Also, Johnny Damon may end up on the DL, for the first time in his career, with his calf strain, but as he told reporters (including the Star-Ledger's Lisa Kennelly): "I still have sexy calves." Yep, those are big shoes to fill, Melky.

I was sort of surprised to realize this week that the Devil Rays are officially no longer a joke; they're really just a couple of good relievers and one decent starter away from being, in fact, good, though their owner is apparently too cheap to bother. Good thing we now have the Washington Nationals to mock as a replacement.

Meanwhile, as you will no doubt have heard by now, Daisuke Matsuzaka (or, as one of the Royals' broadcasters called him, "Daisuke Matsui") looked as good as advertized. Seven innings, one run, ten strikeouts for the Red Sox, and he's fun to watch while he's at it.

On the one hand, it's the Royals; but on the other, it's only his first major league start. Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of adjustment period? He's not actually going to get better, is he? It's far too early to panic, but I don't think it's too early to be... let's say, mildly concerned.

Rainy Day Baseballs #12 & 35

It was a less cheery day for the Yankees, as Andy Pettitte’s homecoming was rained out, George Steinbrenner didn’t invite soon-to-be-ex-son in law and heir apparent Steve Swindal to the annual Welcome Home dinner, and Johnny Damon’s calf turns out to be strained (or something) rather than just cramped. And you were worried about Melky getting enough playing time.

This is when you’d like to be carrying a fifth outfielder, because if anything else goes wrong, we’re looking at Miguel Cairo out there, and… no. Just no.

Finally, I’m more psyched than I’d care to admit for Daisuke Matsuzaka’s first MLB start tomorrow. I just love the fact that there are currently about 200 Japanese reporters camped out somewhere in Kansas City. And I don’t know if anyone could live up to the hype Matsuzaka’s been subjected to, but I’m certainly looking forward to seeing him air out some of those eight different types of pitches in a game that counts. Anyway, I expect him to look good tomorrow, but keep in mind that this IS the Royals.

Over/under on the number of Royals who will claim to have seen the elusive gyroball, only to have Matsuzaka later deny throwing it: three.

Much Ado Etc.

The Red Sox, Matsuzaka and Boras (does anyone else keep typing "Borat" by accident, or is that just me?) seem to have come to terms after all. Man... I knew I shouldn't have bought into the negotiating hype, and I held out for weeks, but last night I finally caved; I'm ashamed of myself. I will take revenge the only way I know how by refusing to ever, as long as I live, refer to Matsuzaka as "D-Mat," no matter how much Scott Boras wants me to.

If SI's Jon Heyman is right, it's in the neighborhood of $52 million for six years. We are now living in a world where my first thought when looking at those numbers is, "oh, that's reasonable."

Meanwhile, in thrilling Yankee news, the team didn't tender Aaron Guiel a contract by the non-tender deadline... I know it's hard, but try to contain your passionate feelings on the subject. Brian Cashman's been awfully quiet recently, hasn't he? Is this the part where we suddenly look around and go, "hey, why have all the birds stopped singing?" and then gasp in shock as they trade A-Rod, or something?

Alternately, perhaps Cashman's just been laughing too hard over Gil Meche's $55 million five year deal to use the telephone coherently.

Nick Greeen: NOT a Scott Boras Client

It may be good news for the Yankees, but I still don't like what appears to be the looming bungling of the Matsuzaka signing -- I can't stand Scott Boras, even when it's the Sox he's trying to screw over. Of course being unscrupulous, creepy, and manipulative is par for the course for an agent*, but he takes it to new levels, and often, I think, it's not even in his clients' best interests. Matsuzaka wants to pitch here, the Seibu Lions want him to pitch here, and the Red Sox are willing to pay him a lot of money to pitch here. I want to see that gyroball of his in HDTV at my neighborhood sports bar; and then I want Hideki Matsui to knock it out of Fenway. Why does this have to be so difficult?

As usual, Buster Olney has an insightful take on the Boras situation; I wholeheartedly agree. Ken Rosenthal at Fox says the deal will get done, but Peter Gammons does not seem so sure.

Meanwhile, Jack Curry's article in the Times yesterday focused on erstwhile Yankee back-up 3B Nick Green, who showed up at the Winter Meetings looking for work -- and on the same day as Barry Bonds, no less. Hey, say what you want about Green's offensive prowess, but there's absolutely no way the dude is on steroids; in fact the article almost makes you wish he would start juicing. First, his own agent is spouting the baseball version of "Attractive? Well, she's got a great personality":

“The one thing we wanted to get across is that Nick is obviously a very strong character guy,” O’Connell said. “Obviously, talent is No. 1 when teams are making decisions. But makeup is important, too, and that’s something we wanted to show teams about Nick.”

...“I’m not begging for a job,” Green said. “I didn’t want to seen as a guy just begging for a job.”

To add insult to injury, Green then went out to a nightclub with our old pal Jim Leyritz, where he was turned away for wearing sneakers. No, really. Will somebody please for the love of God hire this guy? I know he can't hit, but he can field, he comes cheap, and this is excruciating.

Finally, non-baseball-related thoughts on MSG's 50 Greatest Moments show, which between the Knicks and the Rangers I've seen altogether too many promos for: first, Matthew Modine's new mustache makes him look like a child molester; and second, if I hear that Tyrone Wells Dream Like New York song one more fucking time, I'm either going to embark on a brutal murderous rampage or download it from iTunes. I honestly don't know which.

*Full disclosure: I used to work at a talent agency and, yes, I'm still bitter.

Update: Soxaholix quite rightly points out that while everyone assumes Boras is responsible for masterminding this mess, there's no particular reason to assume Matsuzaka himself isn't behind him every step of the way.