Christmas in July

Due to the prolonged lockout, the Patriots were unable to make any sort of immediate splash in the aftermath of the stinging loss to the Jets in January. And it's not as though they're a team accustomed to striking big in the off-season; a Reche Caldwell would come in here, a Roosevelt Colvin there, but no real marquee names ever took their talents to Foxboro in the late Winter/early Spring time period. With the notable exception being the 2006-2007 off-season, where the Patriots imported Wes Welker, Randy Moss, Adalius Thomas, and Donte' Stallworth after the collapse against the Colts in the AFC Championship Game.

And what happened after that? They came within 35 seconds of going 19-0.

Fast forward a few years later here. Despite a 14-2 record in 2010, the Patriots were certainly littered with questions heading into the off-season. Who would step up to play wide receiver alongside Welker? Could the Logan Mankins situation at left guard be salvaged? Is there any way they could import a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball, preferably a linebacker?

Okay, so Phat Albert Haynesworth isn't a linebacker. But he most certainly qualifies as a playmaker over there, wouldn't you say? The Patriots have made the loudest splash in the free agency thus far.

When motivated (and I certainly can't stress when motivated enough), Haynesworth is among the best defensive players in the NFL. He was recipient of the Sporting News Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2008, when he registered 8.5 sacks for the Tennessee Titans. Of course, he's combined for 6.5 the past two seasons with Washington (as the highest paid defensive tackle in NFL history, no less). 

But haven't we seen this movie before? Corey Dillon only came into Foxboro and rushed for a career high 1,632 yards en route to a Super Bowl victory despite his "malcontent" label. Pretty sure Randy Moss re-wrote the record books with his 23 TD's in 2007 after coming to New England, despite being "washed-up" in Oakland. And you could go on and on with Moss. 

The same with Haynesworth, who's got as much baggage as Moss, if not more so. But there's something about playing for Bill Belichick, something about being given your last chance in the NFL with such an established coach, that has let these talented-but-troubled players get the most out of their talents rather than let their troubles undermine them. 

Like with Moss, it's a classic low-risk, high reward transaction. They were acquired for a 4th and 5th round pick, respectively. What do the Patriots have to lose here? If Haynesworth shows up to Gillette Stadium still intent on stomping on helmetless players or loafing in the middle of the field, send him right back down I-95. He won't be an easy guy to root for, but that can all be forgiven with 6 or so sacks playing alongside Wilfork, right?

And then we get to the artist soon to be re-known as Chad Johnson. Get this straight. Ochocinco is not Randy Moss or Terrell Owens. And that's multifaceted. From a sheer talent standpoint, you'd prefer either Moss or T.O. But at the same time, Ochocinco is actually a good teammate who's effort has never come into question despite playing in the hell-hole of Cincinnati his whole career. Does he crave attention like the other two? Probably more than them combined. It's a positive energy with Chad though, who's relationship with Bill Belichick is inexplicably charming. On the surface, they couldn't be more different people. But you can't question either one's desire to win. Doesn't hurt to have an elite receiver alongside Welker, either.

What does it all mean? That the Patriots aren't ready to roll over and secede control of the AFC East to Rex Ryan's group. Whether they sign Nnamdi Asomugha or not (unlikely, at this point, per NFL.com), the Jets are by no means ready to leapfrog the Pats in AFC supremacy for good. I like to think January was merely a blip on the radar. If Ochocinco and Phat Albert live up to the billing, we could be partying like it's 2007 again in Foxboro. Hopefully the ending just resembles 2001, -03, or -04.

Red Sox Ramblin' Man

Perhaps very under the radar over the past week, what with the end-of-lockout coverage and what not, the Red Sox improved to 8-2 since the All-Star break and have built up a 3 game lead on the Yankees, the largest lead they've had over the Bombers at any point since July 2009.

Since the 2-10 start, they're 60-27 (.690 winning percentage), and have put themselves on a pace to win 101 games.

John Lackey over his past 3 starts: 3-0, 1.86 ERA; 18-2 K/BB ratio. He's pitched into at least the 6th inning in all three starts, and yet....his overall ERA is still 6.28.

Josh Beckett's 2.07 ERA is a full 1.74 runs lower than his career ERA of 3.81, and his 0.90 WHIP is 0.32 lower than his 1.22 career total.

Jacoby Ellsbury since the all-star break: .357 average, 1.116 OPS, 5 HR, 9 RBI,

Dustin Pedroia over the same span: .429 average, 1.157 OPS, 2 HR, 6 RBI

JD Drew over the same span: .133 average, .388 OPS, 0 HR, 1 RBI

Carl Crawford since coming of the DL: .375 average, hit safely in 6 of 7 games

Speaking of JD, he went on the DL today. Did I mention already today it feels like Christmas in July?

It's practically a mortal lock that a Red Sox player will win the American League MVP at this point. The only question: is it still Adrian Gonzalez, or is that Jacoby Ellsbury making a furious dash into the discussion?

Bottom line here: The Red Sox are who we thought they were. A juggernaut. They've scored 541 runs, more than any team in all of baseball, and have the second-best run differential (+127 compared to the Yankees +128). They're on pace for 885 runs, which would be the most they've scored in a season since 2005.

With the trade deadline looming, do they need to make a major splash? I don't think there's a need to rock this boat. Could they use another starting pitcher? Sure, who couldn't. But what's out there? Hiroki Kuroda? Ryan Dempster? With Lester and Buchholz coming back off the DL, and Lackey finally looking like the pitcher we thought we were getting when we signed him to an $82.5 million deal, the Sox role 4 deep in the rotation once you get to Beckett. Funny how that works out, as Beckett was originally slated as the no. 4 starter in the rotation. He's a Cy Young contender, no question about it now.

Carlos Beltran? Thanks, but no thanks. If you're going to have to give up Josh Reddick to get him, not only is that a lateral move (at best) for this season, but Beltran is getting up there in age and despite his solid bounce-back season, it's a contract year and there are no guarantees he'd be back. Boston has a great track record recently of developing their own players, rather than making splashes in free agency (Lester, Buchholz, Papelbon, Bard, Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis, and Reddick himself are among the homegrown guys making major contributions this season).

So stay the course, Theo, and stay on the track for an epic showdown in the ALCS with the Yankees.

As a reminder, I'm back on the radio tonight for the Monday night Five Minute Major. I'm really not sure what time I'll be going on, as it's been fluctuating of late, but if I were to guess, I'd say about 8:45-8:50 will be the timeslot. Tune in to 95.9 WATD-FM.