38-year old lefty reliever Billy Wagner would probably like to test the free agent market with the idea of returning to closing. The Red Sox promised not to pick up his option for $8 million dollars and in return he waived his no trade clause allowing the Mets to trade him to Boston. He pitched in 15 games for the Red Sox and he was 1-1 with a 1.98 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He has now pitched in 782 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 40-38 with 385 saves, a 2.39 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. One of the teams Wagner will be monitoring is the Tampa Bay Rays who are in need of a closer and that would not be a good thing for the Red Sox as he appears to have a lot left in the gas tank.

Sure, he imploded yesterday to blow a playoff game and essentially helped send the Red Sox home for the year. But, he still has been a incredible reliever for the Red Sox. He had thrown 26 consecutive shutout innings to open his major league career in the post season until yesterday afternoon. He has now pitched in 18 games (0 starts) in his post season career and he is 2-1 with 7 saves, a 1.00 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP. Papelbon was awesome as usual this year during the regular season as he pitched in 66 games (0 starts) in which he was 1-1 with 38 saves, a 1.85 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Whispers abound that the Red Sox might consider trading Papelbon and using 38-year old lefty Billy Wagner as the stopper in 2010 but I don’t like that idea. Even Mariano Rivera’s career numbers are not as good as Papelbon’s. He has pitched in 268 games (3 starts) in his five years with the Red Sox and he is 14-11 with 151 saves, a 1.84 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. Papelbon has only allowed 215 hits in 298 career innings in his career while whiffing 346 batters. It would be a big mistake to trade Papelbon this off-season.

29-year old righty starting pitcher Josh Beckett had another solid season for the Red Sox starting 31 games in which he was 16-6 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Those are good numbers but Beckett really tends to pitch well when the lights get the brightest in the playoffs. He has pitched in 13 games (12 starts) in his post season career and he is 7-2 with a 2.90 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Beckett has whiffed 96 batters in 87 post season innings while only allowing 62 hits which shows how focused and nasty he has been when the games count the most. He should also be extra motivated because he had a rough time last year in the playoffs especially against the Rays who torched him.

It looks like the old Dice-K is back for the Red Sox as he had another good start in his second game back after being on the DL for three months.  Matsuzaka didn’t have his best stuff, but he battled through and got the victory after giving up three runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings against the Baltimore Orioles.  He had six strikeouts and only one walk in the Red Sox 9-3 win over the Orioles.  This is a great sign for the Red Sox, as they are going to need Dice-K in the playoffs if they want to make a run at the World Series.

The Red Sox were smart not to include 25-year old righty starting pitcher Clay Buchholz in any of the trades they made. He is rewarding them for keeping him right now. Buchholz has started 12 games for the Red Sox this season and he is 5-3 with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. If the playoffs started right now Buchholz would probably be the #3 starter behind Josh Beckett and John Lester which shows how far he has come as a pitcher. He has a bright future for the Red Sox.