Did Randy Moss Really Just Retire?

Randy Moss announced earlier today that he will be retiring from the NFL. Moss was drafted back in 1998 by the Minnesota Vikings and is a lock for the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Other than the Vikings, Moss also played for the Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, and Tennessee Titans during his 13-year career. He totaled 954 receptions and 153 touchdowns to go along with 14,858 receiving yards. Moss had his best season in 2007 when he set the single season record for touchdown catches with 23 while playing in New England.

But it has not all been smooth sailing for the former wide-out. Controversy has followed Moss throughout his impressive career. One of Moss' most remembered moments will be in Green Bay back in 2005 during a playoff game. After catching a touchdown, Moss pretended to pull down his pants to moon the Packer faithful. He has also left the field before a game had finished and some have complained about Moss' lack of effort at times.

Although he had a disappointing season last year, Moss could still be quite productive for a team this year. One problem is that he is demanding a lot of money considering Bill Belichick could not handle him very well last year and he was a big distraction both in Minnesota and Tennessee after leaving New England. If he was trouble last year, most coaches will not take the risk and invest in Moss unless it is not a big contract.

That being said, I find it very hard to believe that Moss is really retired. Moss will be back in the NFL at some point in 2011.

Mariners Trade Bedard to Red Sox

One minute before the trade deadline ended, the Boston Red Sox were able to finally land a starting pitcher in a three-team deal. After the Lars Anderson for Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Rich Harden fell through yesterday, the Red Sox were able to pick up left-handed pitcher Erik Bedard from the Seattle Mariners. Also coming to the Red Sox will be pitcher Josh Fields, a 2008 first round draft pick, who has split time this season in both Double A and Triple A.

The Seattle Mariners will get Boston prospect Chih Hsien Chiang (outfielder) and Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Trayvon Robinson (outfielder). The Dodgers will get Red Sox prospects Tim Federowicz (catcher), Juan Rodriguez (pitcher), and Stephen Fife (pitcher).

So what does this mean for the Red Sox in the short term? Erik Bedard is having a good season despite his 4-7 record (wins and losses are stupid anyway for a pitcher). He has a very respectable 3.45 ERA and a solid 1.172 WHIP. The Red Sox do not want to go into the playoffs with John Lackey as their fourth starter and this trade will allow them to do that. This also means that Clay Buchholz may be hurt more than the Red Sox have let on and that we may not see him for the rest of the season. We can only hope that come October we will be able to see a starting rotation of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, and Erik Bedard.

This trade does mean that the Red Sox will have to make a 40-man roster move, which could mean that Clay Buchholz will be put on the 60-day DL and would not be eligible to return until mid-August.

Daniel Bard Scoreless Streak Still Alive

The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox earlier this afternoon 5-3 to take the rubber game in the best of three series in Chicago. Daniel Bard pitched another 1 1/3 scoreless innings to extend his scoreless innings pitched streak to 26 1/3. The Major League record is held by Orel Hershiser when he did not let up a run for 60 straight innings while pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Boston Red Sox return home for a four-game series with the Cleveland Indians before the New York Yankees come to town for a crucial three-game series.

The Big Sleep

I just finished reading Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel, The Big Sleep. The book is set in seedy Los Angeles during the Great Depression and follows a private detective, Philip Marlowe, as he is hired by a dying millionaire (who was once in the oil business) to investigate a blackmailer who is involved with one of his wild daughters. To give away any more plot details would be wrong on my part. The story is very complicated and was one of the first hard-boiled crime novels. So if you enjoy these types of crime and mystery stories, you should absolutely read this if you haven't already. In my opinion, this is one of the best works of the twentieth century.

The story has been adapted into a film twice, most notably in 1946 starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. It was directed by Howard Hawks.

Seven Players Released by Patriots

The New England Patriots released six veteran players and one rookie earlier today. The three big names were defensive end Ty Warren, tight end Alge Crumpler, and offensive tackle Nick Kaczur. The other four players were defensive lineman Marcus Stroud, linebacker Tully Banta-Cain, corner back Tony Carter, and linebacker Ryan Coulson. These moves were obviously done in order to be under the $120 million dollar salary cap for the top 51 players.

Kaczur being cut was not a surprise but Crumpler and Warren were not expected to be cut. Both Crumpler and Warren have been battling injuries and Warren has been injury prone the past few seasons. Defensive linemen Mike Wright and Albert Haynesworth will most likely have a bigger role in the upcoming season and this probably means Bill Belichick is looking to re-sign Gerard Warren. But for Crumpler, it is going to be hard to replace his leadership in the locker room, especially since Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco are now on board and young tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski still have much to learn. It does always help when you have Tom Brady in the locker room though.

The Patriots did however re-sign corner back Kyle Arrington and signed rookie draft picks Ryan Mallet (quarterback) and Marcus Cannon (offensive guard/tackle).

Patriots Trade for Haynesworth and Ochocinco

Wow! The New England Patriots made huge news today by trading a 2013 fifth round draft pick for defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and a late 2012 and late 2013 draft pick for wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. How will this effect the Patriots in 2011? Can Bill Belichick handle both personalities in the same locker room?

Albert Haynesworth is coming off a terrible season for the Washington Redskins where he often battled with head coach Mike Shanahan. Haynesworth often complained that he did not fit into the 3-4 defensive scheme that the Redskins ran. But don't the Patriots also run a 3-4 scheme? Yes, they do. However, the Patriots were only fourteenth in the league last season in sacks and were very poor on third down. My guess is that Albert Haynesworth will be mostly utilized on the nose on third down in hopes that he will be able to clog up the middle and move the pocket on the quarterback. This should create a better pass rush from the outside and force the quarterback to throw earlier than he wants to. This is a really good deal for the Patriots.

Chad Ochocinco is also coming off a disappointing season. He only had 831 yards and four touchdown receptions. But being paired with Tom Brady should improve those numbers significantly. He will be the deep ball threat the Patriots missed last year after trading Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings. With New England's talented slot receiver Wes Welker, two young tightends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, and Deion Branch on the other side, Ochocinco will be expected to open up the middle of the field by drawing double coverage deep down field from the safety. I am stating it here right now, the Patriots will break the offensive points record for a single season set by the Patriots in 2007. This offense is going to be dynamic. And oh yeah, Bill Belichick and Chad Ochocinco have been good friends for a few years now.

The Patriots have basically given up nothing for two players who are low risks and could give them high rewards. If they do not work out, you cut them or trade them for late draft picks. However, I think the Patriots struck gold here.

Is Randy Moss Coming Back to New England?

Former NFL wide receiver and current ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson says that Randy Moss should return to his former team, the New England Patriots. He claims that Tom Brady and Randy Moss were very successful together and thinks that Moss still has a lot left in him. This is a very interesting claim by Johnson (who is actually good friends with Bill Belichick), but could it work? And would Belichick even consider it?

Randy Moss had a very successful three plus years while playing along the greatest quarterback ever, Tom Brady. He set the single season record for most touchdown receptions in 2007 with 23 and hauled in a total of 50 touchdowns while playing his home games in Foxborough. But after being traded to the Minnesota Vikings, Moss only had two touchdown receptions in four games played. And after being claimed off waivers by the Tennessee Titans in that same season, Moss recorded zero touchdowns in eight games played.

There are probably only a few teams that would take a risk and sign Moss and the Patriots are probably one of them. Rumor has it that they were interested in claiming Moss off waivers when the Minnesota Vikings put him on it last year. Another team that may have interest in Moss is division rival New York Jets. My guess is Moss would not sign with if he had other options but he may not have any.

Back to the Patriots, would Belichick want him back after the offense averaged 32.4 points per game but had a difficult time moving the ball against the Jets in the playoffs? Both Brandon Tate and Taylor Price are expected to have bigger roles in the upcoming season, but will they provide enough depth on the outside along with Deion Branch and Matthew Slater in the Patriots west coast offense? My guess is the Patriots would like to have one more threat outside because Branch is getting older and they are probably not sold on Price and Slater yet. Without many teams going hard after Moss, the Patriots may also be able to get him at a discount since Moss has made it clear recently that he would like to be reunited with Brady and Belichick. This could be a very interesting next few days.