Yet another disheartening defeat last night. Brian Lawrence shut down the Red Sox for seven innings, then gave up a couple of infield hits and a home run to Shea Hillenbrand, who couldn’t crack a 700 OPS last year but who leads the best team in baseball with homers this year. Go figure that one.

The worst of it is having to listen to all the Red Sox fans in the stands. I don’t think I’ll be able to watch any of the Yankee games. It’s bad enough hearing displaced New Yorkers whine about the pizza out here. Hey, here’s a wacky idea: If you like New York so much, why not move back there?

Sorry ’bout that. One of my pet peeves as someone who has spent all but the first 18 or so months of his life in Southern California is when people move here from other parts of the country and then complain about how [insert favorite thing] isn’t the same as it was where they used to live. Move back or move on.

Anyway, it’s nice to see Padre prospects getting their props: Touring the Minors: Goin’ Through Mobile (Baseball Prospectus)

Finally, I’ve been working my way through Bill James’ Win Shares. I haven’t absorbed all (or even much) of the methods or the rationale behind them, but I have to wonder about a system that places Trevor Hoffman behind the likes of Stan Javier, Mark McLemore, and J.T. Snow. Maybe James’ system shows just how overvalued closers are, and maybe my judgment is clouded by the fact that I’ve been watching Hoffman work his magic for the past 10 years, but this just seems wrong to me.

Ben Howard pounded at New Orleans yesterday. His last four Triple-A starts:

  IP  H  R ER BB SO HR  ERA
23.0 25 21 21  6 17  5 8.22

The good news is, he’s catching more of the plate; the bad news is, he’s catching too much of it.

Xavier Nady is struggling at Portland, too. He’s hitting .244/.279/.293 in 82 at-bats. But he has managed to play five games in the outfield. He’ll come around, as will Howard.