The Boston Red Sox and Oakland A's opened the 2008 baseball season in Japan this morning. The Red Sox held on to win in 10 innings thanks to a base-running blunder by A's starting LF Emil Brown.
Of note in this game is how bad Daisuke Matsuzaka looked in his first couple innings of work. He was lucky he was facing the A's (the theme of the game) and not the Yankees, Tigers or any other team in the AL with a better line-up. I wonder if he will ever be considered a great investment.
Mark Ellis hit a HR off Dice-K on a down-the-middle fastball. I can see him getting a few ticks upwards by teams who have not yet drafted.
Two players who are going to get added attention are A's 3B Jack Hannahan and Red Sox OF Brandon Moss. Both hit HRs. Hannahan has a chance to be a contributor in deep AL-only leagues because he is filling-in for the injured Eric cHavez. I want nothing to do with Chavez because I think he is finished as a major leaguer. Double shoulder surgeries and epidurals for back pain were the final straws. (He will join Braves CF Mark Kotsay as MaLPinos - Major Leaguers Players In Name Only)
Brandon Moss will be nothing more than a 4th or 5th OF on the Red Sox. As such, he will not get enough ABs to matter. However, he could be used as trade bait when it becomes apparent that the Red Sox rotation isn't as vaunted as the hype makes it appear to be.