Dear Mr. Francona,

I'm a concerned Red Sox fan. You see, this year Hideki Okajima has, for the most part, eaten a dick. This is especially true when men are on-base when he comes in (inhereted runners, in other words). Despite this, and it is painfully obvious, you continue to use him in this role. And because of it, the Tampa Bay Rays are once again in First Place in the AL East.

I understand how good Oki was last year; it is no longer 2007. I, also, understand that the rest of the bullpen has not been spectacular. Even still, I beg you to stop using Okajima when runners are on base. And talk to him, maybe something is bothering him.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know.

kthnxbye.

Oki's immense success last year was, quite frankly, a bit of a mystery to me. He doesn't have great velocity and his curve seems to roll, rather than snap. He just seemed to have a knack for hitting spots and inducing weak contact. This year, I crap every time he comes in.

And it was already being discussed right here

http://www.redsoxnation.net/forums/?showto...887#entry783249

For some reason, his inclusion into yesterday's game didn't bother me as much as some of Francona's past transgressions, for example, relying on an obviously cooked Timlin in key spots in the past. He hadn't put him into a game with runners on in about a month, he was our second best reliever last year.... In a way, I can understand his desperate desire for him to have at least some semblance of what he was doing last year. But this is a different Okajima this year, one who is throwing BP fastballs, per one of the Astros. I think this just about seals the fate of him as that stopper you bring in with guys on. But as frustrating as this was, I'm more frustrated at all the guys we left on base, and Varitek's continued suckfest at the plate.

And as far as the 8th inning goes this year, it's on our young guns, MDC & Hansen.

Look to hear the name Brian Fuentes of the Colorado Rockies a lot more in July. 2.36 ERA, 13 saves and a lefty.

I was going to say why should the Rockies be sellers, but they're 32 - 50. Even they probably figure that's it for this season. Questions about Fuentes:

1. Has anybody heard that he might be available? He is making $5 mil this year, so that would be the type of player a rebuilding team would sell.

2. Answered my own question, re interleague, or results against the AL. It's even better than against the NL, with a much smaller sample size of course.

Go get him Theo. He'd be a great Christmas present in July. Thanks forever to Oki, but, wow, he's not pitching like a reliable 8th inning guy anymore.

Fuentes is a hot commodity, I'm sure all the usual suspects will be lined up for his services, including the Yankees, Cubs....

Fuentes' price might be a bit too high. A team like the Pirates have Damaso Marte who could be available, or the the Reds have a few interesting arms that would do well to escape that park. San Diego has Heath Bell, rumors are that the Indians might trade some of their RP.

So, the market might be a bit more crowded this year for RP than in year's past, but also could have a few more buyers (Tigers, Rays, White Sox, Twins, Phillies, Mets, Marlins, Cards, Cubs, Dodgers, DBacks)