Three Strikes

1 This year has not been kind to future Hall of Famers Tom Glavine and John Smoltz (below). First, Glavine gets dumped by the Braves while finishing a minor league rehab assignment and remains unsigned. Now Glavine's former Atlanta teammate Smoltz, in the wake of one of the worst of his 474 big league starts last Thursday night in New York against the Yankees, essentially gets cut from the Red Sox in what could be a humbling end to his storied career.

2 There's even more bad news for Boston. And it's not just that they let pitcher Chad Gaudin pass through waivers to help the Yankees. It's that they have no shortstop. Jed Lowrie, overmatched much of this year (he's hitting .048 against power pitchers), left last Thursday's game with numbness in his left arm, including his surgically repaired wrist and fingers.

3 The Yankees are the best team in the AL right now. Yes, the Angels match up well against them, and the Red Sox still have time to fix their flaws, but New York is a ferocious offensive team that wears down opponents, not so much with its ability to draw out at bats but with the constant threat of power.

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