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The last time the Boston Red Sox missed the playoffs was in 2006. Much like this season, 2006 was an injury-riddled year that most fans considered a write-off. The organization would never admit it, but it felt the same way as this year.

Every morning since he was a kid, J.P. Ramirez dragged himself out of bed and headed out to the batting cage, sleep in his eyes and bat in his hand. And every morning, he put the bat on his shoulder and took a deep breath. And he began to swing.

The NL Wire – A look into some worthy roster additions

Not long after Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella announced his plans to retire at the end of the season, former Cub, and current Hall of Famer, Ryne Sandberg decided to throw his name in the list of potential candidates to replace Piniella next season.

But does Sandberg really know what he’s getting himself into?

The pressure of the Cubs winning a World Series has built up like a nasty rumor at the workplace, and Sandberg hopes he can be the man to clean it all up.

Here are the top five Cy Young candidates for 2010.

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Not that it matters much for the rest of the season, but the last two months could go a long way to determine jobs for next season. One job being auditioned for is next year's closer between Joel Hanrahan and Evan Meek.

Both have had outstanding seasons in set-up roles. Meek made the All-Star team. Hanrahan leads the entire team in strikeouts, despite throwing only 48.1 innings on the season.

You can make a strong case for both; I will make my case for Hanrahan. 

Carlos Delgado joined the Boston Red Sox this morning when he agreed to a minor league contract with Boston's front office, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

The contractual details include a $20,000 salary per month at the minor league level and a pro-rated $3 million yearly salary when Delgado reaches the bigs.

Should the Red Sox make the playoffs, postseason performance incentives have been included that could add to those numbers. Conversely, if Boston fails to bring Delgado up to The Show by Sept. 1, he can opt out and again hit the open market.

Hmm...two months to go and the Reds haven't faded and have not given any signs of faltering or disappearing. Yes, two months is still a relatively long time and the naysayers will tell you Cincinnati will show their true colors when it gets to crunch time.

I say keep doubting, keep brushing them aside and do your best to pretend that they don't know what they are doing.