In the market for a pitcher?

If your favorite baseball team is in the market for a pitcher this off-season, you gotta figure a new franchise joined the fray this week after the way the Boston Red Sox pitching staff has labored in their American League Championship Series versus Tampa Bay.

"Dice K" Matsuzaka is the only Sox pitcher performing up to snuff. Their ace Josh Beckett got shelled again, after having been clobbered in the previous series against the Angels, too. They are being tight lipped, but he is clearly injured. Beyond that, John Lester is a back end of the rotation guy that has been covered by their prodigious offense. (Which is now missing not only Manny, but aging and injured World Series MVP Mike Lowell.) Further down the bench, knuckleballer Tim Wakefield is 42, and though his arm never gets tired, he looks like he couldn't throw it past Don Zimmer at this point. We can't imagine that Boston is counting on a comeback out of the nearly 50 year old Curt Schilling. So what does that mean?

Well, Indians, Yankees, Mets, Braves fans and any other pursuers of good starting pitching, beware Red Sox nation has entered the fray. Selling out Fenway over and over again has given them the revenue to chase C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, or reacquire Derek Lowe. They also have the prospects to compete in the Jake Peavy sweepstakes if the Padres are truly making him available.