ESPN MLB

American League

Boston Red Sox: It's pretty cool of Manny Ramirez to offer up some of his salary to keep Pedro Martinez around, but he might not want to offer up too much of his money to that end. Why? Well, because he's been a lot more valuable to the Red Sox than Pedro has. Since arriving from Cleveland three years ago, Ramirez has totaled 82 Win Shares to Martinez's 53. Should they be making the same salary? No. The truth of the matter is, in modern baseball, starting pitchers -- even aces -- are simply not as valuable to their teams as are star hitters.

Detroit Tigers: This year's Tigers cannot afford to be patient the way last year's could. With that in mind, they have yanked Nate Cornejo out of the starting rotation -- for now. With some off days in the offing, manager Alan Trammell has decided to let Cornejo cool his aching shoulder while the team goes with four starters, reports John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press. Cornejo is 1-3 with an ERA of 8.42. He has lost velocity and will return to Detroit for an examination. While the team's hitting is off the charts compared to 2003, their pitching is actually worse than last year's.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider