The Lineup Card

The Single-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, the Lancaster Jethawks, lost 30-0 to Padres affiliate Lake Elsinore, the most lopsided loss in Lancaster team history. And of course there is a back story here.

The Red Sox begrudgingly signed a two-year affiliation agreement with the Jethawks in 2006 after the Wilmington Blue Rocks, their previous High Single-A affiliate declined to renew their affiliation. Of course, the Red Sox didn't want to move their High-A team all the way out to Lancaster, Calif., for obvious and not so obvious reasons.

The obvious is that it's inconvenient for the Boston Red Sox to have one of their minor league teams, especially their third highest affiliate, clear across the country. It becomes a hassle to scout the players on your team and promote players from Lancaster to, say, Double-A Portland (Maine).

The not so obvious is that Lancaster, situated on the foot of the Sierra Nevadas is a freakin' launching pad. Check out these park factors. From 2003 to 2005, Lancaster had the second most friendly park to the home run in all of the minor leagues, increasing big flies by 64 percent and run scoring overall by 19 percent.

Check out the stats of the current Jethawks team. Over half of the position players on the team (eight of 15) are slugging over .500. Bubba Bell, who is far from a real prospect, has 12 homers already. On the flipside, eight of the 14 pitchers who have pitched in Lancaster this year have an ERA above 5.00, and that includes three of the most highly regarded pitchers in the Boston system - Kris Johnson (7.36 ERA), who gave up eight runs Friday, Justin Masterson (5.85 ERA) and Daniel Bard (10.13 ERA), the Red Sox's top pick in last year's draft, who is now on the DL.

Needless to say, I don't think it's going to be a long stay for the Red Sox in Lancaster, not for an organization which has spent a lot of money on pitching in its recent drafts, and given the combustible possibilities in California.

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