Maybe the Red Sox should blow nine run leads more often?

Today marks one week since the Red Sox bullpen imploded in truly historic fashion. Up 9-1 in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees, Red Sox relievers doubled down on the word "debacle" and allowed seven runs in the seventh and then another seven runs in the eighth. Boston went on to lose 15-9 and Bobby Valentine proclaimed that the team had "hit bottom."

The Red Sox haven't lost since. Five road games, five wins - and the wins haven't even been close. The Sox have outscored their opponents 44-19. Bobby Valentine haters beware, the manager may have been right last Saturday. He's also not going anywhere. If you were blaming Bobby V for all that was wrong with the Sox last week, then you probably should be handing him some credit for all that's gone right this week.

More good news: The Red Sox aren't the Los Angeles Angels.

The Minnesota Twins own the worst record in Major League Baseball at 5-15. In a tie for second are the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Angels. Both teams sport 6-14 records. Only one of those teams signed two high profile free agents for a grand total of $331.5 million on December 8, 2011.

If you're miserable about the current state of former Red Sox free agent signees John Lackey and Carl Crawford, imagine being an Angels fan. Albert Pujols, who may have been one of the biggest free agent signings ever, is hitting .225 with zero home runs and four runs batted in. It's still early, but it's not that early.

While the Red Sox compete in an American League East where every team has had it's ups and downs, the Angels are in the American League West, where the two-time defending American League Champion Texas Rangers own the league's best record. Texas has already opened up a formidable nine game lead over the Angels.

The first signs of panic cracked through yesterday when the team released 17-year veteran outfielder Bobby Abreu and called highly touted prospect Mike Trout up to the majors. That's the first move, but if things in Los Angeles don't turn around, it won't be the last.

Then there's the curious case of the Detroit Tigers and Delmon Young. Young, who has gone from being one of the Majors' top prospects back in 2006 to not much more than an adequate starting outfielder on the Detroit Tigers, arrived in New York City late Thursday evening. According to reports, he was returning to his midtown hotel around 2:30 a.m. and got into an altercation with a panhandler outside his hotel and a group of four men who happened to be staying at the same hotel. He's alleged to have been highly intoxicated and to have also yelled anti-semetic remarks before being arrested and then released on bail late Friday afternoon.

Young faces several charges, the most serious of which are a hate crime harassment charge that can carry up to a year of jail time.

The Tigers are in New York City to play the Yankees. It wasn't a great week for the Bronx Bombers who got some bad news regarding Michael Pineda. Pineda is a very promising young pitcher who finished fifth in the Rookie of The Year voting in 2012. The Yankees acquired Pineda in exchange for Jesus Montero, who is a very promising young hitter and is now the starting designated hitter in Seattle.

Pineda is built like a right handed C.C. Sabathia. He's 6'7" and about 260 pounds. He's also done for the remainder of this season. A torn labrum will require shoulder surgery and the loss has Yankees general manager Brian Cashman openly admitting to having regrets about the trade he made in January 2012.

The Yankees have Andy Pettitte coming back soon, but both Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes have struggled as starting pitchers. It looks like for now the Yankees may have to stick with one of those two for a little longer than they may have originally anticipated.