In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

With a rather sizable assist from Mike Scioscia's hubris-fueled devotion to smallball, the Red Sox are headed back to the ALCS for the fourth time in six years. If recent history tells us anything, Boston might fall behind early -- as it did against New York in 2004 (3-0) and Cleveland in 2007 (3-1) -- but it will find a way to win the series.

These are, after all, the Red Sox. They've been there before. They're Major League Baseball's model franchise. They have dominant starting pitching, a lights-out closer and a mix of experienced veterans and budding youngsters.

But while Boston basks in another winning playoff series, let's take a moment to consider how many problems it is facing as it tries to win another World Series and establish baseball's first dynasty since the Yankees of the late 1990s.

There is a veritable laundry list of concerns:

The season is almost over, and we're finishing up with the Yankees and the Red Sox. And hey: I'm glad to be rid of at least one of them.

So begins our annual switchover to playoff-themed Dugouts. Or, if you want to be specific, "How Hard Is It To Do Four Dugouts A Week About The Angels."

Tonight's Dugout (chock full of new and seldomly used screen names) is after the jump.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

The Red Sox don't worry about individual awards. They don't even like to talk about them out of fear that it might distract them from the task at hand, winning a third World Series in five years. That's probably part of the reason why they've been baseball's most successful franchise in the past decade.

If Kevin Youkilis finishes with a bang, they might have to start.

The player once dubbed "a fat third baseman, who couldn't run, throw or field," in Michael Lewis' "Moneyball" is having quite the season. He entered play Thursday with 24 home runs, 88 RBI and a .321 batting average. He ranks in the top 10 in those categories as well as on-base percentage, slugging average, OPS, total bases, doubles, triples and walks.

He might not look like an MVP. He certainly doesn't act like one, grinding hard in every at-bat and taking every out personally in a manner ex-Yankee Paul O'Neill would be proud of, but like it or not, he's a serious contender for the award with under six weeks to go in the season.

"It's been fun to watch," says Dustin Pedroia of Youkilis' season. "He's been the biggest part of our offense."

"He's growing into his power," says Jason Varitek. "He's always been a really good hitter."

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

The Red Sox have decided to push back Josh Beckett's next turn in the rotation to Tuesday because the pitcher is feeling some tingling and numbness in his throwing arm.

Manager Terry Francona said the 2007 ALCS and 2003 World Series MVP slept on his throwing arm awkwardly on Saturday night. He started Sunday against the Blue Jays, allowing eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings in arguably his worst performance in a Red Sox uniform.

Francona indicated that the decision to push Beckett back from Saturday at Toronto to Tuesday at New York was more precautionary than anything else.

"It's not something we're real worried about, we just don't want to do something rash," said Francona. "If we let him pitch just because he's a good pitcher and he will pitch, I just don't think that makes much sense."

The ace's usual side sessions were postponed a few days as a result of the tingling and the team wanted to put him on a normal throwing schedule in between starts.

For Beckett's part, he sounds a little more concerned. "Anytime it's something with your arm ... especially with a pitcher, you think the worst," said the pitcher. But he went on to say that club officials have assured him the numbness isn't anything to worry about long-term.

Beckett has been outperformed, at least on a results basis, by both Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka, but there's no doubt Boston will need him at his best to secure a playoff spot and succeed should they get to the postseason. So how worried should Red Sox fans be?

With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.

- The elephant in the room four days from the trade deadline is Manny Ramirez, who once again is on shaky ground in Boston. In a perfect world, the Red Sox would love to rid themselves of the near-constant headache that Ramirez provides. In practice, they are still very much in the hunt for their third World Series in five years and would need to replace his production in step with any deal. That makes the completion of any trade unlikely in the next few days.

Joel Sherman and Mike Puma of the New York Post run down the potential list of suitors for Ramirez, and because of Boston's desire to ship him out of the American League, it is a very short one. The Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Mets and Phillies are the teams with both the need and the financial wherewithal to pick up the tab for Ramirez's $20 million deal. Because the left fielder has 10-5 rights (10 years in the league, five with the same team) he can veto any deal the Red Sox put together. That leads Sherman and Puma to conclude that Ramirez would only accept a deal to Philadelphia, where he would be reunited with manager Charlie Manuel, who was his hitting coach in Cleveland.

- And what of the Rays? The Yankees have gotten stronger already, and could add Jarrod Washburn or another pitcher at any moment. The Red Sox are embroiled in the latest Manny drama, but are more likely to improve from within. Tampa Bay has been pretty quiet, but they are out there looking for upgrades in the form of a right-handed outfield bat and bullpen depth. With Xavier Nady and Casey Blake off the market, the team may look internally for a right-handed bat, with the rehabbing Rocco Baldelli a possibility. That leaves the club looking to trade for a left-handed reliever with Brian Fuentes at the top of the Rays' list, with Arthur Rhodes, Jack Taschner, Will Ohman and Ron Mahay as backup options.

Every year for seemingly the last five years, the Red Sox have hinted at their willingness to trade Manny Ramirez. Given Manny's huge contract, goofy antics, and ability to crush the ball, the rumors never seem that serious. With Manny's monster contract running out after this year and Manny missing games for a mysterious knee ailment, suddenly things seem awfully serious.

Today in the Boston Globe, Dan Shaughnessy published a story that seemed to indicate that the Red Sox were finally growing tired for Manny's shenanigans. That in itself isn't really noteworthy, but it is in conjunction with some statements made by Theo Epstein through Tim McCarver during this afternoon's FOX broadcast. Prior to the game, Epstein told McCarver that he'd be willing to trade Manny if Ramirez was willing to waive his no-trade clause, then pointedly told McCarver that he could repeat that rumor on the air. It sounds to me like Epstein wants people to know that he's serious about trading Manny this time around.

With Manny's deal up and the Sox interested in getting him out of town, there would certainly be some interested parties (the Mets, Phillies, Dodgers, Cardinals and maybe the Astros if Ed Wade is feeling particularly crazy all quickly come to mind). The key for the Red Sox would be finding a quick replacement. The Pirates will certainly be listening to offers for Jason Bay and the Sox have enough prospects to work something out there. The Braves are shopping Mark Teixeira, who could bump Kevin Youkilis to left field. It would be a lot of work for Esptein to pull off in five days, but it seems like he just might be serious about getting rid of Manny this time around.

July 31 is rapidly approaching. Buy or Sell lets each team know where they stand.

The Boston Red Sox aren't sellers, just to get that out of the way. Are they big buyers though? A lot of that will come down to a slim sheath protecting a tendon in the wrist of David Ortiz. Rumors have been bouncing around about the team's interest in Mark Teixeira to fill Papi's spot in the lineup. That's curious since the team has maintained from day one that Papi will be just fine and back in the lineup for the stretch run.

They probably won't know if Papi is healthy until the deadline has passed. He's supposed to be back July 25th but push that back a couple of days and you're not going to be able to land a big-time replacement. Similarly, if Ortiz suffers a setback after the fact the team will be left scrambling for answers. That's a problem but not a huge one. The Sox haven't suffered too much in Ortiz's absence and have a killer pitching staff that can carry them with or without Papi's monster bat.

The other problem with the trade idea for Teixeira is the inclusion of Kevin Youkilis in the rumored package going to Atlanta. Youk has been great for the Sox and isn't that far below Teixeira on the list of first basemen. Why would you deal a guy with controllable costs for an impending free agent who would cost upwards of $15 million to keep around?

Energy drinks make America go round. They legally supplant our speed addiction when it's too hot (Coffee in the summer? No thanks) and when we're in public (Crystal meth at work? Meh.) And with, ahem, more potent means no longer available, many athletes are finding themselves involved with the brain and body fuels of today's society.

Kevin Youkilis is one of these athletes. Only his energy drink has the best double-meaning-riddled name of all time: SlumpBuster. Now, SlumpBuster is not specifically tailored to Youkilis, although this particular version is (you can see the regular version on MySpace). But, via Red Sox Monster, the online drink will premiere online Friday.

Jeff Brannon, SlumpBuster CEO, tells us that the drink will be available in the Northeast "later this quarter," but can be found online Friday at iFungo.com, an online baseball equipment shop.

Now, I haven't tried the drink (yet), but as an energy drink connoisseur, I can promise you I will. And here's the thing about awesome marketing coupled with celebrity endorsement: it works well. I'm not saying I would take a SlumpBuster over a Red Bull (again, yet) just because of the awesome name and Yooooouk, one of the most likable players in the league, on the can. But I am saying I'd certainly think about it.

Last Thursday's game between the Red Sox and Rays was one of the stranger ones of the season. Not because of the brawl between Coco Crisp and assorted Tampans, you could see that coming a mile away after he tried to kneecap Akinori Iwamura, but because of the fracas between Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis in the Red Sox dugout.

Manny plays the game with an almost Zen-like indifference to little things like outs and score but Youk is from the Paul O'Neill school. Every strikeout must be met with a shouted obscenity or slammed helmet and that dichotomy spilled into an argument. Youkilis told the Boston Herald that he realizes the need to cool things down.

"It's been there. It's been there for a while. A lot of it has to do with the chip I hold on my shoulder in a lot of different areas. I just have to lose that chip."

I'm not sure I agree with Youkilis. Sure, he doesn't need to treat every out as an opportunity for self-flagellation but plenty of players have played with surplus fire and not suffered because of it. Take the aforementioned O'Neill, for example. He looked like an idiot every now and then but it was his personality and part of who he was as a player. Losing that burning desire to succeed could hurt a lot more than a broken water cooler or two.

There's no doubt that the Red Sox were a little riled up last night. After all, nothing gets the adrenaline going like a man-hug festival with the opposing team, complete with cheap shots. So with all the players on edge all night after the scrum between Boston and Tampa Bay, it's not very surprising that Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis would get mad at each other in the dugout.

The question everybody wanted an answer to was a simple one: why? Why were two teammates fighting while their team was up six runs? Well, it wasn't due to Manny's delayed arrival at the fight earlier as Watson theorized, no, according to a source within the team it had to do with the Greek God of Walks temper after bad at bats.

"It all happened because Manny complained about Youkilis' habit of throwing bats, helmets and other objects in the dugout when he has a bad at-bat, something that has become a constant practice," the source said.

"Other players have told Youkilis in the past about the situation, which makes him look selfish and that he is more worried about each at-bat than about the team. If Boston is winning easily, there's no reason to throw objects all over the dugout because of a bad at-bat.