Let’s be serious for a second: before yesterday’s injury how much difference was the return of Jose Contreras going to make? Does veteran presence trump total unreliability? Can one pitcher’s purported heart and alleged votes of confidence from team management make up for the rest of the team not really being all that well-equipped to play with the big kids?

When this is all over, people in a position to do so are going to say the loss of Contreras may have been something near a death blow to the Good Guys’ long-term chances. Mike Bauman is already calling it bad timing; the Sun-Times calls it a turn for the worse; the Tribune says the void may be unfillable.

But at some point you have to ask yourself: who are these guys talking about?

The same Jose Contreras who continually leads the American League in wild pitches? The Jose Contreras who, all told, has turned in two stellar half-seasons and another four and half seasons bordering on miserable? The Jose Conteras who opposing home teams are hitting .312 against?

Yes, yes, 2005, All-Star, grinder grit etc. etc., but to use past accomplishments as a counter to present shortcomings is not just weak but also foolish. The sports press may say the Sox just lost the ace of their 2005 postseason staff, but this is an incorrect statement: the ace of that squad disappeared once he was lit up for 7 runs by the Kansas City Royals one evening in August 2006. It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say the big man hasn’t been the same pitcher since.

So now what? Can the combination of D.J. Carrasco and Lance Broadway salvage the fifth spot in the rotation? Will fresh faces the league hasn’t yet got a book on overcome everything else about a team whose only offensive attack consists of hoping for a three-run homer? Only time and horrifying flashbacks to 2003 and 2004 will tell.