Today could be a truly seminal moment for the Red Sox, with the departure of a man who was to star in the Hub coinciding with the arrival of two supernovas in full development.

Jacoby Ellsbury is just one major draw in today’s day-night home doubleheader against the Angels.

Barring a shocking development, we have seen the last of Wily Mo Pena in a Red Sox uniform. The utility outfielder with hardly any utility has been stuck in a backlog of outfielders, behind more productive and well-rounded players with larger, long-term deals. It’s been clear that his future in Beantown wasn’t long in the offing for a good two months, but that didn’t get him moved at the trade deadline. Since then he’s been a light headache and a nuisance, saying that he wants to play and should have been trading, then backing off the statement and claiming it wasn’t a demand. All in all, he’s been an unabetted disaster.

That’s quite a contrast to the player who will take his place in the second half of the day-night doubleheader with the surging Angels, ace center field prospect Jacoby Ellsbury. The part-Navajo speedster from Oregon has bounced back from a groin injury in AAA to hit .412 with a 12-game hitting streak. It’s hard to keep numbers like those out of the major leagues.

Fittingly, Ellsbury was an instant fan favorite in his earlier call-up to the bigs, grabbing cheers for undaunted hustle - he scored from second on a passed ball!! - and well-rounded defense and slap-hitting. Let’s face it: The guy hits like Johnny Damon. He runs like Johnny Damon. He fields like Damon … with a better arm. Most intimidating of all, he even looks a little like Damon. It’s truly eerie.

As excited as fans will be to see Ellsbury back in a lineup, they may be even more excited about the much-heralded debut of Clay Buchholz in the opener. The diminutive fireballer has more strikes than any other minor leaguer, and his start comes with as much excitement as any in recent memory. Certainly, last year’s Jon Lester debut comes to mind. But Buchholz has more of a power arm than Lester does. He runs over batters with his fastball, then pulls out a nasty curveball and a change up that keeps batters guessing. He’ll have his work cut out for him against the Angels lineup and John Lackey, but a number of fans are sure to be confident of his success, before he even gets started.

Clay Buchholz is ready and rarin’ to go. Watch out, this could be the start of a whole new era.

Understandably, Buchholz and Ellsbury are all the talk of the Hub. But as much as the spotlight may be rotating toward two new subjects, it’s departure from another is a stark realization of the failure of a trade. While Bronson Arroyo has drooped into true mediocrity in year two in Cincinnati, Wily Coyote has been a true disaster for the Sox. For better or worse, that ends this morning.

– Cameron Smith