THEO-RIZING

The word on Yawkey Way is that The Epstein and the Boston Red Sox are very close to a deal. The news is supposed to break on Monday, but who the hell knows. The difference between Luchino's offer and Epstein's demand is said to be a mere $300,000 a year. That isn't chump change, but it won't exactly bankrupt the Sox to give Theo $1.5M considering almost all of Theo's "employees" make more than that.

Red Sox assistant GM Josh Byrnes was hired by the Arizona Diamondbacks to be their new General Manager. The leading candidate to replace Byrnes as assistant GM - stay with me on this one - is assistant TO THE General Manager Jed Hoyer.

I think that Theo is a good GM, but he couldn't be as good of a GM if he didn't have the hefty budget provided here in Boston. He has been able to make mistakes and take chances that alot of GMs can't afford to make. Just a quick review of some of his moves:

Busts:
IF Jeremy Giambi, RP Ramiro Mendoza, RP Chad Fox, RP Byung-Hyun Kim, RP Scott Sauerbeck, SP Jeff Suppan, P John Halama, OF Jay Payton, RP Matt Mantei, SP Wade Miller, SS Edgar Renteria, RP Mike Remlinger,

Good Moves:
2B Todd Walker, P Bronson Arroyo, 1B Kevin Millar, RP Scott Williamson, RP Lenny DiNardo, 2B Mark Bellhorn, IF Pokey Reese, 1B Doug Mientkiewicz, RP Curtis Leskanic, RP Mike Myers, SP Matt Clement, SP David Wells, OF Adam Stern, IF Alex Cora, 2B tony Graffanino, RP Chad Bradford,

Great Moves:
RP Mike Timlin, 3B Bill Mueller, DH David Ortiz, OF Gabe Kapler (twice), SP Curt Schilling, RP Keith Foulke, Terry Francona, SS Orlando Cabrera, OF Dave Roberts, 1B John Olerud

Notable Draft Picks:
SP Abe Alvarez, SP/RP Jonathan Papelbon, IF Dustin Pedroia, P Craig Hansen

Theo has still been at work. He and the Red Sox have resigned Mike Timlin to a 1 year deal. He wanted a 2 year deal but also wanted to stay in Boston. He decided staying with the Sox was more important than the extra year, cut ties with his agent, represented himself, and has agreed to a tentative deal with us. This is the first piece of good news this off-season. First piece of any news, really.

Re-signing Timlin is the first step to building a good bullpen for 2006. As we saw in 2004, having a good bullpen is vital for any playoff run.

Johnny Damon has filed for free agency. Manny Ramirez has asked to be traded. It is the seocnd time he has asked for a trade in this season alone. Last time, he changed his mind in one of the weirdest incidents in trade deadline history.

David Ortiz won the Hank Aaron award for the American League. Andruw Jones got the NL one. The award goes to the best offensive performer in the League. This could bode well for Ortiz as MVP, but many people might still feel that playing defense matters that much. A lot of people, mostly Yankee fans strangely enough, don't recognize the fact that if we didn't have Millar and Olerud, Ortiz would be playing first base. He's not like Edgar Martinez and can't play. More on the MVP later.