TEJADA AND MANNY: MAKE UP YOUR MINDS!

Miguel Tejada has apparently called the Baltimore Orioles from his Domincan Republic home and has rescinded his request to be traded.

Newsday article taken from the Baltimore Sun

This means that the Orioles would probably want more than Manny, Clement, Marte, and cash. They'd probably want Larry Luchino's first born son and a piece of the gate at Fenway Park now that Tejada doesn't want to be traded. I don't know what changed his mind. Maybe he didn't want to go to any of the teams that were interested in him. What does that say about us?

Manny is a bit less clear on this whole situation. He said one thing, his agent said something more vague, and there is no real clear direction to go in. Does Manny want to stay, does he want to go somewhere else?

The Phillies may be interested in Ramirez. There were some rumors going around baseball that the Phillies were willing to deal for Tejada then send Tejada to Boston for Manny and a pitcher. There may be a possible deal involved with Ramirez. Of course, Manny is a 10-5 guy which means he'd have to aprove the trade. Bobby Abreau would probably be coming the other way, but he too has a no trade clause and a contract that could cause complications.

The Sox are rumored to be talking to the Athletics about a trade involving David Wells. The trade might also involve the Dodgers. The goal of the trade for Boston would be to get Jay Payton back. Payton would most likely be happy in a starting role in center-field and I think he would be the best available replacement at the moment.

The Sox are continuing to seek a short-stop. This lack of direction at short-stop has really been a demonstration of a lack of direction in the organization as a whole. We had Nomar, then we traded Nomar and got Cabrera. Then we dumped Cabrera because he wanted a 5 year deal and we had Hanley Ramirez coming up. So then we signed Renteria to a 4 year deal. And then we traded him for Marte, who we might trade for a short-stop. And then we traded Ramirez. We also sent along money with Edgar to Atlanta. Now we're offering teams more money along with current players for a short-stop. At the moment, our short-stop is Alex Cora, a fine bench player, but he is hardly an elite player.

Alex Gonzalez is now an eligible free agent. The Sox are talking with the D-Rays about Julio Lugo. They may have to use more prospects and spend more money to fill the gaping hole at short-stop. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal. Short-stop isn't a production position. But the Sox have depended quite a bit on offensive production from the short-stop position. This is partially due to a lack of offensive production at first-base since Mo Vaughn left. That's another position we have no direction with.

There is no plan on Yawkey Way. There is no direction, no philosophy. And firing GMs, switching managers every year, then appointing co-General Managers while secretly running things with a caniving CEO leaking stories to back-stabbing opportunistic columnists, and all the while being totally confused about what to do with your team even though you have hundreds of millions to spend, a fanatically loyal fanbase, and an historic team.

Again, I look South to Foxboough. A place of direction and consistency. Thank you, Mr. Kraft, and the entire Patriots organization.