SCHILLING'S SCHITTY SCHOULDER SCHTARTING SCHPRING SCHTRIFE

Both the Globe and Herald are breaking stories about Curt Schilling's right shoulder. The variations between the two stories leads me to believe that this story is extremely tentative and speculative. Here are a few things that are clear, though:

Curt Schilling's right shoulder is acting up

He will miss at least the start of spring training

He went to see Dr. Craig Morgan, who performed shoulder surgery on Schilling in 1995

The Red Sox official stance is "no comment"

Curt missed 7 weeks of last season with problems in his right shoulder

He's 41 years old

Tony Massarotti is a sensationalist writer

The Globe's story is more subdued, stating that there are reports of an injury and that Schilling may miss part of spring training. The Herald's story is more doom and gloom. The title of the piece is "Schilling could be lost for season." Of course, there's no hard evidence to support this. If Schilling's injury is bad enough to require surgery (again, we have no idea how bad it is), it's safe to say his season is done. But we don't even know what the injury actually is.

Massarotti's Herald column also asserts that there is friction and/or tension between the Red Sox and Schilling. Apparently, there is disagreement over treatment options. There is also a possibility that the Red Sox have looked into voiding Schilling's contract.

Tony Maz cites "baseball sources." He's a reliable reporter, but I think this story is an extreme interpretation of rumor and second hand talk. Understandable considering the lack of spring training storylines surrounding the Sox.

It is possible that the Red Sox and Schilling cannot come to a consensus on how to treat the shoulder. It's possible Schilling wants to rehab somewhere but the team wants him to rehab in Fort Myers. Who knows?

And as far as the Red Sox taking steps to void the contract: all that means is that the Red Sox have looked into it. If you had a 41 year old pitcher with a shoulder injury, and you were on the line to pay him $8M, wouldn't you see if you could get out of it?

What really irks me about this whole thing is that Johan Santana is currently trying on his new Mets apparel. The Red Sox could have had him, albeit for a price. We had Beckett, then a 41 year old, overweight, bad shoulder question mark. Then whatever the Japanese symbol for a question mark is. Then a 90 year old knuckle-baller with a bad back. Then a bunch of kids with next to no Major League experience. Santana wouldn't be a question mark. He would've been an exclamation point.

Sources:
Boston.com article by Gordon Edes and Nick Cafardo
BostonHerald.com article by Tony Massarotti

Photo Credit:
Associated Press

SHOULD THE PATRIOTS FRANCHISE MOSS?

Yes!

Randy Moss is the Pats' top candidate to receive the franchise tag. Asante Samuel got it last year, but under the condition that he wouldn't be franchised again. Randy Moss is an unrestricted free agent, and after setting the NFL record for touchdown receptions, is the top free agent WR out there.

A franchise tag would give Moss a 2008 salary of $7.84 million, which is the average salary of the top 5 WRs in the League. This would be far below the potential salaries he could garner on the open market.

Other teams would still be able to make offers to Moss. But if Moss signed with them, it would cost them two first round draft choices. That price is a bit too steep, which is why franchising players is such an ironclad way to keep them on your team cheaply.

We can all agree that Moss was a huge part of the Patriots' record-breaking offense. Although he didn't have big numbers in the post-season, that was more of a product of Tom Brady's play, and not Moss. He is the ultimate receiving threat. He's fast, tall, strong, with great hands.

DONNELLY TO CLEVELAND, HINSKE TO TAMPA

Brendan Donnelly has signed a minor league deal with the Indians. The 36 year old righty underwent Tommy John surgery in 2007 and is expected to miss the first few months of the 2008 season. Despite being named in the Mitchell Report, I wanted the Sox to keep Donnelly. The major knock I have on this team is its lack of bullpen depth, and Donnelly could give us some. Although at his age, coming off major arm surgery might make him too much of a risk.

With the acquisition of Sean Casey, the Sox were free to let Eric Hinske go with no signs of a struggle. The 30 year old former Rookie of the Year hit a meager .204 with the Sox last year. He was a hit or miss signing when we acquired him. It was a miss. He signed a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Sources:
Boston.com's Extra Bases
The official web-site of the Tampa Bay Rays