YANKS TRY TO GET DAMON AND NOMAR

I understand why New York wants Damon. They need a CFer and a guy at the top of the lineup. However, them going after Nomar is a bit odd to me. Sources are saying Nomar would play first, which makes sense considering his inability to throw the ball with accuracy. Now, if the Yankees get Nomar, I will probably laugh. It will be just far too ridiculous. And you know what, they can have Nomar for all I care. The guy brings nothing but misery and woe wherever he plays.

Another former short-stop related item. Someone with more energy/more time went out and has done the easy math and seen that Edgar Renteria made 14 of his 30 errors on the road. I guess the jungle like conditions of Fenway's brand new infield were responsible for those extra 2. That's not really a lot, is it Edgar? If you're going to lie, make it a good one. We check for this kind of stuff all the time.

RED SOX ANNOUNCE CO-GENERAL MANAGERS

The Red Sox are declaring this the end of a period of uncertainty. Ben Cherington and Jed Hoyer have been named as co-consuls, I mean co-General Managers by the team. It is notable how much the Red Sox are trying to connect these two guys to Theo Epstein.

Now, co-GMs can work for a short period. When it is December, for example, and there is time to converse and have dialogue about trades and free agents. However, what will happen in the middle of the season. Theo was renound for his vigor at the trade deadline. Will people know which GM to call late in the afternoon? The Orioles tried a two man GM system and it didn't pan out. Now, was it the system, or was it the men? Maybe these two will know to cower to Larry Luchino's will.

I know, the Red Sox front office has done well this offseason considering it has been essentially devoid of a GM. I remember WEEI's Michael Holley remarked after the Beckett deal "Who needs a GM?" He was serious, too. The thing is, this committee stuff can only work temporarily. No two people will ever make the same decisions all the time. Eventually, there will be disagreements. Then there will be division. Then there will be failure. This MUST be a temporary solution, perhaps for only the 2006 season. It simply will not work longer than that.

THEO COMING BACK?

The Globe is reporting that the Red Sox are trying to get Theo back into the fold as a consultant or advisor. This has already been insinuated by Peter Gammons of ESPN on sports radio. He, among others, beleives that Theo was consulted on the recent deals that went down.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox are starting to show an interest in Hall of Famer Roger Clemens. I'm glad they've started to do this. I think the chances of landing him are minimal, but he would be a great addition to our staff.

Apparently, Edgar Renteria wanted out of Boston. It wasn't fans pressuring him or a new set of pitchers, or a new city. It was the Fenway infield. Apparently that is why Edgar had 30 errors. If I had the time or the energy, I'd look up to see if he had more home errors than road errors. But I don't at the moment.

In related news, Miguel Tejada has backed down from his trade demand just a bit. Time will tell how that all works out.

PATS CRUSH BILLS

35-7 and it wasn't even that close. Now, all the Pats have to do is win 1 game or have Miami lose a game and they win their 3rd straight AFC East title.

I'm not going to look at this blowout and think that the Patriots are a great team. Let's face facts, the Bills suck. They are terrible. They were still able to exploit our coverage though. Our front defensive 7 was able to shut them down, thankfully. They will be the key to any success we have in the post-season.

Brady had a solid day but made a few mistakes. He threw for 329 yards, and 2 TDs. He also threw 2 picks. However, he did run for 17 yards on 4 carries including a 3 yard TD run. He got shaken up in the 1st quarter though. If he goes down, we might be in bad shape.

Corey Dillon had a great day, which we needed with Evans and Pass on the bench and brady limping. Dillon ran for 102 on 22 carries with a touchdown. He also caught 4 passes for 29 yards.

Kevin Faulk had a good day. He only ran for 14 yards, but he caught 6 passes for 71 yards. His backfield versatility has been missed for most of the season and it was good to see him back to form.

Eight different Patriots caught passes. Four receivers, two running backs and two tight ends. Branch led them with 83 yards while Troy Brown and Christian Fauria each had a TD grab.

Defensively, the Pats were able to rack up 3 interceptions, all of which came because of the front 7. Ellis Hobbs, Asante Samuel, and James Sanders each had one. Sanders took his back for 6.

Roosevelt Colvin has stepped up big time the past few weeks and played well today. He got a sack and contributed to a great deal of pressure on JP Losman. Seymour also made some statistical noise as opposed to the unnoticed noise he makes week in and week out. He too had a sack. Tedy Bruschi had a solid day, tipping the pass that Sanders eventually intercepted. Ty Warren had a good day on the line with 7 tackles.

Solid win by the Patriots today. The Chargers are down 20-17 to the Dolphins. If they can come back, we clinch the AFC East.



If you look to your left, you'll see I have a new sponsor. They seem to have a good variety of tickets to buy. They also have the best phrasing for their ads and I know for a fact that they know they're sports and are Curt Schilling fans.

TEAM USA GETS UNFORTUNATE DRAW

The United States qualified for the World Cup and will be in Group E. They finished 2nd in their group because they scored 3 fewer goals than Mexico. They will be grouped with Italy, a perennial powerhouse. Italy won Group 5 in the European qualifying rounds. They finished ahead of Norway, Scotland, Belarus, Moldovia, and Slovenia. Italy is not as good as they were a few years ago but being forced to play them so early could harm the US's chances of advancement.

Also in the group is Ghana. Ghana won Group 2 of the African qualifying rounds. Rounding out the group is the Czech Republic. They qualified via the European playoffs. The Czech Republic made it to the semi-finals in 2004's European Championships.

The United States will open up their World Cup on June 12 against the Czech Republic in Kelskirchen, Germany. They'll play Italy on the 17th in Kaiserslautern. Then they'll go to Nuremburg on the 22nd to play Ghana. None of the games will be insanely early in the morning like the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan. They will all be mid to late afternoon games.

The top 2 teams will advance. I think the US will finish 2nd behind Italy. I think they will beat the Czech Republic in a close game, dominate Ghana, and draw with Italy or lose. Italy will win the group because they will score more goals against Ghana and the Czech Republic.

If the US advances to the elimination round they will face either the 2nd place team from Group F (Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan) which will probably be Croatia, if they win Group E. If they finish in 2nd, they will play the winner of group F which will probably be 2002 Champions Brazil. It is imperative that the US win their group because Brazil is simply the best team in the world. Man, we got a crappy draw. Had we scored 4 more goals in qualifying, we could have gotten Mexico's draw. Mexico is with Iran, Angola, and Portugal. This could be a very short World Cup for Team USA even though they are amongst the top 10 in the World. It is a shame because if we make a good run at it, it would definately boost interest in the sport in the US. Oh well.

YANKS FOCUS ON PITCHING, SOX ON HITTING

After getting Josh Beckett from the Marlins, the Red Sox have resumed sitting on their beleaguered pitching staff, seemingly waiting for lightning to strike twice. While all the fans and all the other bloggers ask "Who will play shortstop?" I ask a much more significant question. Who the heck is going to pitch for us?

We have Josh Beckett, that's one answer. Curt Schilling is still under contract, that's half of an answer because God only knows whether or not he will be able to pitch in any capacity with any amount of effectiveness. He's going to be another year older and still recovering from an injury. What if he shows up to Spring Training out of shape again? Then we have David Wells, who doesn't want to pitch here and is requesting a trade. Then we have Matt Clement, again only half an answer because he is a first half pitcher. Then there's Papelbon. Is he ready to start? Don't we need him in the bullpen as well. We've also got Wakefield who has lost his personal Catcher. Wake should give us a solid season of 30 starts with 15 wins. That's good for the back end of the rotation, but we need more than Beckett on the frontline.

AJ Burnett has gone to Toronto. We hardly made a noise on that free agent. Our most consistent releiver behind Mike Timlin, Mike Myers, has been signed away under our noses by the New York Yankees. How could we let this guy simply go without a fight? It wasn't as if the Yankees overpaid for him either. Two years for $2.4 million. Certainly we could have matched that or gone over that. There goes our situational lefty and BOOM here comes a guy to face David Ortiz for the Yankees. All we had to do was offer him a f*cking contract but we were too f*cking busy playing mind games with Damon, cowering to Manny, and trying to get rid of our average Short-Stop to focus on our desperation for pitching, particularly out of the bullpen.

Another one of the 2004 Champions is gone. Bill Mueller has signed a deal with the LA Dodgers. You think Grady will want to see Mueller's ring or not? We all figured Mueller was gone after this season. The deal that got us Beckett also landed us Mike Lowell. The deal that dumped Renteria got us Andy Marte. We also have Youkilis who has been waiting in the wings for years now.

Here is a quick list of some 2004 World Series Champions that will be playing elsewhere next season:
Theo Epstein
Kevin Millar
Mark Bellhorn
Bill Mueller - LAD
Orlando Cabrera - LAA
Pokey Reese
Nomar Garciaparra
Doug Mirabelli - SD
David McCarty
Doug Mientkiewicz - NYM
Dave Roberts - SD
Cesar Crespo
Brian Daubach
Ricky Gutierrez
Ellis Burks
Andy Dominique
Earl Snyder
Sandy Martinez
Derek Lowe - LAD
Pedro Martinez - NYM
Ramiro Mendoza
Alan Embree
Curt Leskanic
Scott Williamson
Terry Adams
Mark Malaska
BH Kim
Jamie Brown
Jimmie Anderson
Phil Seibel
Bobby Jones
Joe Nelson
Frank Castillo
Mike Myers

Now, not all of these guys we will miss very much, but the core guys: Pedro, Lowe, the entire infield, the General Manager, are all gone. Damon and Ramirez aren't exactly still in Boston either. Who is left (for sure)?

Jason Varitek
Trot Nixon
Tim Wakefield
Bronson Arroyo
Keith Foulke
Curt Schilling
Gabe Kapler
Kevin Youkilis
Mike Timlin
Terry Francona

We're not exactly building dynasties here in Boston. It is becoming more and more apparent that the goal of this organization was to win 1 World Series. They build the 2004 team to do that and now they seem to be trying to build a competetive team every season. A team that will win 90 games, make the playoffs, and fill the seats. Teams with exciting offenses that keep the Sox in the game for 9 innings, but with no pitching so we get swept and dominated by teams such as the White Sox.

The Yankees also went out and signed Kyle Farnsworth while we were playing with Edgar Renteria, Doug Mirabelli, Hanley Ramirez, Manny Ramirez, and Johnny Damon.

And you know what, Johnny Damon needs to shut the hell up. He's whining and moaning about how the Red Sox didn't make an effort to resign him during the season or before it. You know what, Johnny, you claim you took all the risk of injury, but the Red Sox risked about $8 million every season you were here. It's give and take.

Speaking of money, the Red Sox are going to have to foot some of the remaining bill for Edgar Renteria. $11 million of it, in fact. This deal starts looking worse and worse. I know Renteria was a bust, but to only get a 3B prospect and not to be able to dump the entire salary is a shame. Again, we could have just kept Orlando "right when I got to Boston we started winning" Cabrera, but no. We had to improve a position that needed little improvement in an effort to...I don't know. What was the point of that signing again? Now look at us, Nomar Garciaparra has become a serious option for us at SS. What a freaking shame. In fact, Nomar is leading a fan poll at Boston.com on who should play SS for us next year.

Just a bit about Andy Marte. It looks as though he is at least another year away from Major League Baseball but he could be an option along with Lowell at third base. He only hit .269 last year in AAA Richmond and slugged .530 with an OBP of .369. He could make his debut with us in the 2006 season if he has a good Spring Training. If not, I wouldn't be shocked to see him move up and down a few times eventually landing on the team in a more permanent role in August.

Just a quick question. How come the Yankees are said to be going after Roger Clemens, but we aren't? Couldn't we use a guy like him. He would dramatically improve our rotation. We'd have Clemens, Schilling, Beckett, Wakefield, and Clement. We could then easily trade Wells, move Arroyo to the pen, and keep Papelbon in AAA getting starting experience or keep him in the bullpen where he thrived last season.

According to a few sources, Miguel Tejada is unhappy in Baltimore and would like to be traded. I doubt the O's would be dumb enough to trade him within the division considering how stellar a player he is but just imagine him on the Red Sox. Maybe we could ship Manny down I-95 to Baltimore for Miggy. Tejada, by the way, is one of the ebst players in the game. Since the 2000 season, he has had 98 RBI or more, averaging 118 per season over that stretch. He has also hit 26 HRs or more since 2000, averaging 30. His batting average since 2000 is .291. He's been in the MVP voting for the past 6 years including a 2002 triumph. He has played 162 games each of the last 5 years, and he's a leader. And guess how much $$$ he makes. About the same as Edgar Renteria! IT'S PERFECT! Barring a major blockbuster like sending Manny down there along with some $ and a lesser player, we're not going to see Miguel Tejada playing Short Stop for us. A man can dream, though. A man can dream.

Here's a summary of the Red Sox Rule 5 Draft These guys rarely pan out but once and awhile they do. They can occasionally be solid fill-in players for a team like the Red Sox but the draft helps the smaller clubs out a lot more than the bigger clubs like us.

The Red Sox remain up in the air. Here is what we're pretty sure of:

C - Jason Varitek
1B -
2B - Mark Loretta
3B -
SS -
LF -
CF -
RF - Trot Nixon
DH - David Ortiz

SP - Josh Beckett
SP - Curt Schilling
SP -
SP -
SP -

Closer -
RP - Mike Timline
RP -
RP -
RP -
RP -

Manager: Terry Francona
GM:

That's it for now. How bout some pitching, Red Sox?

SOX DEAL RENTERIA

Edgar renteria has been traded to the Atlanta Braves for 3B prospect Andy Marte according to sources including Peter Gammons of ESPN.

This was a salary dump, pure and simple. Do you think the Red Sox are actively seeking third base prospects? No! We have Mike Lowell, we offered arbitration to Bill Mueller, and if that's not enough, Kevin Youkilis is on the verge of being a Major League player. We were, however, seeking to get rid of Renteria's contract.

It would have been great if we had been capable of doing this deal earlier which would have freed us to enter into the AJ Burnett sweepstakes with more ammunition.

What will the Red Sox do with this extra money lying around? Pay Johnny Damon? Get some pitching? Build 200 luxury seats that cost $1,000 each?

SOX TO MAKE TRADE FOR MARK LORETTA?

Word on the street is that the Red Sox have traded backup catcher Doug Mirabelli for mediocre second baseman Mark Loretta. Doug has been the best backup catcher in baseball, in my books, for the past two seasons and was most adept at catching for Tim Wakefield. Loretta strikes me somewhat as a Bill Mueller type player. His career average is .301 but he doesn't hit for much power with only 63 career homeruns in 9 full MLB seasons. He, like Mueller, is also a career National Leaguer.

The one thing Loretta has going for him apart from his batting average is his defensive versatility. He has played over 160 games at each of the four infield positions. He's also made an appearance in left-field, DHed a few times in Interleague games, and pitched an inning (no runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 Ks). As far as second basemen go, he is a decent hitter. He's no Alfonso Soriano, but he should be able to replace Bill Mueller in the lineup.

It is sad to see Mirabelli go. He was a great hitter, and a great catcher for Tim Wakefield. He was an integral part of the 2004 World Series team and despite his numbers, he knew the value of winning was more important than playing time.

Reportedly, the Red Sox are also close to a deal to trade Manny Ramirez. Moreover, Edgar Renteria is being talked about as part of possible deals.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox have seemingly decided to rest on their laurels in the Josh Beckett deal. AJ Burnett was out there, and now he is not. The Blue Jays have signed him for $55 million over 5 years. I think he would have been worth it and would have DRAMATICALLY improved our rotation.

On a funnier note, Grady Little has been hired to manage the LA Dodgers. The Dodgers downward spiral shall now continue indefinately.