SOX STILL TRYING TO TRADE MANNY

According to this article in the Hartford Courant, the Red Sox talked to the Angels last week about a possible deal involving the slugger. The deal would have brought Ervin Santana and Chone Figgins to the Sox along with some prospects. The negotiations didn't go anywhere, however, possibly because the Red Sox wanted the Angels to assume all of Manny's remaining contract. I think this was just Theo testing the waters, as he has been known to do.

THE BRUINS ARE COMING BACK

Since a January 12th loss to the LA Kings, the Bruins have been on a run. They got a point in 8 of their 9 games since then. They have gone 6-1-2 in those games. They just pounded the first place Ottawa Senators 5-0 the other night, beating them for the 3rd time this season. Tim Thomas stopped all 44 shots he saw. The Bruins will have 6 games in 10 days in the month of February before the season is put on hold for the Olympics.

The Bruins aren't sending too many players to the Olympics this season. Marco Sturm will play for Germany, Alexei Zhamnov will play for Russia, PJ Axellson will play for Sweden, and that's it. This means that most of the Bruins will be pretty well rested when the season resumes in March.

At the moment, the Bruins have crawled out of the cellar of the Northeast Division into a tie for 4th with Montreal. They are only 3 points behind Toronto for 3rd place in the division, and more importantly, the 8th most points in the Conference. If they can continue this run and continue to rack up points, they will soon be in the playoff picture.

SOX GET ANOTHER FORMER MARLIN

The Red Sox have reportedly signed free agent defensive short-stop Alex Gonzalez to a one year deal worth $3 million according to the Boston Herald. Gonzalez will not hit much over .250 and his minimal power, but he has a good glove and will bat 9th. Although the Red Sox may have lost something offensively this off-season, their defense is much improved. Loretta, Gonzalez, and Crisp are all solid fielders. Mike Lowell, JT Snow, and Varitek are all Gold Glove winners.

Is it me, or do we get an overwhelming amount of players from the Marlin organization? Lowell, Beckett, Clement and Gonzalez are all former Marlins. Former Sox players Edgar Renteria, Kevin Millar, Matt Mantei, and others were all Marlins. This is the second time this season that the Red Sox have gotten talent from the Marlin organization. Let's hope Lowell, Beckett, and Gonzalez fare better than Renteria and Millar.

Red Sox projected lineup:
CF Crisp
RF Nixon
DH Ortiz
LF Ramirez
C Varitek
3B Lowell
1B Youkilis/Snow
2B Harris/Graffanino/Loretta
SS Gonzalez

DAMON TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR CLUBHOUSE CHEMISTRY

David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Kevin Millar, Manny Ramirez, Orlando Cabrera, Trot Nixon, Mark Bellhorn, Jason Varitek, Bill Mueller, Curt Schilling, Terry Francona, Gabe Kapler, Mike Timlin, Allan Embree, Pokey Reese, Doug Mirabelli, Dave Roberts, Tim Wakefield, Kevin Youkilis, Bronson Arroyo, Derek Lowe, Keith Foulke, and the rest of the 2004 World Series Champion Red Sox had little to do with having such great clubhouse chemistry that allowed them to win the World Series 2 years ago. It was all Johnny Damon. That's according to Johnny.

This is from the Eagle Tribune:

"'I remember my first day with the Red Sox and I could not believe how boring the team was, how boring the clubhouse was and how miserable everybody was,' said Damon. 'I like to think that I helped change how fans looked at the team, how the media looked at the team and how the team got together and it was different. How the players stopped being afraid of failing, which I think was why we were able to accomplish something that hadn't been done in a very long time. Now I want to bring that attitude to New York. You must win and you must have confidence, because if you don't have that in this city it will definitely eat you up.'"

Everytime he is photographed or quoted, it becomes easier and easier to not like him.

SOX GET CRISP, FANS GET AGGRAVATED IN VIRTUAL WAITING ROOMS

I didn't even bother this year. I didn't go to the virtual waiting rooms to wait for hours while someone else bought tickets. Hopefully the Sox will offer some deals for members of the Nation and I intend on going to Toronto and maybe Baltimore and New York to see the Sox play.

The bigger news is that the Red Sox got center-fielder Coco Crisp. They had to rework the deal, adding cash considerations along with a player to be named later or more cash considerations. The important thing is that we have a solid center-fielder. Not only that, David Riske is a decent releiver.

This deal really takes the pressure off the whole short-stop situation. Most teams don't have really good offensive short-stops so even if we don't get a new one, we won't be interrible shape.

Here's what our lineup currently/potentially looks like:

1. CF Crisp
2. RF Trot Nixon
3. DH David Ortiz
4. LF Manny Ramirez
5. C Jason Varitek
6. 3B Mike Lowell
7. 1B Kevin Youkilis/JT Snow
8. 2B Mark Loretta
9. SS Alex Cora

Not as great as 2003-2005, but still not that bad.

THEO IS BACK AS GENERAL MANAGER

Theo Epstein will be the Red Sox General Manager. Again. His Grover Cleveland like absence and return will go down in baseball history along with the comings and goings of Billy Martin in the New York Yankees organization.

Theo said there were "fundamental disagreements among members of upper management" about organizational priorities.

"This lack of a shared vision, plus the stress of a far-too-public negotiation, strained some relationships, including mine with Larry Lucchino."

Basically, the Red Sox brass and Theo disagreed on where to go with the team (perhaps it was a large philosophy like pitching versus hitting or younger vs. older or perhaps it was just a bunch of smaller decisions like what to do with Damon, Manny, and the bullpen). Then the negotiations got public (Shaughnessey column) and Theo decided to leave.

Hoyer will be the assistant GM and Cherington will be the VP of player personnel. Theo will also go from senior VP to executive VP.

This whole thing has been insane. Apparently Hoyer and Cherington were told their positions were only temporary until Theo returned. Apparently the Red Sox knew he'd come back all along. I wonder if all of that is actually true.


MOTA FAILED A PHYSICAL?
The Red Sox have been talking with the Indians for a deal for center-fielder Coco Crisp. They reportedly agreed on a deal 2 days ago that would send prospect Andy Marte, who we got for Edgar Renteria; releiver Guillermo Mota, who came along with Mike Lowell in the trade with the Marlins; and long-time AAAA catcher (those four A's are intentional) Kelley Shoppach. We would reportedly be getting young outfielder Coco Crisp, young set-up man David Riske, and young catcher Josh Bard. However, according to ESPN.com, Guillermo failed a physical. If so, that would nullify the deal entirely. However, Mota's agent claims Guillermo didn't fail a physical. Which is true? I have no clue.

Andy Katz, Mota's agent, claims that he didn't fail a physical, but the Indians had some concerns about his shoulder. To me, that is failing. When a person passes a physical for a trade or for the army or for a job, that means that the organization administering the physical has no concerns about that person's ability to get the job done. Obviously, Cleveland has concerns. Obviously, that means Mota failed. The deal will have to be reworked or completely dumped.

If anyone can sort out that mess, it is Theo. It's good to have him back.

In Theo We Trust. Again.

MLB DEMONSTRATES HOW CLASSY THEY ARE

From the people who brought you this infamous and equally as classy item:



I know Major League Baseball is trying to make money off this rivalry, but let street vendors make these shirts. They try to make them look like street vendor shirts with the intentionally crappy lettering and the "gritty" look of the shirt. However, $19.95 plus S&H is a bit more than what street vendors sell their stock for. It is funny how MLB isn't selling a shirt like this one:



Even though they are better made, and are much more clever. I guess we just have more clever guys in Boston making t-shirts then they do in New York so they need MLB's help.

UNCOORDINATED

The third Bellichick coordinator in two years to leave the Patriots organisation and become a head coach is Eric Mangini. He will be coaching the hapless New York Jets next year. Once again, the Pats are left with no coordinators.

As much as the salary cap, the way the draft is structured, and free agency prevent dynasties, I think the coaching system does so even more. If you're team is winning, other teams, that are desperate for quality coaches and executives, will come running to raid your organisation.

At least there wasn't any bad blood and no Dan Shaughnessey article with leaked material and no Patriots press conference to "react" to the loss of a member of the team.