Just for fun,

After hearing the tweet about Dale Sveum being a finalist in addition to one more candidate, who do you think/want to be the other candidate.

Personally- Pete Mackanin.  Classy guy, clearly can handle the media which is big in Boston, some experience, and experience working under Charlie Manuel- a fabulous manager.  Also, while I feel like he'll take input from the FO like they want him to, not to the extent that he's a puppet (which was the impression that I got of Tito- that he took input but didn't let Theo run the game).

I wonder if Theo is bargain shopping at all.  The only real spots of need on the team might be catching and left-handed relievers.  Now Theo could easily go to camp with this squad and be very successful, but there are plenty of options left. It would be awesome if Theo could grab Brian Fuentes or Dennys Reyes for a bargain price like 1 year/$4MM and let Oki-Doki pitch in AAA.  Also, Bengie Molina is still available and could be used to help 'Tek mentor Salty as well as platoon at C/1B/3B.  But I'll certainly be happy if the team that currently stands is what starts Spring Training.  The situations of Ellsbury, Matsuzaka, and Papelbon allow them to be trade bait in July because they all need big years and could be used to fill a gap at the Trade Deadline.

So I'm looking to buy NLCS Home Game 3 Tix.  Most years when I look on Stubhub at playoff tickets, the prices are lower at the very beginning, spike up when it gets closer to the dates, and then gradually fall until game day.  I'm just wondering if $180 for Level 4 is a terrible deal, which I saw.  I know that they'll be about $95 face, but there's little chance I get that...  So, should I wait for it to be lower, or is that about the best I'll get without waiting till day of?

So I'm pretty good at getting tickets to the Red Sox (gotten yankee games, Green Monster, Playoff...).  Here's a new trick that I found-Playoff ticket reservations.  MLB has a new gimmick where you can pay a little to "reserve" your playoff tickets-in other words, pay $10/$15/$20 for DS/CS/WS respectively to reserve the right to a guaranteed opportunity to purchase a ticket at face value for the postseason (maximum 2 tix per series per household).  The idea is that you pay a little, and if the Sox qualify, they'll contact you to purchase your tix.  This is a LOT cheaper than trying to negotiate stubhub or waiting hours on the phone to maybe get a face value SRO; the only catch is that you'll lose $10-$20 per ticket if they don't qualify (or you get a game that isn't played-eg. Game 7 in a series where only 6 are played).  Doesn't seem terrible to me.  

Here's the link:  http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/tickets/ticket_reservations.jsp

I all ready got mine, for ALCS Home game 1-hopefully will be a weekend so we can make the trek up.

I'm just curious who the idiot was who purchased Pirates tickets!

For anyone interested in tickets to Fort Myers:

I have three tickets to 3/13 vs. the Pirates at 1:00 PM.  Not a very competitive game, but a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon at the Fort.  The seats are in section R216, row 10, seats 9-11.  I want face value for them, that is $28 (this includes all the convenience charges from the Red Sox).  If you're interested, shoot me an email at revigik@gmail.com

Also, I can break the tix up if you only want 1 or 2. 

Thanks,

revigik

Happy travels for all those lucky enough to go to Florida this year (as opposed to the cold snowy Pennsylvania which I'm experiencing now...!)

For anyone interested in tickets to Fort Myers:

I have three tickets to 3/13 vs. the Pirates at 1:00 PM.  Not a very competitive game, but a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon at the Fort.  The seats are in section R216, row 10, seats 9-11.  I want face value for them, that is $28 (this includes all the convenience charges from the Red Sox).  If you're interested, shoot me an email at revigik@gmail.com

Also, I can break the tix up if you only want 1 or 2. 

Thanks,

revigik

Happy travels for all those lucky enough to go to Florida this year (as opposed to the cold snowy Pennsylvania which I'm experiencing now...!)

I know Sox fans aren't very pleased with Johnny Damon after the four years he spent with the MFY, but at this point it would take 1 year and $2-3 MM to get a deal done (he might be able to weasel out 4-5 MM, but not from a contender).  For such a hitting talent, it might be worth Theo's while to contact Scotty and see what is available.  You could put Johnny as a platoon outfielder and trade Hermida or have him platoon with Papi assuming Mikey Lowell gets traded (funny that he seems to have fallen off the map, yet he's still here).  I know Johnny probably wouldn't prefer the role he would be assigned, but he's out of options right now and if he joined the Sox at least he'd have a chance to play for a winner.

It is a crowded squad, yes, but Johnny would be better than Bill Hall (could Tito teach Hermida the infield, get rid of Hall, and make Johnny the platoon/4th outfielder?)

Just some musings on the matter as Pitchers and Catchers get ready to report to Ft. Myers....

Take a look at this Pinstripe Alley FanPost and its comments comparing their and our offseason results, http://www.pinstripealley.com/2009/12/18/1208131/boston-making-better-moves-then.  There are so many bandwagon championship fans that none of them have any idea of what they're talking about.  I live near Philly, many of them are like that too.  They all seem to believe that Cliff Lee is BETTER than Roy Halladay!!!  And this last sentence makes it 75 words.

Now I'm not familiar with some of the more complicated statistics, but judging from what's easily available, it would seem that shelling out money and draft picks on Marco Scutaro would be a similar mistake to Julio Lugo.  Theo's tripping up in his old age, Gonzo should have been a done deal, even if he was a back-up.  Scutaro is going to cost money, years, and draft picks, and he has only ONE good year in his career.  He also has very limited experience playing for a big-market team (this could be good or bad for him).  Why don't the Sox trade for someone like Maicer Izturis or Cristian Guzman-we'd all like Hanley, but unless Florida has a sudden change of heart, he's not available.  Anyway, these guys won't cost as much, and they (esp. Maicer) are much more proven than someone like Marco Scutaro.  

Lineup for next year-set in stone:

SP-Josh Beckett (contract year)

SP-Jon Lester

SP-Clay Buchholz

SP-Daisuke Matsuzaka

SP-Tim Wakefield (perpetual option)

C-Victor Martinez (contract year if only option used this year)

1B-Kevin Youlilis, Casey Kotchman

2B-Dustin Pedroia

SS-Jed Lowrie/Jose Iglesias

3B-Mike Lowell (contract year)

LF-Josh Reddick?

CF-Jacoby Ellsbury

RF-J.D. Drew

DH-David Ortiz (contract year)-option

RP-Daniel Bard

RP-Hideki Okajima

CL-Jonathan Papelbon

RP-Ramon Ramirez

RP-Manny Delcarmen (he'll come around)

FA's-Paul Byrd, Takashi Saito ($6 MM option), Billy Wagner, Tim Wakefield (option or retire), Victor Martinez (very appetizing $7 MM option), Jason Varitek ($5 MM club, $3 MM player option), Alex Gonzalez ($6 MM option), Nick Green, Rocco Baldelli, Jason Bay

First off, Theo needs to pick up the options for Victor Martinez, and Tim Wakefield if he's healthy enough.  They'll also offer arbitration to some players for at least draft picks, Billy Wagner debatable.  Then of the FA's, he'll possibly/probably try to resign Billy Wagner, Alex Gonzalez, Takashi Saito, Rocco Baldelli, and of course Jason Bay.  Jason Varitek may be let to walk if he doesn't decide to retire or accept a new role.

Then, from the free agent market, it looks like besides resigning Bay, Theo doesn't really have to be aggressive on a big free agent like the Front Office said they'd try to minimize last offseason (and Bay counts more as a resigning to an extension than a Market bid).  I don't consider Holliday an option.  His numbers with an AL team and Oakland proved to me that he is an NL hitter.  He's also a Boras client which is risky for our FO.  He can look for small pieces to make the team better.  

He'll of course go for a pitcher, possibly risk/reward (but now he has five starters is Wake resigns so they don't have to depend on this guy).  Erik Bedard, Justin Duchscherer, Rich Harden, Vincente Padilla, Joel Pineiro to name a few.  There is the option to also get aggressive for John Lackey which would make an unbelievable rotation in years to come.  

They need a Backstop-either Varitek or someone else (Bengie or Pudge? or Ramon Castro)

Possibility-new 1B Backup.  Kotchman wasn't inspiring, and the lineup doesn't look good when Lowell gets a day off.  Hinske?  Adam Laroche!?!?!?

Also a SS/2B backup-if they sign Gonzo (PLEASE!?!?) to be the full time SS, then Lowrie or a FA (Cora, OC).  Theo would also love to get his hands on Marco Scutaro-a Gonzo Scutaro Tandem?

4th Outfielder-I liked what I saw from Baldelli this year, but anyone could do-Hinske again or Darin Erstad?

Finally the bullpen.  Papelbon's name may be floating at the Winter Meetings, but something tells me he'll stay.  If he doesn't, closer options are Bard (probably later), Saito, Wagner, Jose Valverde, Fernando Rodney, Rafael Soriano.  Also, for RP, Rafael Betancourt, Chad Bradford, Octavio Dotel, Chan Ho Park, Jorge Julio, Troy Percival, Julian Tavarez, Scott Eyre, Scott Schoeneweis, just a couple of examples.  

But overall, the offseason work that is necessary is doable through small acquisitions and trades or calling up from the farm.  The team could go for a Big Free Agent Name, but is in the position as last year-they don't depend on it.  However, while they don't depend on it, they may need some Big Time new blood to compete with this powerhouse that is festering in the Bronx-Holliday, Halladay, Lackey????

While it hurts to say this so early in October and on such a sour note from today's game, the offseason is coming; a time of fun, rumors, trades, Big Free Agents, speculation, preparation for Spring Training, and the crazy rush to buy the ever elusive Red Sox Tickets (I got GM this year!).

So see you again next year Red Sox in Ft. Myers, and let's see how you look then.

So with the season nearly over, Tito's mind turns to October (even though it is all ready October!).

Here's a layout for what the playoff roster may look like:

C:V-Mart, Jason Varitek

1B: Kevin Youkilis

2B: Dustin Pedroia

SS: Alex Gonzalez

3B: Mike Lowell

UTIF:    options=Chris Woodward, Nick Green, Jed Lowrie, Casey Kotchman 

LF: Jason Bay

CF: Jacoby Ellsbury

RF: JD Drew

UTOFs:  options=Rocco Baldelli, Joey Gathright, Josh Reddick

DH: David Ortiz

SP:Jon Lester

SP: Josh Beckett

SP: Clay Buchholz 

SP: Daisuke Matsuzaka

CL: Jonathan Papelbon

RP: Takashi Saito

RP: Hideki Okajima

RP: Billy Wagner

RP: Daniel Bard

RP: Ramon Ramirez

RP: options=Tim Wakefield, Paul Byrd, Manny Delcarmen, Michael Bowden

So Tito has some choices to make.  If I could accurately guess, I would say that he'd choose Kotchman and Lowrie for UTIF, both Rocco and Gathright for UTOF, and for the last pitching spot, I think it's a tossup between Manny Delcarmen and Tim Wakefield-Byrd hasn't been really good at all in more than one of his starts.  However, personally for me I take Wakefield for two reasons, his early success and some fall success and loyalty to the organization.

Thoughts?

I was watching Beckett's last start in Toronto last week and I still couldn't understand why he did so badly.  Then it dawned on me.  He wasn't being caught by Jason Varitek.  I looked at the Game Log and it seemed to support my theory.  Over this year, Beckett has had 4 starts where he has given up 7 or more runs (Ok, one he had an unearned...), April 25th, April 30th, June 14th (in Philly, was there to see the HR!), and August 18th.  Of those four, only April 25th, that Yankee slugfest with Tek's Slam was caught by Tek (and that may be attributed to Beckett's slow start this year).  After that, April 30th-George Kottaras.  June 14th-George Kottaras.  August 18th-Victor Martinez.  Now I hope I'm wrong and that these are just shaky starts, but they are uncharacteristic of Beckett.  Now Beckett showed signs of brilliance in Florida with other catchers, however he never really gained his prowess until coming to Boston.  Could it be he needs Jason Varitek more than meets the eye?

So after all that adventure with Julio Lugo, why is he suddenly a pretty good player with the Cardinals?  He has at least a hit most games, a bomb, and is playing decent SS with one error-decent if it stays one error.  And all we got for this guy is a salary dump and a guy who'll probably never make the majors-Chris Duncan?  While he wasn't always the best, a .311 BA doesn't lie.  Theo shouldn't have listened to the fans so much because now we're looking at our starting SS Nick Green with a .230's average.

With the Home Run tonight, David Ortiz has hit his 298th career home run.  This makes it very likely that he'll hit the home run at Camden Yards (Fenway 2) next week, or maybe if he gets caught up in it during the Mariners series next weekend.  Do the Red Sox plan to do anything special to celebrate this?  I have not heard a whisper about this milestone that I have observed coming up.  Over his career, David Ortiz has hit the pitchers: Jamie Moyer, Jamie Walker, Jon Garland, Paul Byrd, Mark Buehrle, Esteban Loaiza, Jon Lieber, Gary Glover, Gil Meche, Sidney Ponson (Roids!), Jeff and Jered Weaver, John Lackey, Seth McClung, Andy Pettitte, Mo, CC, Chien-MIng Wang, Miguel Batista, Kevin Millwood, and Doc Halladay particulary well.  Coming up soon are Gil Meche and Miguel Batista, so look out for those names.  I'm sure wherever he hits it he'll get a nice ovation.

On a side not, it's almost unreal that in 2 weeks, Nomar will be making his first trip home after 5 years.  That should be an emotional series.

Come on Red Sox Nation-vote early and often to send Youkilis and Pedroia to St. Louis next month.  After all, who wants to see Teixeira there.

Attempts to fill the word count:

Also, Mark Wagner seems to be red hot.  If there is a bidding war over Joe Mauer in a couple of years, he could be an important bargaining chip for the Red Sox.

David Ortiz might make a comeback after all with the way he's swinging.  He'd be key in an ALCS vs NYY.  I watched him take BP in Philly (I live near there) and he was crushing them upstairs into the upper deck-what the Philly fans call Ryan Howard territory.  Dice-K also had some homers in BP as did Jed-I.

Finally, if we don't sweep the nats......!

So vote Youkilis and Pedroia.

As I wear my old number 24 shirt, I report that Manny "Greedy" Boras has finally signed with the Dodgers.  The original 2 years $45 million offered in the fall, to which Boras said "We will start fielding real offers..." apparently did it.  Obviously Frank McCourt's "start from scratch" ploy scarred the crap out of Boras.  I've got to say, I think Scott Boras really dropped the ball on this one.  This entire dance that he had Manny orchestrate to get out of Boston, to the "promised land" in LA and onward to his mega deal got Manny $5 million more than he would have in Boston.  In baseball money, that's pretty pathetic.  And it's so funny how Manny still keeps up the act, with the "This isn't Boston" comments.  Theo Epstein must be sitting real pretty right now.  Obviously he made out in the long run.  Because while many, myself included, LOVED Manny Ramirez in a Boston uniform, Epstein, Henry, and Co. were the more mature of the two parties in this situation.  And while Manny tries to paint the problem on the Red Sox, it's pretty clear that Manny had some clubhouse issues (Youk fight, Jack McAllister, Schilling, and players like Pedroia even denouncing him).  And as a long time Manny fan, this is hard to say.  But I give credit to Theo for getting out a clubhouse problem and he got Jason Bay for 1.5 years for a lot less money, while only giving up a bit of Manny's last year.  So finally this saga comes to an end....

According to WEEI.com,

Rob Bradford of WEEI.com has reported that Sean Casey has signed on with the MLB Network, making his retirement official.

Casey, 34, hit .322/.381/.392 in 218 plate appearances for the Red Sox in 2008.

Well, I enjoyed watching the Mayor hit, he was the ultimate "Professional Hitter", just single after double though no homers this year...But overall a successful idea of having him sub for Youk/Lowell in that type of situation, great in the clubhouse.  Kind of encourages the idea of leaving Kotsay in the outfield and bring on Kevin Millar for a similar role.  Man, he can hit with the Green Monster...

Interesting, but one of the Cinci media said today when asked about Casey's potential return, "Nah, he's retiring".  Seemed like just a guess, but now it's official.

"Peter Gammons is reporting that the Red Sox are close to signing outfielder Rocco Baldelli to be the team's fourth outfielder. Baldelli will be a guest at tomorrow night's Boston Baseball Writers Dinner, where he will receive the 2008 Tony Conigliaro Award. The deal is expected to be announced then. We're working on confirming this, and we'll let you know when it is confirmed." -Source: Boston Globe's Extra Bases

Very predictable move.  As long as there is not any problem with him not playing every day, I like him off the bench.  Though I still think the team needs some hitting depth better than last year's. Hopefully Theo figures out a way to address this issue.  

Wow, the Yankees are really starting to get on my nerves.  First it was Kevin Cash, and then according to MLBTR, they signed Jason Johnson.  I know he sucked, but he was a Sox.  At least we got Nick Green.  Also, maybe Tex is not the right player to have: he seems like A-rod from the press conference today-totally obsessed with his huge paycheck and being a legend and what not....  Long live the Curse of the A-Rod (and Tex)!!!

Now with the addition of Brad Penny, I know that we have our complete starting 5.  However, as we saw last year, that can easily change *cough* *cough* Schilling.  So, Pedro is available and you can bet he won't be expensive.  As he said during the ALCS in 2004, "My heart and soul is in Boston and with the fans".  Why not give him a Bartolo Colon type deal (maybe a little bit nicer, he is Pedro after all), and bring him to Spring Training with the big league club and see what happens.  Pedro does pitch at Fenway better than anywhere else, and it would be a perfect Theo Epstein, *little risk, big reward* deal.  And who wouldn't kill to see Pedro pitch for us again...

With the Yankees signing Mark Teixeira, there comes into large question the future of Manny Ramirez.  It seemed like he would sadly go over to the rival for a lot of money, but after signing Tex, it may be safe to guess that the Yankees maybe (Finally!) running out of capital.  Also, Tex was probably the bat they locked up so they wouldn't have to deal with Manny; after all, they know as well as anyone that he is a problem on and off the field.  So, if it comes down to that the Yankees have no interest in Ramirez, then who does?  Of the Big Market Teams-The Angels have declared themselves no part of the sweepstakes, and the Red Sox are pretty much not an option either.  The Phillies hired Raul Ibanez to fill their LF void, so the question comes to where he goes.  The Dodgers are the only interested suitors (though the money the Nats would have spent on Tex could go toward Manny).  Though even still with the miniscule market for his services, the price will probably not be pretty on Manny's standards.  Then comes into question whether he actually gets equal or greater than the $20 million that the Red Sox option would have guaranteed him.  If not, then the question becomes how much he actually gets, and how much  longer Ramirez still employs Scott Boras; after all, the agent would lose him guaranteed money from the Sox with his orchestrated exit from Boston.  If Ramirez does fire Boras, would Manny go even as far as to attempt to conciliate with the Red Sox as they were the ones offering him the $20 million after all.  This could prove a very interesting saga for the future Hall of Famer...

The latest report, as per mlbtraderumors.com and boston.com via Channel 5 radio is that John Henry and Theo Epstein are meeting in Texas with Scott Boras.  The aim is to sign Mark Teixeira tonight or tomorrow morning.  The offer-8 years, $184 million.

I hope they get this done.  Just like Tex's Christmas wish, I would like this before the holiday.  End all the agonizing waiting...And who knows, maybe if they sign them they can still keep Mike Lowell.

According to ESPN.  Yankees sign AJ Burnett for 5 years, $80 mil approximately.  Deal pending.  Jeez, Yankees keep throwing away money on pitching that will not value in the end.  *cough, cough* Kevin Brown, Kei Igawa

MLBTRADERUMORS:

According to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, the Yankees reached a preliminary agreement with A.J. Burnett on a five-year, $82.5MM deal ($16.5MM per year on average).  The deal is pending a physical, and some final terms must be hammered out. 

That's $243.5MM spent by the Yankees on starting pitching, unless C.C. Sabathia opts out.  The Braves will have to figure out a Plan B.