Admittedly, I am about a day behind in the Boston Red Sox news here on the site. But I will use today to play catchup and get everyone updated about what’s going on.
As far as things on the free agent front, it’s pretty quiet. As Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe and Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald tell us, the Red Sox still need to fill some spots on the roster. The Red Sox still need a catcher, a 4th outfielder and some starting pitching depth.
Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and ESPN’s Peter Gammons will be busy this Saturday night as they host Hot Stove, Cool Music at the Paradise Rock Club.
Former Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez is still without a team for 2009.
Gary Marbry of WEEI.com has a nugget-style 2008 review of Hideki Okajima and Jason Bay.
The list of firms to design the proposed Red Sox spring training site in Lee County was cut down from 12 to 5 and the number of potential builders has been whittled down from 10 to 6.
Our rivals to the south held a press conference yesterday to introduce their lastest over expenditure in Mark Teixeira. During the press conference, he stated that his wife ultimately made the decision for him to play in New York but he also had decided in December, he really wanted to play in New York.
John Henry emailed Jack Curry of the New York Times (link via Extra Bases) about Leigh Teixeira’s thought process.
Henry said the Red Sox were unaware of [Teixeira’s wife] Leigh’s preference for the Yankees, but “felt all along that the Yankees were going to get the last call” from Boras. Since the Red Sox had proposed an eight-year deal for about $170 million, Henry said he found it curious they were told “that we were the low bidders and Boston wasn’t high” on Teixeira’s list.
“At one point, I asked Scott, given their feelings, why we shouldn’t pull out,” Henry said in an e-mail message. “His answer was, `Maybe you should.’ And we did.”
By leaving the negotiations, it seemed as if the Red Sox were calling Boras’ bluff and were trying to get him to prove that he had a better offer from the Los Angeles Angels, Baltimore or Washington. As Henry had expected, Boras still had the Yankees on speed dial, too.
Boras added this as well.
“As far as Boston goes, I think Boston knows they got good-faith proposals and they were given proposals, which means, if accepted, the player would have signed the proposal,” Boras said. “If teams reject them, they cannot in any way say they were strung along.”
It’s now time to put all of this behind us and focus on the 2009 season and hopefully still having Jason Varitek behind the plate.
Don’t forget, the Red Sox rookies will be holding an autograph session on Friday night.
