While the night is young in Las Vegas, midnight is almost upon here on the east coast. This means it’s time to recap the happenings and rumors of the Boston Red Sox. I think I’ll just let Red Sox GM Theo Epstein recap it for us.
“I actually think I have less to tell you than yesterday.”
The news though wasn’t exactly quiet though. Earlier in the day, Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan talked about his man crush on Clay Buchholz. Apparently, Ryan was only joking about what he said.It was thought that he was untouchable but he’s been the talk of the winter meetings as many teams are inquiring about his availability.
If the Red Sox are able to pick up Mark Teixeira through free agency, they would have a tough time trading David Ortiz should they go that route. It appears that Big Papi earned his 10/5 rights meaning that he can veto any trade. For those who don’t understand the 10/5 rule, essentially Big Papi has spent 10 years in the big leagues and 5 with the Red Sox meaning that he has earned the right to veto any trade.
The catching market or Plan B as it appears to be called for the Red Sox took another hit today when the Cincinnati Reds traded Ryan Freel to the Baltimore Orioles for Ramon Hernandez. He was one of the Plan B catchers the Red Sox could have gone after. Alex Speier of WEEI.com gives us the update on the catching market. It’s also quite possible that if the Red Sox don’t re-sign Jason Varitek, they could use Dusty Brown or George Kottaras.
Speaking of non-available catchers, the Arizona Diamondbacks stated that they were not going to trade Chris Snyder or Miguel Montero. But late in the day, the Red Sox were offered a deal from the D’Backs that was Montero straight up for Michael Bowden. Of course the Red Sox said no to that one.
The Red Sox are still talking with A.J. Burnett’s agent Darek Braunecker about a deal. The biggest criteria Burnett has is joining a winning team.
The Red Sox could once again tap into the Japanese market as it’s been reported that they are highly interested in pitcher Kenshin Kawakami.
Apparently the Red Sox are showing interest in free agent pitchers Carl Pavano and Brad Penny. If you can remember back four years, the Red Sox were one of the teams looking to sign Pavano. All I can say is thank God we didn’t.
The Red Sox were thought to be interested in Andy Pettitte earlier in the day but there’s no way that he would ever pitch for the Red Sox.
While the Red Sox have shown interest in free agent Rocco Baldelli, they are leary that he can handle the outfield for long stretches of time.
It seems as though the Red Sox may have made an offer to C.C. Sabathia.
Alex Speier of WEEI.com takes a look at the Red Sox shortstop situation.
The Red Sox have no interest in signing Jay Payton or anyone his agent represents as well as So Taguchi. They do have interest in Josh Bard or Ronny Paulino should the need arrive.
In other news, performance enhancement counselor Don Kalkstein has left the Red Sox. They have also hired Steve Peck as a pro scout away from the Mariners.
The deal for the Red Sox staying in Ft. Myers for another 30 years became official today.
Gary Marbry of WEEI.com has reviews on Jeff Bailey, Brandon Moss and Mark Kotsay.
It’s quite possible the NY Times could have to sell it’s share of the Red Sox with it’s parent company filing for bankruptcy.
And last but not least, is this the new logo of the Red Sox?
If anything breaks before I head to bed, I’ll pass it along. And of course, I’ll be monitoring the feeds again tomorrow.
Thanks for making SOX & Dawgs part of your day.
