In Red Sox news today, the Boston Red Sox have declined the club option on Keith Foulke for the 2007 season. What this means for the Red Sox is that they won’t have to pay him $7.5 million dollars to pitch for them next season. Foulke has till Friday to decide if he wants to exercise the player option on his contract for $3.5 million dollars. If he declines his player option, the Red Sox will owe him a $1.5 million dollar buyout.

The Red Sox are also close to re-signing Alex Cora to a two year contract. Cora was a valuable and reliable middle infielder who filled in nicely when Loretta and Gonzalez went down with injuries. Given the Red Sox middle infield situation, the signing of Cora would provide insurance for the Red Sox next season if someone got hurt or they can’t sign the players they are interested in.