It looks like it’s going to be another unsettling offseason for Boston Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell.

According to a report on FOXSports.com, the Red Sox have put Mike Lowell on the trade block and are willing to pay half of the remaining $12 million left on his contract for 2010.

Could this be a precursor to something even bigger, say Adrian Gonzalez of the San Diego Padres?

The Red Sox are very interested in acquiring Gonzalez and would need to move Lowell since Kevin Youkilis would shift over to third base. With Jed Hoyer as the GM in San Diego, it’s quite possible this could happen but he may hold on to Gonzalez due to his relatively low salaries in 2010 and 2011 ($4.75 million in 2010 and $5.5 million team option in 2011).

Baseball winter meetings are right around the corner so expect the hot stove to warm up even more as we get closer.

Day four of the Baseball Writer’s Association of America Awards continued on Thursday and next up was the National League Cy Young Award.

For the second straight season, the BWAA has chosen everyone’s favorite San Francisco Giants pot smoker Tim Lincecum as their winner of the NL Cy Young. He finished just ahead of  St.  Louis Cardinals pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainright.

The last time someone won at least two Cy Young’s in a row was  Lincecum’s 2009 teammate Randy Johnson who won four in a row with the Arizona Diamondbacks (1999-2002).

Lincecum went 15-7 with a 2.48 ERA in 32 starts. He struck out 261 in 225.1 innings and also had four complete games, including two shutouts.

He is arbitration-eligible as a Super Two player and is likely to receive a nice chunk of change. I wonder if he’ll buy a bong with that. Kidding folks.

Here is the rest of the schedule of the awards:

• Mon, November 23 – AL MVP
• Tue, November 24 – NL MVP

The Baseball Writer’s Association of America Awards continued on Wednesday and next up was the American League and National League Managers of the Year.

The BWAA named Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim skipper Mike Scioscia as their AL Manager of the Year while choosing Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracey as their NL Manager of the Year.

It’s the second manager of the year award for Scioscia who also won it in 2002  after leading the Angels to a World Series crown. Scioscia had to deal with the tragic death of pitcher Nick Adenhart but was able to rally his team to a 97-65 record. The Angels ended up losing to the Yankees in the ALCS.

Tracy took over for Clint Hurdle, who was canned after the Rox got out to an 18-28 start. All Tracey did was lead them to a 74-42 record and the NL Wild Card. After winning the award on Wednesday, Tracy got himself a little job security with a new three year contract.

Here is the rest of the schedule of the awards:

• Thu, November 19 – NL Cy Young
• Mon, November 23 – AL MVP
• Tue, November 24 – NL MVP

Day 2 of the Baseball Writer’s Association of America Awards season is upon us and on Tuesday they awarded the 2009 American League Cy Young Award.

Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke was a landslide winner and was awarded the 2009 AL Cy Young.

Greinke was 16-8 on the season in 33 starts and had a MLB-best 2.16 ERA. He has six complete games and three shutouts while recording 242 strikeouts in 229.1 innings.

Here is the rest of the schedule of the awards:

• Wed, November 18 – AL & NL Manager of the Year
• Thu, November 19 – NL Cy Young
• Mon, November 23 – AL MVP
• Tue, November 24 – NL MVP

The 2009 baseball award season from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America got underway on Monday and the first awards to be handed out were the American League and National League Rookies of the Year.

Closer Andrew Bailey of the Oakland Athletics was named the American League Rookie of the Year while outfielder Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins was named the National League Rookie of the Year.

Bailey had an Oakland rookie-record 26 saves (30 chances) and was a 6-3 record with a 1.84 ERA. He also had 91 strikeouts and 24 walks in 83 1/3 innings in 68 appearances.

Coghlan hit .321 with nine homers, 47 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 128 games for the Marlins. He was called up on May 8th and never looked back.

Next up in the awards from the BWAA is the American League Cy Young which will be announced on Tuesday.

Here is the rest of the schedule of the awards:

• Wed, November 18 – AL & NL Manager of the Year
• Thu, November 19 – NL Cy Young
• Mon, November 23 – AL MVP
• Tue, November 24 – NL MVP

Last year in October, I was contacted by Bart Steele, who is suing TBS among others for a song that he had written last year. Well late last night, he updated me on the situation and here is what he says in his own words:

Appeal filed in Steele v. Turner Broadcasting et al (case#08-11727)
Coincidence or Copyright Infringement?

On Friday, November 6, 2009, I filed a Notice of Appeal to the First Circuit Federal Court, which marks a turning point in my copyright lawsuit. The defendants in the case include Turner Broadcasting, Major League Baseball, The Boston Red Sox, and Bon Jovi. These defendants are connected in many ways–Major League Baseball Advanced Media runs Bon Jovi’s website.

My lawsuit is based on what I believe was the defendants’ use of my Boston baseball playoff song “Man I Love This Team” as a temp track in the production of a commercial for Major League Baseball. The audio portion of that commercial was performed by Bon Jovi. I believe that commercial–both the visual images and the Bon Jovi audio-were derived from my song.

I sent my song to the Red Sox and Major League Baseball and told them I had written another version called “Man I Really Love This Town.” In basic legal terms, what I believe defendants did was make an “unauthorized derivative work.” Their MLB “I Love This Town” campaign was one of the most expensive sports commercials in history.

The easiest way to understand what they did is to watch the commercial, with my song substituted for the Bon Jovi audio, and see how well it matches up. Boston Magazine described this as “advertising’s equivalent of Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz.” Actually, it’s worse. Watch the commercial with my song (posted below) and decide for yourself. The documents I filed with the trial court contain extensive detail about the similarities, but here are just a few:

• at the exact time I am singing “Yawkey Way”, the video shows a Yawkey Way street sign, and Bon Jovi is singing “this street”
• at the exact time I sing “Tigers”, the video shows a Detroit Tigers player
• over 50% of the commercial’s lyrics are identical to, or paraphrased from, my song
• 96% of the commercial’s frame cut editing is in perfect synchronization with my song’s tempo, beat and measure
• the commercial and my song are exactly the same length.

As you watch and listen for yourself, keep in mind that the defendants claim the commercial was a wholly independent creation, neither copied from nor influenced by my song. Yet, at the same time they admitted they had access to my song. They claim that any similiarities (and there are many-see for yourself) are mere coincidence. You decide. The video is posted below.

“Thou Shalt Not Steele” – Bart Steele 11/09/09

This announcement and the MLB video with my song are conveniently located at:
www.myspace.com/chelseacitycouncil

And here is the Bon Jovi/MLB version.

One of my favorite pitchers to watch in the National League is San Francisco Giants starter Tim Lincecum. He’s so effortless on the mound and is one of the best young pitchers in the game.

And of course, he’s the reigning Cy Young Award winner in the NL.

Lincecum looks to be an easy going guy off the field as evidenced by his MLB 2K9 commercial.

So it should come as no surprise to anyone that he was pulled over for speeding back on October 30th and after a search of his car, was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia use.

The trooper pulled the Mercedes over. When the driver, Lincecum, rolled down his window, the trooper smelled marijuana. He asked Lincecum to hand it over, and Lincecum reached into his dashboard console and produced a small pouch and a pipe, Schatzel said.

The amount was 3.3 grams, Schatzel said, which is considered only enough for personal use. Lincecum did not appear to be impaired behind the wheel and is not being charged with a felony crime, Schatzel said.

I’m sure the Giants won’t be happy about this and he’ll probably face some sort of fine from them as well.

Pot found in star pitcher’s car during I-5 speed stop [The Columbian]

Now that the unnamed team to the south of here has won the World Series, free agency will kick off in Major League Baseball and the real offseason can finally begin.

Obviously the big thing on the plate of the Boston Red Sox is getting Jason Bay under contract. He will most likely file for free agency today. As with all free agents and their respective clubs, the Red Sox can negotiate exclusively with Bay for fifteen days. He is allowed to talk with other teams but cannot have discussions which involve financial terms. Just a general discussion if you will.

The Red Sox will also have to make a decision on Jason Varitek. We’ve already learned that the Red Sox will exercise the option on the contract of Victor Martinez and he’ll be the guy going forward. The Red Sox hold a $5 million team option on Tek while he holds a $3 million player option with incentives.

Another big decision will be whether or not to exercise the option on the contract of shortstop Alex Gonzalez. It’s a mutual option for $6 million with a $500K buyout. The Red Sox will probably look at the health of Jed Lowrie before making that decision.

I will do my best to follow all of the Red Sox offseason action to keep everyone informed. I’ll add my opinion in as well from time to time.

So for now, Happy Free Agency Day or as I’m going to call it this year, welcome to the start of Bay Watch.

The top two free agents this offseason that play left field are going to be St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Bill Buckner Matt Holliday and Boston Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay. You can bet your last dollar that the Red Sox will definitely be trying to re-sign Bay during the two week period after the World Series.

Bay could be the only top option left for the Red Sox if Holliday’s dreams of playing for either the New York Yankees or New York Mets come true as Ken Davidoff of Newsday reports.

According to a person in the loop, Matt Holliday’s top choices in free agency are: 1) Yankees; and 2) Mets. The Oklahoma native is apparently not intimidated by New York.

Holliday had much better success this season in the NL with the Cardinals than he did with the Oakland A’s before being traded. And given the state of the Mets franchise, it’s quite conceivable that he could go there for the right offer. We all know the Yankees have the money to sign either one but we know Bay probably won’t go to the Yanks.

The Yankees will lose Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui to free agency but after spending half a billion dollars last offseason will they want to spend more to get Holliday. I guess if they win the World Series, that answer could be yes.

It’s definitely going to be an interesting time after the World Series ends watching all of this unfold.