After seeing the clause in Curt Schilling’s contract that if he got a vote in the Cy Young voting, the BBWAA (Baseball Writers’ Association of America) has passed a new rule, the “Schilling Rule”, stating that players with those type of bonus clauses within their contracts will be banned from receiving awards.

The rule will start up in 2013 giving agents and players time to adjust their contracts for the future. There isn’t that many players under contract for 2013 right now so it won’t be that big of a deal.

“When we first started giving out these awards it was just to honor somebody. You got a trophy, there was no monetary reward that went with it,” BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O’Connell said. “I honestly don’t think people vote with that in mind. But the attachment of a bonus to these awards creates a perception that we’re trying to make these guys rich.”

As you would expect, Schilling has already responded to the new rule over on his blog, 38 Pitches.

Give me a break. Don’t get me wrong, 100k, 500k, 1 million dollars is a huge sum of money. But to think that these guys ever approached this as anything other than them being touted as the ‘experts’ on who wins what is crap. Add to that I seriously doubt anyone ever looked at this from a perception standpoint and thought wow, they are making this guy rich. I would disagree.

The only step that hasn’t happened yet is to stop them from voting on awards altogether. They shouldn’t do it. Anytime someone is allowed to vote on this, on the Hall of Fame ballot, and that person injects personal bias into their vote, they should lose the privilege.

I have to agree with him that sometimes, the voters do let personal things influence their decisions. Imagine if CHB had a vote in the Hall of Fame voting when Schilling’s name comes up on the ballot. We all know that CHB wouldn’t vote for him.

Philadelphia fired President and General Manager Billy King on Monday and replaced him with Ed Stefanski the next day but the off the court change didn’t lead to a different on the court result as the Sixers dropped to 5-13 with a 113-103 loss to the Boston Celtics in front of 15,779 at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday night.

The Green, who are now 15-2, got a double-double out of captain Paul Pierce who had 19 points and 12 assists. Yea I said assists, 12 of ’em. Kevin Garnet chipped in 22 points and James Posey had 17 points off the bench.

The Sixers were led by the two Andre’s, Miller who had a double-double with 26 points and 12 assists and Iguodala who had 24 points. Louis Williams had 18 points off the bench as Philadelphia played inspired ball but were no match for the more talented visitor’s from Boston.

Both teams wore throw back uni’s for the game.

Prior to the game Pierce popped his cork at a pair of unnamed teammates who were playing the music a little too loud and having a little too much pre-game fun as he shouted out “We’re trying to play a game”. The players quieted down. You have to say the man is all business this year and it shows in his game and in the team.

Tina Charles led three UConn Huskies in double figures as they easily dispatched of the Virginia Lady Cavaliers 75-45 at the Hartford Civic Center. Charles scored 18 points on 8 of 9 shooting and pulled down 6 rebounds for the Huskies.

Brittany Hunter scored 14 points in just 14 minutes and Maya Moore rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 12 points. Mel Thomas added 7 points and scored her 1,000th point of her illustrious career when she hit a foul line jumper with 17:17 to go in the second half. She is the 29th person in UConn history to score 1,000 points in their careers.

Aisha Mohammed scored 13 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to lead the Lady Cavaliers. Monica Wright added 10 points as well.

UConn (7-0) started out the first half on a 16-4 run with Charles and Hunter leading the way for the Huskies with 6 points each. They continued that run as they went into the locker room with a 44-22 lead.

More of the same in the second half as the Lady Cavaliers (6-4) couldn’t keep up with the Huskies. Obviously the highlight of the second half was when Thomas scored her 1,000th point. She received a standing ovation from the crowd when there was a break in the action.

The game featured a matchup of Geno Auriemma versus his mentor, Deb Ryan. Auriemma was an assistant under Ryan from 1981-85 at Virginia before he took the UConn job.

The Huskies are now off for 11 days as they break for final exams. They return to the Gampel Pavilion court on December 17th to face South Carolina.

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Well if you believe what Tim Brown from Yahoo! Sports is writing, then yes the talks are back on.

The Boston Red Sox reaffirmed their status as the favorites to acquire Johan Santana as the team’s top executives Wednesday evening warmed to the idea of trading for the Minnesota Twins ace mere hours questioning the merits of the deal, a source close to the situation said.

Red Sox executives, and particularly general manager Theo Epstein, had blanched at giving up four players and paying Santana more than of $20 million a year, the type of contract he will demand to waive his no-trade clause. With the New York Yankees claiming they had dropped out of the Santana sweepstakes, the Red Sox also considered whether it was prudent to give up pitcher Jon Lester or center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, the proposed centerpieces of the deal.

Internal discussion has affirmed that it is, though there is no timetable on the talks, and they could well last past baseball’s winter meetings, which end following the Rule 5 draft Thursday morning.

The parameters of the trade have not changed, according to the source, with Lester heading a package that also would include center fielder Coco Crisp and minor-league pitcher Justin Masterson and infielder Jed Lowrie.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have weighed the implications of Santana’s salary demands and seem ready to move forward.

As I said on our radio show tonight, the baseball winter meetings have been one big rumor mill. With this being the only source to confirm this news, I am inclined not to believe it just yet. But yet, here I am letting y’all know what’s going on.

I also said this in a comment before that I just wish this deal or any deal for Santana would get done. I would think the Red Sox want a resolution to this soon as well because there are some pieces of the puzzle that need to be put in place. If Ellsbury isn’t traded, then you need to move Coco Crisp plus find a backup catcher, backup first baseman and backup outfielder although Brandon Moss could fill the combo 1B/OF role. Plus the Red Sox still have interest in Bobby Kielty returning if Coco isn’t back.

Boston Red Sox rookie outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury spent some time on the air with WEEI’s Big Show this afternoon. In his 20-minute interview he touched on what it’s like being part of the Johan Santana trade rumors and how he has no control over it. It’s interesting to listen to it from a young players perspective and how his family and friends keep asking him what’s going on.

Jacoby spends some time talking about how comfortable he is in Boston with the Red Sox and how the veteran players like Mike Lowell, Coco Crisp, Jason Varitek and Alex Cora helped him fit in when he came up. He also talked about how he played, the Red Sox 8-DVD set and his new agent Scott Boras.

The Big East Conference announced it’s postseason awards today and UConn had 4 members of it’s football team make either the first or second All-Big East teams.

The Huskies placed offensive guard Donald Thomas on the offensive first team and linebacker Danny Lansanah on the defensive first team. Running back Andre Dixon and kick returner/punt returner Tyvon Branch were named to the offensive second team. Read more about Patrick White at GoldCardAuctions.com

Here is a look at the awards:

2007 BIG EAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL AWARDS

BIG EAST CONFERENCE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Patrick White, QB, West Virginia (Jr., Daphne, Ala.)

BIG EAST CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

George Selvie, DL, USF (So., Pensacola, Fla.)

BIG EAST CONFERENCE SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Kevin Huber, P, Cincinnati (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio)

BIG EAST CONFERENCE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

LeSean McCoy, RB, Pittsburgh (Fr., Harrisburg, Pa.) *

BIG EAST CONFERENCE COACH OF THE YEAR

Brian Kelly, Cincinnati

What is shocking to me is that UConn head coach Randy Edsall was not named the coach of the year in the Big East. He took a 4-8 team and brought home a 9-3 record and share of the Big East crown yet was snubbed by his peers in the conference. The winner, Brian Kelly from Cincinnati, was only in his first full year of coaching in the Big East.

A look at the first and second teams after the jump.

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The Downtown Athletic Club has announced the four finalists for the Heisman Trophy which is given annually since 1935 to the most outstanding college football player.

• Colt Brennan, QB, Hawai’i
• Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
• Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
• Chase Daniel, QB, Missouri

ESPN has the coverage of the Heisman Trophy presentation on Saturday night at 8 PM.

Just came across this on MLB Trade Rumors:

Just got an incredible rumor from a trusted New York sportswriter. Stay with me, because this one’s crazy. But rest assured that if the source wasn’t good, I wouldn’t post it.

Minnesota has initiated talks for a three-way blockbuster with the Twins and A’s. Here’s how it would go down:

Mets send Jose Reyes, Kevin Mulvey, and Hector Pellot to A’s
A’s send Bobby Crosby and Dan Johnson to Mets
A’s send Dan Haren to Twins
Twins send Johan Santana to Mets

Mets get Johan Santana, Bobby Crosby and Dan Johnson
A’s get Jose Reyes and Kevin Mulvey
Twins get Dan Haren and Hector Pellot

The source says Haren is exactly the type of player the Twins want for Santana, a cheap frontline starter. It’s known the Mets would hate to deal Reyes but they would get some value beyond Santana. Billy Beane is happy because he gets Reyes for one more year than he had Haren plus longtime favorite Mulvey. And, he’s out of Crosby’s contract.

All I have to say about this is WOW!!! As it says above, it is just a rumor and hasn’t what this entire winter meetings has been, just one big rumor but yet the plot thickens!!!!

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Tune in tonight as bloggers Anthony of the Oriole Post and Jason of My Baseball Bias join me for our hour long baseball show called, “The Hits Keep Coming” on Blog Talk Radio and on MVN Radio. Every week at 7PM Eastern Time (6PM Central/ 5PM Mountain/ 4PM Western/Pacific) we chat, analyze and comment about the world of Major League Baseball.

This week: Winter Meetings Special

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Topics to be discussed this evening:

• Winter Meetings in Nashville
• Hot Stove Talk

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See you all tonight!!!

Besides the Johan Santana talks, there is other news regarding the Boston Red Sox going on so let’s take a look at those headlines.

Team interested in extending Varitek’s deal [Pro Jo]

Sox shop Tavarez, wait on Twins [Boston Herald]

For now, prospects are murky [Boston Globe]

Boston Red Sox Announce Personnel Moves In Baseball Operations [The Raw Feed]

Red Sox trying to get lesser deals completed [Pro Jo]

Sox fans shopping for their wives, girlfriends? [38 Pitches]