Woooohoooooooo!!! This report comes from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:

Free-agent third baseman Mike Lowell has agreed in principle to the framework of a three-year deal to return to the Red Sox, major league baseball sources close to the negotiations have confirmed.

Lowell, 33, tested the free-agent waters, and may have received at least one four-year offer from another undisclosed team, but in the end the Sox third baseman elected to stay where he was most comfortable. Sources indicate that the three year deal is worth in the $36-$38 million range.

The Red Sox had placed a deadline of today for Lowell to make up his mind. If Lowell had passed on the Sox offer, which remained pretty close to the original offer they made the World Series MVP, they were ready to begin implementing their Plan B.

The Sox have now re-signed both of their major free-agents – Curt Schilling, who agreed to a one-year deal for $8 million and $5 million in incentives. The Sox could now entertain a deal for outfielder Coco Crisp sometimes between now and the winter meetings in December.

I think we are all glad we didn’t have to get to Plan B, which only the Red Sox know about. This is a good signing for the Red Sox and I am sure in the end Lowell got a fair deal. Obviously if he didn’t, he would have gone elsewhere.

The pieces are starting to fall into place for the Red Sox now. We still need to replace or re-sign Mike Timlin, Doug Mirabelli, Eric Hinske. But other than that, the core of the roster looks to remain the same. As the article states, Coco could be dealt, maybe for a backup catcher, although Coco should command more than that via a trade.

ESPN’s Buster Olney is reporting the Boston Red Sox and Mike Lowell are finalizing a 3 year contract worth $37.5 million.  Sox and Dawgs will have more as this progresses.

Former Boston Red Sox shortstop and 2007 Gold Glove winner Orlando Cabrera was traded on Monday by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to the Chicago White Sox for two-time 18-game winner John Garland.

Cabrera, signed with the Angels as a free agent after spending the last two months of 2004 with the Red Sox and helping the team win their first World Series since 1918.  Last season, his third in LA, Cabrera hit .301 with 35 doubles, eight home runs, 86 RBIs and a career-high 101 runs with the Angels last year. He had a career-high 192 hits.  He also won his second Gold Glove.

Garland, a right handed starter, won 18 games in both 2005 and 2006 went 10-13 with a 4.23 ERA last season.  Garland was a member of the White Sox 2005 World Series championship team.

As per the usual lately, the links are on the light side for Red Sox news from the Boston area papers. There is really nothing new to report on the Mike Lowell front. The two sides are talking but nothing is really getting done at all.

The construction at Fenway Park found itself on the news last night as there was a small fire in the morning on Sunday that was ignited by sparks from a welder’s torch. The only thing that was damaged was material that was going to be thrown away so there was no actual damage to the ballpark itself.

So while we wait for our daily Lowell update, let’s take a look at the headlines grabbing your eyes in the Boston area papers.

Lowell still awaits 4-year offer [Boston Globe]

Japanese not rolling Dice [Boston Herald]

Harmless Fenway fire ignites quipsters [Boston Globe]

Raw video of the fire. [KDKA]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Providence Journal, and Hartford Courant websites.

In a touching moment before last night’s shellacking of the Buffalo Bills by the New England Patriots, a taped message from Bills injured player Kevin Everett was played on the scoreboard.

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Down at one time by 20 points the Boston Celtics came roaring back into the game against the Orlando Magic and actually had the chance to win but Paul Pierce missed a game winning three point attempt as the Green dropped their first game of the year, 104-102, after starting 8-0.

The Celtics had started to chip away at the 20 point bulge in the the thid quarter and actually took the lead 88-87 midway through the 4th on back-to-back 3’s by James Posey and Eddie House.

Pierce led the Celtics with 28 points, Ray Allen had 19 points, Rajon Rondo chipped in 18 and Kevin Garnett registered yet another double-double with 14 points and 11 boards prior to fouling out. Posey also fouled out for Boston.

Dwight Howard led Orlando with 24 points, Rashard Lewis had 22 points and Jameer Nelson had 18.

Boston had 20 turnovers against Orlando and outrebounded the Magic, 41-28.

Lewis and Allen played together for nearly 5 years with Seattle before each player was traded this off season.

The Result

Wow. Where do you even start? The New England Patriots squashed their AFC East foe Buffalo Bills like a bug on the windshield on their way to a 56-10 rout in Orchard Park NY Sunday night.

Tom Brady was 31 of 39 for 373 yards and had 5 TD passes four of them to Randy Moss and one to Ben Watson. Laurence Maroney and Kyle Eckel ran for scores and Ellis Hobbs returned a fumble for a touchdown. The game was never really in any doubt as in a blink of an eye it was 14-0 New England and even after the Bills scored on a 47 yard bomb by JP Losman to Roscoe Parish to cut the lead in half, you never felt like it may be a game.

Well now the Patriots are 10-0 and cruising not only to the AFC East title but the #1 seed in the conference as they have a two game lead on Indianapolis.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy Thanksgiving on Thursday I’ll still have your weekly “In The Red Zone” on Tuesday and the game preview on Friday plus any other news of note.

Scoring Plays

1^st Quarter

• NE Maroney 6 yard run – kick good – 7-0 Patriots
• NE Brady 43 yard pass to Moss – kick good – 14-0 Patriots
• BUF Losman 47 yard pass to Parish – kick good – 14-7 Patriots

2^nd Quarter

• NE Brady 16 yard pass to Moss – kick good – Patriots 21-7
• NE Brady 6 yard pass to Moss – kick good – Patriots 28-7
• NE Brady 17 yard pass to Moss – kick good – Patriots 35-7

3^rd Quarter

• NE Brady 3 yard pass to Watson – kick good – Patriots 42-7
• BUF Lindell 52 yard FG – Patriots 42-10

4^th Quarter

• NE Eckel 1 yard run – kick good – Patriots 49-10
• NE Hobbs 35 yard fumble recovery – kick good – Patriots 56-10

Offensive Players of the Game

The offensive line. The 5-man front of Nick Kaczur, Matt Light, Russ Hochstein, Logan Mankins and Dan Koppen provided quality protection for Tom Brady and Matt Cassel as neither was sacked, the penalites were a minimum and they had good run blocking allowing the running game to gain 127 yards on 29 carries and produced 29 first downs.

Defensive Player of the Game

Cornerback Ellis Hobbs had 3 tackles, defensed two passes and returned a fumble 35-yards for a touchdown.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

Randall Gay interception on the Bills first drive plus the personal foul tacked on at the end.

Tom Brady goes 43 yards to Randy Moss on 3rd and 12 for a TD.

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While you’re watching the Patriots kick the Bills’ ass and awaiting Steve’s recap of the game, I bring you this Mike Lowell update courtesy of Rob Bradford over at the Boston Herald.

The Red Sox and Lowell’s agents, the Levinsons, talked without making any sort of breakthroughs in the negotiations. It appears as though Lowell might wait it out to see what suitors emerge while the Sox hold strong on their offer.

Wish there was more to report, but the theme of the negotiations continues on.

I really have to wonder how much longer the Red Sox will wait before moving on. The longer they go, the harder it is going to be to find a suitable replacement if needed. Of course I want him back as does the entire team and organization. But this is a business and as time goes, both sides need to make the ultimate decision and move forward or continue their relationship.

Let’s hope the Sox and Lowell decide to keep their relationship.

For the fourth time in six years, the New England Revolution found themselves in the MLS Cup. And for the fourth time in six years, the Revolution have found themselves on the losing end as the Houston Dynamo beat the Revs for the second straight year to win the MLS Cup 2-1 at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC on Sunday afternoon.

The Dynamo have only been in Houston for two years, relocating from San Jose back in late 2005, when AEG could not get funding for a soccer specific stadium. The team moved it’s operations, players and coaches to Houston and eventually became known as the Houston Dynamo. So in it’s two years in Houston, the team has given the city two MLS Championships.

Just like last season, the Dynamo fell behind to the Revolution. Taylor Twellman put the Revs ahead 1-0 when he put home a ball served to him from Brian Ralston and Shalrie Joseph. The Revs would take the 1-0 lead into the locker room at the half.

The Dynamo finally got on the board in the 61st minute when the Revs had trouble clearing the ball. The Dynamo’s Dwayne De Rosario sent a ball back across the penalty area that the Revs failed to clear and on the second try Joseph Ngwenya put under Revs goalie Matt Reis to tie the score at 1.

Just 13 minutes later, the Dynamo found themselves ahead on a brilliant goal from De Rosario as he took the cross from Brad Davis and snapped home a header to make it 2-1 Houston.

The Revs had some chances to score at the end as their best chance was saved by Dynamo goalie Pat Onstad off a diving header by Jeff Larentowicz from the Andy Dorman corner.

De Rosario was named MVP of the MLS Cup after the game.

The Dynamo are the first team in MLS history to repeat as champions since the 1996-97 D.C. United squads.

I’d also like to congratulate my old boss, Chris Canetti, who is the COO of the Dynamo on the championship.

Elena Delle Donne faxed in her letter-of-intent to attend the University of Connecticut finishing off one of the better recruiting efforts in women’s basketball. And now that the class is complete, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma can finally make comments about his prized recruits.

When he was asked about his incoming class, this is what Geno offered up:

“What I do know is the players we’ve signed are going to be able to come in next year and have a tremendous impact for a couple of reasons. We’re losing four players [the seniors] who have played a lot of minutes and been very productive and we’re bringing in four who, when we look back at it in for years, I feel will have been very productive and made a huge impact.”

About Delle Donne:

“I think Elena is the best basketball player in America– skill wise. I don’t think there is anyone in the country that can do what she does at her size. I don’t neccessarily think she’s the quickest, fastest, meanest kid on the block. So now, you wait to see how she’ll handle the challenge when she confronts opponents who are.”

About Caroline Doty:

“Caroline can shoot and pass and is a true leader on the floor. We’ve been recruiting her since she was in eighth grade. She’s similar to Jen Rizzotti in the sense that no one really anticipated Jen could be a national player of the year. If they did, more programs would have recruited her. Caroline has the same mindset Jen did. Mentally, she is fearless, which is what separated Jen from everyone else. They also grew up in the same environment with older brothers who beat up on them every day in the backyard. She’s one tough kid who expects to win at everything she does.”

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