Welcome back to the Sox, Doug Mirabelli. Theo Esptein today traded Josh Bard, Cla Meredith and either cash or a player to be named to get back Doug Mirabelli to be Wake’s personal catcher. Essentially this means the original trade for Mark Loretta is now Loretta for Bard, Meredith and the other considersations. Not a bad deal at all.

While I am a big fan of Mirabelli, he is not the reason why Wake only has one win this season. The Sox haven’t been scoring runs for Wake like they have in the past. Wakefield was the first person to step up and defend Bard who had never caught a knuckleballer before. He was leading the majors with 10 passed balls at the time of the trade.

This is why Theo is Theo. He makes good trades. He really didnt give up too much. Meredith was a good prospect who the Sox rushed to the big leagues last year and he got lit up like an XMAS tree. The Sox lose Bard who was only playing every 5 days when Wakefield pitched. Reaquiring Mirabelli allows the Sox to rest Varitek if need be and not have to worry about the lack of skills beyond the plate.

UPDATE TO THIS POST:
According to an article on espn.com, Mirabelli was given a police escort to the game from Logan Airport and arrived 13 minutes before the start of the game. Although it was Demon’s return to Boston, Mirabelli actually received the loudest ovation of the night until Big Papi hit a three run homer off of former Sox lefty specialist, Mike Myers, who was probably only acquired to face David Ortiz 19 times this year.

Well this is the day Sox fans have been waiting for…I am sure that May 1st has been circled on the schedules of the Sox Nation fans since Johnny Demon signed with the Yankees.

This is a pivotal early season series for both teams as they enter the game tomorrow night in a virtual tie for first place. Unfortunately for the Sox, the man who replaced Demon, Coco Crisp, is still out with a thumb injury suffered early on in the season…The Sox do hope to have him back for the next Yanks-Sox series.

It will be very interesting as to how the fans of Boston react to Mr. Demon returning. I am sure that you will see a good mixture of boos and cheers for him..I know if I were at the game then I would definitely be booing him.

Time for the Sox to step it up and regain first place after a not so good road trip to the Trop in St. Pete.

Welcome back Theo. You have been severely missed.

Theo’s back as he accepted a position in the baseball operations department. Although its not been announced what role he will take in the organization, one can only hope it is in helping the team get better for 2006 with what’s left of the free agent pool.

The Red Sox will have a press conference next week to announce what Theo will be doing and also announcing what Larry Lucchino will be doing as well. Rumors are Lucchino’s role would be reduced with the return of Sir Theo, but principal owner, John Henry denied those rumors.

OK, we are about one month for the reporting date for the pitchers and catchers of the Red Sox and yet we still have no one to play centerfield and shortstop. The Sox however have filled the need at first base with the signing of JT Snow. Snow brings the Sox his Gold Glove 1b skills and a pretty decent bat. A potential infield of Snow at 1b, Loretta at 2nd, Cora? at SS and Lowell at 3b is a scary thought. We can only hope that Lowell finds the form that he once showed in Florida, otherwises it’s going to be a long season of watching the starting pitchers try to shut down the other teams.

According to the Red Sox website, they have stepped up their search for a centerfielder. Names being thrown around include Coco Crisp and Jeremy Reed. I have seen Coco play while he was in the minor leagues here in New Haven. I can tell you that he will definitely bring speed to the Sox but I don’t see him as a leadoff hitter. Especially not in front of guys like Manny and Big Papi. As far as the shortstop position goes, the Sox right now are thinking of Alex Cora to play their everyday. Personally, I think this is a mistake but then again I am just the couch GM. From what I know and have seen of Cora, he makes a better utility guy then an everyday player.

I read somewhere while I was in parts unknown, that if Theo were the GM still when the Damon signing was announced, that he probably wouldn’t have kept him either. He stated that the Red Sox pretty much stick to the value that they assign to the player. If my mind serves me correctly, and for those who know me sometimes it doesn’t, Theo also stated he might have handled the negotiations a little differently.

Manny is still being Manny by changing his mind and now wants to stay in Boston. Stay tuned on that one though as he may change his mind like the seasons change here in New England.

Big Papi is looking for a contract extension from the Sox. One sentence will answer that one. GIVE HIM WHATEVER HE WANTS!!!

Word from Arizona is that Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke are rehabbing aggressively and look to be ready for 2006. Thank god because we are going to need them. Especially Foulke. Hopefully he returns to his old form and saves about 40 games this year.

Will 2006 be the year the Sox return to the World Series? Only time will tell.

Well the Sox lost out on another free agent again, as Kevin Millwood signed a deal with the Texas Rangers. Once again the Red flops have undervalued another player. The Sox felt that he was only worth a 3 yr $30 million dollar contract, while the Rangers gave him a 4 yr $48 million dollar contract with a vesting option for the fifth year.

While the season hasn’t even started yet and we don’t know how the guys the Sox have lost will perform, we do know one thing. The Red Sox two headed monster are idiots. By giving Millwood the money he wanted, they then could have spun Matt Clement off to another team for a center fielder. But no, Kevin Millwood wasn’t worth it. The Sox are worried about having $66 million dollars committed to six players. Odds are that figures goes down when Manny gets traded. Who the heck cares about the money? Get us a damn team thats gonna compete with the rest of the AL East. Otherwises, its not going to matter.

Theo o Theo please come back to us in Red Sox Nation. We truly need your expertise back.