“I’m ready to jump in with Lackey who won Game 7 in 2002 against the San Francisco Giants when he was a rookie with Anaheim, Beckett pitched a shutout for Florida in Game 6 in 2003 against the Yankees, and Lester finished off Colorado in Game 4 in 2007. We could not only make next year’s rotation potentially elite but really solidify our rotation for a long time with the addition of John Lackey.”
Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein on the team’s rotation for 2010 and the future
“I sent Josh a text message. I said, ‘Some might speculate this means the end of you in Boston. Don’t listen to them. You’re a huge part of what we’ve got going on here and we’d love it if it worked out that you were part of our future as well. And the most important thing is we have one heckuva pitching staff right now.’
“He texted back and said he was excited about the sign. He knows John a little bit, thinks he’s a good man and a great pitcher, and he’s ready to go for spring training. I don’t think it impacts Josh nearly to the degree people have been speculating.”
Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein on Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett who is a free agent at the end of the 2010 season
UConn Football links
Tickets Sold/Allocated For Bowl Game To Date? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
Do You Think UConn Is Exploring Other Leagues? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
Days Release For Next Year’s Schedule? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
Have You Heard Of Any BE Contigency Plans? [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]
The Big East and its BCS performance [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]
Video: Big East bowl challenges [Big East Blog – ESPN.com]
How Loss Of Rutgers To Big Ten Would Affect UConn [Hartford Courant]
Murder Suspect In UConn Stabbing Pleads Not Guilty, Asks For Jury Trial [Hartford Courant]
UConn Women’s Basketball links
Down Goes Hayes [Rich Elliott – Connecticut Post]
What we know (and what we don’t) [ESPN.com]
UConn Men’s Basketball links
Andre Drummond: Above the Rim [UConn Huskies Basketball]
Lawyer: Client hasn’t talked about UConn with NCAA [AP via Connecticut Post]
In Final Year, UConn’s Edwards Takes Major Role [Hartford Courant]
UConn Huskies Join Hunt for JUCO Basketball Star [Bluegrass State Basketball]
Other UConn related links
Men’s Soccer: BIG EAST and Red Bull New York Announce Partnership for the League’s Men’s Soccer Championship [UConnHuskies.com]
Women’s Hockey East Power Rankings [WTBU Sports]
Earlier on Wednesday morning, there were reports that the Boston Red Sox were stepping up their efforts to acquire first baseman Adrian Gonzalez from their old pal Jed Hoyer, GM of the San Diego Padres.
Of course this all came about after the Red Sox signed free agents Mike Cameron and John Lackey.
First up is this from Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune:
At the moment, the Padres and Red Sox are not talking. And Hoyer’s last discussion with Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein last week at the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis did not involve Gonzalez.
But there is speculation in Boston that the Red Sox might try to reopen talks about Gonzalez, who is contracted to the Padres through the end of 2011.
Are the Red Sox desperate enough to make Hoyer a deal he can’t refuse – even if he might be hesitant to have his first major move as the Padres’ general manager a trade that sent the Padres’ most productive and popular player to his former team?
And this from FOXSports.com:
A deal is not close, and might not happen at all, sources said. Jed Hoyer, the Padres’ new general manager — and Red Sox’s former assistant GM — wants a high price for Gonzalez, whose contract is one of the biggest bargains in baseball.
“Jed has been asking for a ton,” one source said.
The Padres would be tempted to move Gonzalez if they could get Buchholz and Ellsbury in the same deal, sources say. However, the Red Sox would be very reluctant to include both, according to another source.
And of course Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston debunked those rumors via his Twitter page on Wednesday afternoon.
Take a deep breath, Boston fans. Adrian Gonzalez won’t be walking through the door anytime soon. Nothing going on on that front.
Red Sox know what it would take to get Gonzalez, and they’re not trading Buchholz and Ellsbury, baseball source tells me. SD asking a ton.
So would you include Ellsbury in a trade for Gonzalez? Conventional wisdom says no but if I’d think about it.
It would be hard to replace what Ellsbury brings to the Red Sox (defense, stolen bases) but when you can get player of the caliber of Gonzalez, you really have to consider it. Buchholz in all of this is a no-brainer.
But if you can make the trade with Buchholz and a few prospects, I think the Red Sox would be better off in the long run.
It’s hard to replace what Ellsbury does for them.
Hoyer will most likely end up trading Gonzalez if the deal is right but why not now while his value is at it’s highest.
Roy Halladay will get a chance to pitch in Toronto in 2010. It just won’t be as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners finally completed a three team trade on Wednesday that sends Halladay to the Phillies and pitcher Cliff Lee from the Phillies to the Mariners along with a few prospects heading to the Blue Jays.
Here’s how the whole trade breaks down:
Phillies get:
Mariners get:
Blue Jays get:
The Blue Jays then flipped Taylor to the Oakland A’s for 1B/3B Brett Wallace.
Halladay waived his no trade clause to go to Philadelphia and also agreed to a 3 year, $60 million contract extension.
In 12 years with the Blue Jays, Halladay was 148-76 with a 3.73 ERA in 313 games (287 starts). In those 287 starts, Halladay has 48 complete games and 15 shutouts.
If the Phillies rotation works out, Halladay will get a chance to pitch at Rogers Centre in Toronto when the Phillies visit there from June 25-27, 2010.
“We should thank Krista, who played a role in John’s interest with the Red Sox, ” said Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. “She went to the University of New Hampshire, so she helped out. Thanks, Krista.”
In the second of two press conferences at Fenway Park on Wednesday afternoon, the Boston Red Sox introduced No. 40 John Lackey to the media and Boston faithful.
Lackey’s contract is for a 5 years worth a reported $82.5 million. According to Ken Rosenthal via his Twitter, Lackey gets a $3.5 million signing bonus,, $18 million the first year and $15.25 million for the last four years of the contract.
Lackey has a career record of 102-71 with 3.81 ERA in eight seasons with the Angels. He was 11-8 with a 3.83 ERA in 27 starts in 2009. Against the Red Sox in his career, he is 3-7 with a 5.25 ERA in fourteen starts and is 2-5 with a 5.75 ERA in nine starts at Fenway Park.
Red Sox press release on Lackey after the jump.
The Boston Red Sox held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon at Fenway Park to introduce the newest member of the outfield Mike Cameron.
Cameron was signed to a 2 year, $15.5 million contract. He will receive a $1 million signing bonus and $7.25 million in 2010 and 2011.
Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and skipper Terry Francona will sit down with Jacoby Ellsbury, Cameron and bench coach DeMarlo Hale to discuss how the outfield will shape up for 2010.
In 26 career games at Fenway Park, Cameron is hitting .220 with 5 home runs, 8 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.
Here’s a press release from the UConn Athletic Communications department about tickets for the women’s basketball game between the UConn Huskies and Stanford Cardinal.
CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR UCONN-STANFORD TICKETS NOW!!!
STORRS, Conn. – Less than 2,000 tickets remain for a showdown of the nation’s top two women’s basketball teams on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at the XL Center in Hartford, as No. 1 Connecticut (8-0) hosts No. 2 Stanford (7-0) in a 5:30 p.m. (ET) tip, that will televised live to a national audience on ESPN2.
As part of a special holiday ticket promotion, fans still have the opportunity to “Buy 1, Get 1 Free”. For each ticket purchased (up to a maximum of 8), fans will receive an additional ticket at no charge.
Orders can be placed by going to UConnHuskies.com and clicking on the “Buy Tickets” link in the Ticket Center. Fans can then click the “Promotions” link and then type in promo code HUSKIES. Limited promotional tickets remain, so fans are encouraged to act quickly.
The game will also feature a halftime ceremony that will honor the 10-year anniversary of UConn’s 2000 NCAA National Championship Team and see the squad inducted as “Huskies of Honor”.
The 2000 edition of the Huskies finished 36-1 en route to capturing the program’s second national title with a 71-52 win over Tennessee in Philadelphia.
Members of the 2000 NCAA?National Championship squad scheduled to attend include: Svetlana Abrosimova Sue Bird, Marci Czel, Stacy Hansmeyer, Kennitra Johnson, Asjha Jones, Shea Ralph, Christine Rigby, Kelly Schumacher, Paige Sauer and Keirsten Walters.
Connecticut and Stanford have squared off a total of three times in the past two seasons, including meeting in each of the past two NCAA?Final Fours. The Huskies defeated the Cardinal 83-64 in the 2009 NCAA?National Semifinals in St. Louis, in the most recent matchup between the programs.
I apologize for being late with this. It slipped my mind with all of the recent happenings with the Boston Red Sox.
It’s time for the Fourth Annual SOX & Dawgs College Football Bowl Spectacular. The event has been one by my mother the first two years and WAYS1 last year.
I have changed things up a little bit this year. Instead of hosting it on the site and just going with winners, I have moved the contest over to Yahoo! and gone with a confidence system.
In the confidence system, you pick the winner and assign a point value of how confident you are in that pick. It’s pretty straightforward folks.
The winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift certificate and a guest post here on the site and as always anything goes. If by chance I happen to win the contest, the gift certificate and guest post will go to the person who finishes in second place.
Here’s the info you need:
Good luck to everyone who enters the contest.