Red Sox to Hire Bobby Valentine as Manager

Now former ESPN Baseball Analyst Bobby Valentine has agreed to become the new Red Sox manager

God help us all. The Red Sox have agreed to hire Bobby Valentine as the new manager. Mike Lynch of WCVB-TV was the first one to report that they had reached a verbal agreement. ESPN's Karl Ravech reported earlier last night that Gene Lamont was out of the running for the position.

This team is either completely screwed or they have just made the best decision ever. There's really no happy medium with Valentine. Either things go perfectly and better than anyone could ever expect, or all goes to hell and Valentine ends up fired.

Valentine is one of the best analysts in the business, I have to admit that. He's got a great baseball mind and is one of the smartest guys ever to manage an MLB team. Hell, in case you didn't hear him a few months ago, he answered the question of why Crawford was doing so poorly. He basically said that Crawford's stance is too open and that he needs to get rid of that stance. He is truly brilliant, but his problem is that he can be a loose cannon and it's pretty much his way or the highway.

Now, the bad side. And when I say bad, I mean atrocious. His career winning percentage is .510. That's horribly mediocre. In 15 seasons as an MLB manager, he made the playoffs twice, won the World Series once (those god damn '86 Mets), and never finished higher than second place in the division. He then went to Japan, where he managed the same team on two seperate occassions and was fired from the same team on two seperate occassions. That's probably one of the worst resumes I have ever seen.

The upside? If he finds out about fried chicken and beer in the clubhouse he's gonna be taking guys into his office and beating the holy living hell out of them. He'd probably even throw haymakers in front of everyone. That wouldn't surprise me one bit. Also, the upside for me and the media is he's going to be extremely entertaining, and he's going to give me a lot to talk about.

Anyways, contract negotiations are taking place today I think. Or whenever it is Valentine gets back from Japan. They'll probably settle on like a two year contract or something, but don't ask me about money 'cause I have no idea what a manager is worth salary wise.

Latest Red Sox Rumors

So, there are quite a few rumors out regarding the Sox, so I figured it'd be helpful if I gave you guys some updates in 140 characters or more (sarcastic Twitter reference there).

First off, Oakland A's pitcher Gio Gonzalez has been a name widely discussed internally by the Sox. The lefty was 16-12 this past season with a 3.12 ERA. The Sox have inquired on him, but Billy Beane is feeling lazy at the moment and hasn't begun any serious discussions with anyone interested in the guy. Also, some NL talent evaluator who wishes to remain anonymous said that 26 year old Gonzalez would be at the top of most teams' wish lists.

The Red Sox checked in with Yankees reliever Luis Ayala. The 34 year old pitched to a 2.09 ERA in 56 inning for the Skanks last season. He did pretty ugly in 2009, pitching to a 5.63 ERA while splitting time between Minnesota and Florida. But, his solid performance in New York is probably going to get him a guaranteed major league deal.

The Sox are still pursuing lefty C.J. Wilson, according to John Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Please Ben, for the love of God stay away from Wilson. Yeah, I know, the guy's got impressive numbers in the regular season. But how about when it was crunch time? His playoff numbers were brutal. His total playoffs ERA in the past 2 seasons with Texas is 4.82. Not exactly pretty. Not to mention his record over those 2 seasons is 1-5. Pretty scary if you ask me. I personally have concerns on whether or not he could handle the pressure in a market like Boston or New York or even Chicago, where old friend Theo Epstein is most likely going to pursue him. It gives me visions of John Lackey. Exactly, that scary.

The Sox apparently asked the Jays about interviewing former Sox pitching coach and current Toronto manager John Farrell for the managerial vacancy. What did Anthopolous have to say? "Give us Buchholz and you can talk to him." Hey Alex, stick it in your ass. Dink.

Within the next week, the team will announce the new manager. It'll either be Bobby Valentine (God damn it) or Gene Lamont (you've got to be kidding me). Pretty shitty candidates if you ask me. It appears that Lamont is Cherington's guy while Valentine is Lucchino's. Who do you think will win out on that one? (Rhetorical question, obviously Lucchino)

Nick Cafardo thinks that the Red Sox should go after Michael Cuddyer for right field with Carlos Beltran as Plan B. He also says that the Red Sox have inquired on Astros pitcher Wandy Rodriguez. Seriosu discussions haven't taken place. Sounds like the Sox were just seeing how available he is. He also thinks that Joe Saunders and Francisco Liriano would be good fits in the Red Sox rotation (maybe on Saunders, hell no Liriano)

One last note, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald believes that the Red Sox should convert Daniel Bard into a starter. former Red Sox pitching coach Curt Young acknowledged that Bard does have a "starter's repertoire". I still don't see that happening.

Latest News From the Past Week

I know, I know, I've been on somewhat of a hiatus for something like a week now. I don't really remember why, I just never got around to writing. But, if you follow me on Twitter (@DirtyWaterBuzz) you would see some news that I've put out in 140 characters or less (can't stand that part of Twitter). Anyways, here's what's been going on in the past week:

The Red Sox:

• It appears the manager search is down to two candidates. Bobby Valentine and Gene Lamont. Both are just horrid, horrid choices. Why didn't they call Dave Martinez again?
• Apparently the Sox asked the Jays about talking to John Farrell. Anthopolous' response? "Give us Buchholz and you can talk to him" What a pissy piece of shit. It's not like your team is any good anyways.
• Gio Gonzalez is a name that has been widely discussed internally by the team. Gonzalez is a lefty starter for Oakland who has also drawn interest from the Yankess and the Marlins. The A's have yet to engage in serious discussions with anyone about Gio yet though.
• The Sox are still pursuing free agent lefty C.J. Wilson, according to John Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. I personally would like to see the Sox stay away from him. his regular season numbers are impressive no doubt, but he sucked in the playoffs and that makes me wary of signing him to a long term deal. Morosi also says that the Sox have checked in on Luis Ayala, who pitched 56 innings for the Yankees last year and had a 2.09 ERA.

The Bruins:

• The Bruins were red freakin' hot this week. They took a 10 game winning streak into yesterday's game against Detroit. They did lose in a shootout to the Red Wings, but they got a point out of it and that makes it an 11 game point streak coming into tonight's game against Winnipeg.
• Tyler Seguin has been on fire all year and has already topped both his goal total and his point toal from last season. The kid belongs in the All Star Game. So, go on Twitter, follow me (@DirtyWaterBuzz), get #SeguinforAllStarGame trending, and be sure to follow @writeinSeguin to get the link to write the kid in.

Also, some breaking news. It appears that the NBA and the NBAPA have reached a tentative agreement to end the lockout. It still needs to be ratified by the players and owners though, but it would make for a 66 game season that would start on Christmas Day.

Damn it. That league needs an entire season off. The players have far too much power and the owners are subject to a league office full of pussies that won't do a damn thing about it. Absolutely pathetic.

The Red Sox Are Going to Hell

So the Red Sox had one guy in mind to manage the team next year. It was Dale Sveum. And guess what former Red Sox GM and now Cubs President of Baseball Operations did today! He hired that exact same guy, Dale Sveum, to manage the Cubs next year.

Hey Theo, GFY.

This Red Sox team is going to hell now. They had a shitty list of candidates to begin with, but ever since he was hired, GM Ben Cherington and Red Sox ownership have been contradicting each other at every turn. First, he tells Felger and Mazz on the radio that the next Red Sox manager doesn't have to have previous managerial experience. Then, ownership comes out and says that the next manager does indeed have to have previous managerial experience. Then Cherington says that the Red Sox don't have any current plans to expand the managerial search. And of course, ownership comes out and says that they are going to expand the search and that they've reached out to Bobby Valentine.

Wait, what? Bobby Valentine? Are you shitting me? Larry Lucchino's best idea for manager is Bobby F'ing Valentine? What the hell is he on? I'm guessing some combination of rufies, ecstasy, and a couple of those Euro drugs that the Feds are keeping an eye on. The only good thing that could come out of hiring Bobby Valentine is that if he found out about beer and fried chicken in the clubhouse he'd throw friggin' haymakers.

But seriously, the guy managed for 15 years in the MLB and made the playoffs twice. Then he went over and managed in Japan and got fired twice from the exact same team that he managed out there. Sounds like a pretty shitty resume to me.

Hopefully ownership stops trying to use Cherington as their god damn puppet and lets him and the rest of his Baseball Operations staff do their jobs. Like it's ridiculous, ownership wants a manager who will follow every order given to him and will listen to exactly what "Carmine" says. What they SHOULD be looking for is a manager who will hear "Carmine says that (insert player's name here) will have good stats playing (insert position here) here." and responds with "I don't give a shit what your frigging computer says I want to know what the scouts have to say and you will listen to what I have to say."

I seriously would just love to get into this team and have my voice, the voice of reason and legitimacy and exactly what should be done, heard. They should be interviewing guys who would actually make good managers. So, without further ado, here's my list of candidates:

• Ryne Sandberg
• Dave Martinez
• Tim Wallach
• Don Wakamatsu
• Pete Mackanin
• John Farrell

Yeah yeah, I know that the Jays don't want to the Sox to talk to Farrell at all, but personally I'd tell Anthopolous to stick it and talk to him anyways. And Mackanin is out of the running already, but I have a feeling that was an ownership call, not a Cherington one, seeing as he was the first one they wanted to talk to.

Also, it sounds like the Sox are trying to hire former Mets GM Omar Minaya to some sort of special assistant role. Really? Omar Minaya? Jesus, just when you thought their personnel choices couldn't get any worse, you hear the name Omar Minaya. Good friggin' God.

Cubs Offer Dale Sveum Manager Position. Wait What?

Theo Must be really, really bitter about not taking everyone in the Boston Front Office with him to Chicago.

Reports are coming out today saying that Theo Epstein and the Cubs have offered Dale Sveum the manager position in Chicago, right after Sveum finishes his second interview with the Red Sox.

What the fuck.

If Sveum takes the Cubs position over the Red Sox, maybe the Sox will try and get Mike Maddux again. Oh wait that's right, he withdrew because he wanted to be closer to his family. Yet, Chicago is about the same distance from Texas as Boston is, and he was more than happy to interview there.

Here's a message for you Theo. Let Cherington do his job, stop trying to jack all his ideas you prick.

Seriously, you would think he would try and leave on good terms. I had all the respect in the world for Theo when he left. Now he's just an asswipe.

So, if Sveum does take the Chicago job, who do the Red Sox hire? Mackanin isn't a candidate anymore. They better damn well not hire Gene Lamont to be manager. Alomar Jr may be good, but I really don't know much about him other than the fact that he's a bench coach. Lovullo is practically unknown and doesn't have managerial experience. Who the hell are they going to go after?

Dale Sveum Appears to be Frontrunner for Manager

Dale Sveum gives his trademark windmill during a Red Sox game. The former Sox third base coach appears to be the frontrunner to replace Terry Francona as manager.

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington confirmed at the GM Meeting in Milwaukee the other day that he will be interviewing Dale Sveum a second time, and it's possible that one other candidate will get a second interview as well. According to most reports and speculation, Sveum appears to be the frontrunner to replace Terry Francona as the Red Sox manager.

Honestly, I'm kinda surprised at this. I fully expected a much more established list of candidates to be interviewed, and the only one that I had in mind that they actually talked to was Philadelphia bench coach Pete Mackanin. I was expecting a list of guys like Mackanin, Dave Martinez (Tampa Bay bench coach), Ryne Sandberg (Philadelphia's AAA manager), and others that I can't really remember at this moment. The list Cherington put together surprised me, and to be honest I was and still am skeptical about guys such as Alomar, Sveum, Lovullo, and Lamont. Although, if Sveum does indeed get the job, don't be surprised to see Gene Lamont hired to be his right hand man, seeing as Sveum has only managed something along the lines of 14 games in his coaching career.

The issue with this is that Theo Epstein has a very similar list of managerial candidates. He's interviewed Sveum, Mike Maddux (who was on the Red Sox list but opted to withdraw from the search), Sandy Alomar Jr., and Mackanin. It makes me wonder, what the hell kind of a game is Theo playing here? First he interviews Francona for the job, then he goes and basicallly jacks Cherington's list of candidates and starts interviewing them. Like really, what's his deal?

On another note, it seems Theo may a bit bitter about not being able to take his entire staff with him from Boston to Chicago, so he decided to have GM Jed Hoyer interview Red Sox bench coach DeMarlo Hale about the manager position in Chicago. It's just annoying at this point that Theo's trying to jack all of Cherington's plans. So much for leaving on good terms asshole.

Weekend Roundup

It's that time again people, my weekly weekend roundups. I actually enjoy writing these 'cause I get to bitch about everything and anything. So, in any case, if you were living underneath a rock all weekend, here's what you missed:

The Bruins:

• Seriously, these guys are on fire right now. They've won 5 straight now and they're looking like the team that won the Stanley Cup last year.
• Is it just me or is it friggin' awesome to watch these guys score in rapid succession? I mean hell, I even turned Jack Edwards' new catch phrase into a Twitter hashtag, #BABOOM, 'cause if you watch the games, you'd know that every time the Bruins score twice in a short span of time Jack just feels the need to yell that out.
• That pre-game ceremony where the team brought in the soldier to surprise his family was absolutely amazing. I loved watching that, it was so great to see one of our soldiers return in such a great fashion. If that didn't warm your heart, you have absolutely no soul whatsoever.
• Tyler Seguin is on fire. Seriously, the kid's matched his goal total from last year and is only a couple points away from matching his point total from last year too. I don't get why he isn't on the All Star Ballot, so all you people who follow me on Twitter spread around my new hashtag, #SeguinforAllStarGame, so we can get a write in campaign going.

The Red Sox:

• Over the weekend, GM Ben Cherington interviewed both Tony Lovullo and Gene Lamont, which officially concluded the first round of interviews for manager. The team will conduct two follow up interviews at the Winter Meetings in Milwaukee, one with Dale Sveum and one with a mystery candidate. It appears that Dale Sveum is the frontrunner for the job.
• The Sox lost Closer Jonathan Papelbon to the Phillies when he signed a 4 year, $50M deal that will be official after Pap takes his physical. He better hope they don't make him take any sort of academic exam as well, otherwise the deal will be called off 'cause Pap is as dumb as a stump.
• The Sox now appear to be in on closers Ryan Madson and Heath Bell and are also considering internal candidates for the role as well (meaning they're considering putting Bard at closer).
• All signs point to the Sox re-signing DH David Ortiz. God damn it, I really didn't want to see them bring back this friggin' pri madonna. All he's done the past couple years is bitch and moan and I was really hoping they'd let him go and try to change the clubhouse, but now that the Yankees are saying they don't need him and the Jays are saying they don't need him, the market for him looks like this: Red Sox, Red Sox, Red Sox, and Red Sox. Yeah, it seems we're kinda stuck with the guy.
• Cherington also said that if the Sox do indeed re-sign Ortiz, they won't be signing or trading for a big bat in the outfield such as Carlos Beltran or Grady Sizemore and will go for more of a solid veteran type to compete with Reddick and Kalish for the right field job.
• Also, Cherington and Theo Epstein states that the two of them plan to meet at the Winter Meeting and work out the compensation for the Sox losing Theo. Wow, I completely forgot this was going on. I can't believe they haven't been able to solve this issue in a month. I mean shit, World War II was resolved in two weeks and the entire Central Powers collapsed and surrendered in one month after World War I, which wasn't much time considering how many countries were involved in that war. It's a bit ridiculous that they haven't figured it out, especially since the Sox are just going to get a couple good prospects from the Cubs' farm system, not like Matt Garza or Starlin Castro or giving them John Lackey or anything.

On two seperate notes, the Patriots spanked the Jets last night. And when I say spanked, I mean Sanchez and Co. basically bent over and allowed it to happen. Sanchez absolutely blows. Why exactly does he always keep his eyes on the rush and not downfield where he can find a receiver? And how the hell were Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress shut down by Andre Carter and Devon McCourty (who by the way is out indefinitely with a seperated right shoulder)? I still think it's time for the Patriots to find a new GM and have Bill step down to just be head coach so this team can get a pass rusher (the lack of one has been killing them on third down) and some coordinators to help bring these rookies along instead of just stunting their development.

Also, there's really no news on the NBA lockout front other than the fact that they're still at a stalemate and as of right now the season won't begin until New Year's Eve. So basically you can assume an entire season of basketball will be lost. Makes no difference to me, I can't stand basketball, but hey, I gotta keep everyone here happy and updated.

Phillies Agree to Sign Jonathan Papelbon

Well this sucks. The Phillies have agreed to terms with now former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon. The deal was first reported by Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly, and my regular sources, such as Jon Heyman, filled in the blanks later on. The deal is reported to be 4 years, $50M with a vesting option for a fifth year, which would then make the deal worth $60M.

Jesus H Christ. What has baseball come to when you're paying a guy $12.5M per year to come in, give you maybe 50-60 appearances, maybe 30+ saves, and pitch one or two innings per appearance? The market for closers is ridiculous. Like seriously, it should look something like the DH market does now.

Anyways, it appears now with Pap gone, the Sox are in on Ryan Madson and Heath Bell, and probably guys like Joe Nathan and K-Rod (the last two have not been reported, that is just my guess). It doesn't look like they're going to go the closer-by-committee route and throw Bard into that role. Odds are Bard will stay in the 8th inning role, otherwise he's geting moved to the rotation.

I wonder what song the Phillies are going to play whenever Pap comes out of the bullpen. They sure as hell can't play Shipping Up to Boston, 'cause ya know, it's Philadelphia and all. I also wonder what that fatass cop is going to do now that he doesn't have Papelbon to fist bump every time he comes in. Maybe the Sox can answer that question for me once I get my press pass.

Also, now that the Sox will receive two compensatory picks, I'm thinking Cherington is looking at possible trades for either pitching or a bat that involves one or two low level prospects, even if they're good, since they'll just be replaced within a year or two. I wouldn't mind seeing Gio Gonzalez come in. The Sox have also reportedly expressed interest in free agent starter Mark Beuhrle. I personally like Beuhrle a lot. Veteran player, good attitude, has a ring, and can slide into the 4 or 5 spot and log you some good innings. Basically an effective Tim Wakefield. Hey Ben, I hope you read this, 'cause I actually have good ideas. Of course, Ben Cherington isn't reading this or anything on this site for that matter, but hey, I can dream can't I?

Caron and Pouliot Struggling. Could This Mean the Bruins Trade for Winger?

So it's been out there for a while that the Oilers may be shopping center Sam Gagner, especially now that Nugent-Hopkins is centering the top line and Shawn Horcoff is centering the second line, and the third line may not be where the Oilers want him. The issue is how he's perceived around the league. He's not exactly considered a playmaker at center and not really a true scorer either, but he's too talented to be relegated to third line duties. Of course, there are a few other teams in need of a center, with the Islanders and Devils the most obvious ones. But I wonder if anyone has considered moving him to wing. A lot of centers start out as wingers, and getting experience with a good center who can take a lot of those responsibilities off of you could be very beneficial (see: Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin). Maybe the Bruins would consider making a move for him? He wouldn't cost much, most likely he wouldn't even net a first round pick. Perhaps the Bruins could do something with Caron/Pouliot and send over a decent package (and by package, I don't mean something massive. Something small) for the kid. Put him on the third line with Peverley and Kelly could actually be very good for him. Remember though, there have been absolutely no reports saying the Bruins have any interest in him or anyone for that matter, so this is pure speculation on my part. It would be nice to see the Bruins trade for someone and see him really break out here, something that hasn't happened in a long time here in Boston.

Orioles Name Dan Duquette GM, Will Suck For Many More Years

Former Red Sox GM Dan Duquette agreed to a deal with the Orioles that makes him the new GM

So yesterday, the news broke that after a long and exhausting GM search in which they had candidates decline interviews and decline the job offer, the Orioles decided to name Dan Duquette their new General Manager. Dan Duquette? You mean the former Red Sox GM who had private detectives follow players around? The same Dan Duquette who gave up on all of his drafts after selecting Nomar, after which one player made the MLB and one made the NFL? The same Dan Duquette who has about as much people skills as a chipmunk? Yep, that same Dan Duquette. I can see it now, his introductory press conference. Man, I gotta watch that, it should be entertaining, between him and Buck Freaking Showalter I'm gonna have some good laughs for the next few years with this team. I bet it goes something like this:

Reporter: "Dan, how is this year's team going to be different than ones in years past?"
Duquette: "Why don't you go ask Buck that fucking question."
Reporter: "Buck, what are your thoughts?"
Showalter: "...Go fuck yourselves"

I just feel that something like that is bound to happen. With this duo at the helm of the Orioles organization, that team is bound to be at the bottom of the league for years to come. Duquette does have one hell of an eye for talent, but as Peter Gammons has pointed out, he's been out of the game for about 10 years now, what's to say he isn't still stuck in his past analytic methods? And hell, I'll ask my own question. What's to say his inability to draft for years and years and his knack for trading away very good players such as Jamie Moyer and Adam Everett isn't still with him? I fully believe that Baltimore is screwed. Duquette can be good, but probably won't be, and Showalter is a damn meathead with far too much power as manager. Congratulations Baltimore, you've officially screwed yourselves for years to come.

Bruins vs Leafs: AKA The Tyler Seguin Show

Wow. First off, the game itself was unreal. Just an awesome effort all around, and it actually lasted the entire game. I know, surprising, right? But that's just a side story. Tyler Seguin scored a hat trick last night. And not just your standard "Hey I tapped in a few rebounds" hat trick, this one was absolutely nasty, as seen in the video. I wonder if he played baseball as a kid... Anyways, here are some of the other highlights:

• Krejci seems to have found a little bit of balance. He had a goal and a nice assist on the Lucic goal. Maybe he's finally starting to come around.
• Lucic is an absolute frigging beast. To anyone who says he's a lumbering lard, I say watch his goal. Right off the faceoff after one of Seguin's goals he goes right to the line, catches a pass from Seidenberg and just explodes past the D. Can you say dominant power forward?
• Timmy looked sharp all night. 24 shots? Compared to what he saw in the playoffs last year, that's like hanging out watching the game while pounding an ice cold natty.
• Once again, Phil Kessel was Missing in Action. And by that, I mean he was on the ice and he played, but you wouldn't have known it 'cause he played like shit.
• How in God's name did Seguin score from that deep in the corner? Seriously, who else in the league can do that?
• That second goal was nothing special. I mean hell, I could've kept my stick below shoulder height while taking a baseball swing at the puck with pinpoint accuracy over the goalie's shoulder. And in case you're too stupid to realize, that was all sarcasm right there. That second goal was Godly.
• How in hell did Seguin roof the puck with maybe a foot of room? Seriously, this kid is absolutely nasty. Just wait until he hits his prime. I'm seeing at least a 40G-50A player.

On another note, today at practice it looked like Jarvis was giving Seguin some time on the point with Chara while Krejci, Marchand, and Bergeron played down low. Maybe this is something we see in a game? Also, I gave Seguin my card today after practice, so there's a a slight possibility he's reading this right now. So in that case, welcome to The Buzz Tyler! Hopefully you stick around, it might be nice to see what a real fan thinks. Especially since I'm kinda smarter in hockey than most other people.

Is Horton's Concussion Still Affecting Him?

It sure sounds like it. According to James Murphy of NESN and ESPN Boston, Nathan Horton has stated that the concussion he got from that cheap ass hit from Aaron Rome in the Finals last year is affecting him mentally on the ice, which apparently explains away his poor, or should I say horrible, play so far. Nope, not for me. Move on Nathan, the Finals were in June and you've been symptom free all summer, focus on playing hockey and not whether you're going to get clocked in the head. And when the Vancouver Dive Team comes to town this winter, beat the holy living shit out of Rome. It'll really get your team going and plus, you can walk away and say you beat the hell out of one of the bigger pussies on the Dive Team.

Francona Set to Interview in St. Louis

According to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Dispatch, the Cardinals are set to interview about 10 people for their open manager position. Those candidates include the one and only Terry "Tito" Francona. I hope he gets the job. After the way ownership screwed him over, I'd like to see him land a new job. He's a great guy and would definitely be a great fit in the St. Louis clubhouse. So Tito, best of luck, Red Sox Nation wishes you nothing but the best and hopes that you land the job (doubt anyone else in RSN gives a shit, but I feel obligated to speak for all the pink hats and tools in it).

Edelman Charged With Indecent Assault

Patriots Wide Receiver Julian Edelman is being charged with groping a woman at a nightclub Monday night

So Pats' receiver Julian Edelman is being accused of groping a young woman at a Halloween Party at the Storyville Nightclub Monday night. Now, that might sound bad, but I personally am not buying it. Why the fuck would you grab a chick between her legs? It's the number one rule of clubbing, 'cause the girls there are insane. The Police also think that by reviewing the club's security footage they'll be able to determine whether or not Edelman did it. Really? They think that by watching a video of hundreds of people dancing in one area, and most probably in some sort of costume 'cause they think they're cool, they'll be able to pick out exactly which person is Edelman and exactly whether or not he groped the girl? That's laughable to say the least. I wish them the best of luck in that, 'cause I know just as well as most people who have a slight knowledge of the criminal justice system, that they have 0 chance of finding exactly which person is Edelman.

Weekend Roundup

So I haven't been able to post in a few days because I still have no power and I have to do my posting from school. Don't even get me started on the National Grid. Anyways, here's what I wanted to post over the weekend but was unable to all in one post.

First, the Bruins:

• The Bruins look friggin' horrible right now. It's way past ridiculous at this point. Peter Chiarelli needs to get his hands out from under his ass and swing a deal to give these guys a kick in the ass.
• PK Subban looks like he trained with the Canadian National Dive Team over the summer. Lucic gave him a little lovetap in the second game of the series (which I do believe was extremely stupid by the way) and PK falls to his knees like someone took a fucking sledgehammer to his calf and draws a slashing call.
• Ference and Horton need to have more discipline. Ference is a vet who wears the "A" part time, he shouldn't be getting sucked in by that bitch Subban. Giving a guy a sucker punch after the whistle, no mater how much he deserves it, is going to get you called every time. And did Horton really think he was going to move the turnstile the Scabs call Hal Gill? Seriously, the guy's like 6'6 or something and as big as Horton is, he looks like a midget compared to him. Stupid move on his part.
• Tuukka Rask did his best Gerry Cheevers impression. I loved it. He comes out of the crease, slides on his ass and trips up Montreal's favorite little bitch Pacioretty and sends him flying, all while pushing the puck up ice. Fucking awesome.
• The refs really don't like the Bruins this year. They always get called for total bullshit, as proven by the Seidenberg holding call in which Seidenberg placed his free hand on the shoulder of the Scab on a breakaway and poked the puck off of his stick. He didn't even grab him. And I'm definitely not the only one who thinks this. Just ask Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com. Even Haggs says the refs are out to get the Bruins after they won the Cup by beating the shit out of the Sedin Sisters and Co.
• I think it's about time Chiarelli fires Geoff Ward. The guy runs a brutal powerplay and he's the one who comes up with the late game schemes that never work out. I mean hell, firing the Assistant Coach seems to have worked for the Scabs, so why not show this team that nobody's job is safe, including the coaches.

The Red Sox:

• Ben Cherington's first official transaction as GM of the Red Sox was to pick up the club option on shortstop Marco Scutaro. Smart move, keeps the revolving door at shortstop at rest for at least another year while Jose Iglesias continues to develop his hitting skills.
• The Sox and Cubs were unable to reach an agreement on compensation for former Sox GM and now Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein. And that means that the case has landed on Commissioner Bud Selig's desk today. Wonderful, now we can expect almost nothing in return because Selig highly undervalues a good executive.
• Yesterday the Sox declined the club options on relievers Dan Wheeler and Scott Atchison. Chances are they'll re-sign Atchison to a minor league deal to save the 40-man roster spot. Don't know about Wheeler though, he could be gone. He had a pretty bad April and a horrible second half, so they may just look internally (Bowden, Tazawa, Doubront, Weiland) to find his replacement or find someone capable of pitching the 6th and 7th or whatever is needed on the open market.
• The team also interviewed Philadelphia bench coach Pete Mackanin for the vacant managerial position. Today they're interviewing Brewers' hitting coach Dale Sveum (Please God, not Dale Sveum). GM Ben Cherington said that the team has not requested permission to interview anyone else yet, but there are several more candidates working for other teams that the team will probably interview, with Tampa Bay bench coach Dave Martinez being the only name on that list that I can remember. Philadelphia's AAA Affiliate Manager Ryne Sandberg is also likely to be interviewed.

The Patriots:

• It's got to be emabrassing when the other team is passing on your defense in obvious running situations. The defense really needs to get into shape fast if they want to a legitimate playoff contender. They can't keep relying on Brady and the offense to win games for them.
• The Patriots cut Cornerback Leigh Bodden over the weekend. I didn't even know he was still on the team. That's how bad he's been.
• Maybe it's time that Bellichick hires a new Defensive Coordinator, because the current defense is either tuning him out or just isn't getting the message.

Also last week, I attended a Boston Globe Insider Event at the Cask'n Flag'n where I was able to speak with Globe Sports/Red Sox Reporters Dan Shaughnessy, Peter Abraham, and Bob Hohler. Shaughnessy made it clear at the beginning that Terry Francona did not quit and it was not a mutual "parting of ways". He was in fact fired. I also asked the three of them publicly if the Red Sox have a team psychologist on the medical staff to evaluate the mental makeup of current players as well as prospective players such as potential draftees and free agent signings. They said that the team employs Dr. Bob Tewksbury who holds a Ph.D in Sports Psychology who works with all the players on the team, but does not do anything in the way of scouting potential draftees or free agent signings. I personally believe the team should employ another psychologist, one who holds a Ph.D in Cognitive Psychology as a scout to secretly evaluate potential free agent signings and go over files and paperwork of players the team is interested in trading for and give a solid description of their mental makeup, all in an effort to avoid disasters such as Erik Bedard and John Lackey. Privately, I asked Bob Hohler, the reporter who broke the story on the Francona smearing, if he could confirm or deny whether all three/any combination of the Ownership trio (John Henry, Larry Lucchino, Tom Werner) was his source for the story, and he said that he could neither confirm or deny. A lack of words has never told me so much about the sources. I also asked Peter Abraham about the rumors of Kevin Youkilis being a clubhouse cancer. His answer was something along the lines of "He's a generally grumpy guy so he's not going to be the most popular dude on the team, but he works his ass off." Abraham did agree with me when I suggested they could trade Youkilis for some pitching. Both of them were given my card and for all I know, they could be reading this story right now, which would be pretty friggin' sweet. Anyways, other than the unsurprising news that the NBA and the NBAPA failed to come to a labor agreement and more games were cancelled, that's all I have for you. So hopefully I get power back soon and can dish out updates as I get them.