A Rare Red Sox Post






I can not believe I'm actually doing this. It's been nearly half a year since I decided to start writing about the Bruins full time here on The Buzz, but with each and every Red Sox game I am becoming increasingly frustrated and I feel the need to tell you people what's really going on.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the 2012 Boston Red Sox. They're not the same team as last year because they fired a bunch of medical staff and the strength coach, got a new pitching coach, manager, and GM, and they added a couple of mediocre guys to to lineup! Oh wait...

The Red Sox, for a lack of a better word, downright blow this year. The suck really badly. A team that has a payroll hanging out around $200M with nearly 1/4 of it on the disabled list can't be expected to go out and tear it up, but this team should. They have the talent. Or so I thought.

The team is 17-20 thus far, and the year has been plagued by brutal pitching, inability to come up big in clutch situations (I'm looking at you Adrian Gonzalez. How the hell do you go 0-8 and go down on three pitches to the frigging DH?), inability to score runs, and a manager who seems to be just a step behind the game.

Josh Beckett. My good Lord, where the hell do I begin with this guy? Beckett, otherwise known as the "Texas Tough Guy", a nickname given to him by CSN's Mike Felger seemingly out of disrespect (well deserved disrespect) is giving me more and more reasons to despise him. First off, he needs his own personal catcher. Are you kidding me? Since he came here in the 2006 trade that also brought the great Mike Lowell and Alex Gonzalez to Boston, he's pitched to whoever he wanted to pitch to. For a while, there was no question it was going to be Jason Varitek as he was the starting catcher. Then Tek broke down, and the team made a move and brought in Victor Martinez to take over as the starting catcher, but Beckett refused to pitch to Martinez, so Varitek was put in the lineup every time Beckett was set to take the mound. Now that Varitek has retired, you'd think he'd have to pitch to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but nope. The Sox brought in Kelly Shoppach to back up Salty and also be Beckett's personal catcher. In other words, Beckett needs his binky to pitch. Hey Josh, how about your manager puts out whoever he feels gives the team the best chance to win, suck it the hell up, and frigging pitch. It's not that big of a deal. Second, the guy can never go a month without being "hurt" in some way, shape, or form. Blisters, lats, quads, hammies, stiff neck, sore back, sore toe, you name it, Beckett's used it as an excuse to not start. Seriously, how about you go a month without missing a start? And then we go back to last year and the whole fried chicken and beer debacle. Has anyone heard Beckett take any accountability at all for that? 'Cause it seems to me he doesn't care at all. Oh and don't forget that he was too hurt to start, but a few days before he was out playing golf with Buchholz! Unbelievable. And what does the "Texas Tough Guy" have to say about that? "What I do on my off day is my own business." Of course ownership, the front office, and Bobby V all come out and say they just told him to take the start off. That's a load of shit. "But Mitch, they had to bring up Aaron Cook, he was out of options and they needed to sit someone." Get real, why would you sit your best pitcher for some AAAA scrub who was picked up off the scrap heap?

The culture of this team is awful. the players are far too entitled 'cause they won two World Series titles in 4 years. The last one was in 2007. I haven't seen them go any further than the ALDS since 2008. And the worst part is the owners let this happen and they give them entitlement. Last season, the players were upset for some reason or another. You'd think the owners would tell them to suck it the hell up and play, but instead they take them out on a yacht and give them headphones! That's the biggest problem, there is no accountability there, and the owners let them do whatever they want. And if someone dares say something bad about a player you better watch out, they'll come down and silence you and make you backtrack until you look like an idiot.

Also, it's still very clear that there's a rift in the clubhouse. It's been reported on many occasions that the pitchers and positional players don't speak to each other, and unless this changes there's going to be problems down the line that will ultimately be a part of their downfall. Teammates need to talk to each other, doesn't matter if they like each other or not. They're on the same team and ultimately have the same goal in mind. This type of bullshit can't happen.

And Bobby V looks like he's lost touch with the game. Granted, the front office did neuter him and decided not to allow him to manage the way he wanted to manage, but when you're leaving your pitchers in far past their pitch count, there's something wrong. Part of that falls onto the guys in baseball operations for giving him a horrible bullpen, but at some point you have to at least show a little confidence in them. and when he calls guys out, he doesn't even try to stand up for himself, he rolls over and backtracks and apologizes. Dude, if you're going to call out a player, stand by your words!

What I really want to see and think they should do is get rid of the poison in the clubhouse. Beckett, Youkilis, etc. Throw in younger guys. See what you can get for Salty and Aviles, Byrd, and co. and call up the kids. I want the Sox to give me a reason to watch and be interested. I'd love to go to games to see how the young kids perform. Bring up Iglesias, Lavarnway, Ranaudo, Wilson, Hassan, Mortensen, Tazawa, and other young guys who may be able to help, cause these lazy, complacent, and entitled veterans aren't cutting it. But the team wouldn't do that. The pink hats would lose interest because the names they bring up aren't big time or famous names, they aren't sexy enough. And let's face it, it's all about satisfying the pink hats and fan girls.

This team is headed for a downward spiral late in the season once again. Maybe this time it'll be a wake up call to the owners, but I highly doubt it. Their heads are too far up their asses to realize there's a serious problem with this team.

Red Sox Sign Cody Ross

Free Agent outfielder Cody Ross and the Red Sox have agreed on a one year contract

Um....What?

Yesterday the Red Sox signed outfielder Cody Ross to a one year contract worth $3M plus incentives. The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham first reported that the two sides were "making progress". Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the agreement, while the Boston Globe's Michael Silverman and ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes filled in the details on the contract length and amount respectively.

I'm done trying to figure out what the hell Cherington is doing. When they traded Scutaro's $6M, I assumed, like most baseball fans who are somewhat knowledgable, that they would spend that money on a starting pitcher. But nope, instead they go out and sign Cody Freaking Ross to platoon in right field with Ryan Sweeney. Not to bash Ross or anything, he's a good addition, but there's a time to make moves of this sort, and this was not the time to sign an outfielder.

Listen Ben, you're not Billy Beane trying to build a winning team in Oakland. It's not like there's "fifty feet of crap" above you. You have the money and the resources to make necessary additions, and if that mean you go over the Luxury Tax threshold a bit, then so be it. No one's asking you to go out and spend like your Brian Cashman working with the deep pockets of George Steinbrunner, we're just asking that if you're going to spend money, spend it wisely.

Anyways, forgetting all of that, Cody Ross should be decent addition. Solid fielder and decent hitter, that's all you really need in a platoon. It'll be interesting to see how this team shapes out.

Also, Peter Abraham says that a source tells him that the Sox will try and add a starting pitcher with the money saved from the Scutaro deal. This confuses me, because I'm pretty sure if you want someone like Roy Oswalt (who they've apparently intensified their pursuit of) you need to have more than $3M to offer. That is unless Old Man Lucchino has some extra money up his sleeves to keep the team under the Luxury Tax threshold.

Red Sox Trade Marco Scutaro

The Red Sox today traded shortstop Marco Scutaro to the Rockies

The Red Sox have traded shortstop Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies for minor league starter Clayton Mortensen, who was part of the package that the Cardinals traded to acquire Matt Holliday from the Athletics. The move was reported to be finalized by Jim Bowden of ESPN (Twitter link). Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says that the Red Sox will now platoon Mike Aviles and Nick Punto at shortstop next year (via Twitter).

While this move may not make sense to you "fans" out there, I actually think this is a good deal that makes all the sense in the world. No seriously, I actually believe that.

Look at the facts. All reports on the Red Sox and starting pitching is that in order to sign a player such as Roy Oswalt or Edwin Jackson, they would have to move salary to avoid going over the Luxury Tax threshold. Trading Scutaro relieves the team of $6M in salary, and frees up space to sign a starter. They now have $6M to work with in negotiations. Not only that, but Mortensen could turn out to be a decent middle of the rotation starter. And right now, the Sox will need all the pitching depth they can get, especially when Beckett takes every other start off with a boo boo.

With this salary room, expect Cherington to lock up a starter in the coming weeks. If you ask me, it's gonna be Roy Oswalt. His asking price is low and the Sox have been talking to him and his agent a lot recently. So when the Sox sign him, you can tell everyone that I called it first.

Theo Esptein Talks Red Sox

Welcome back to Boston, Boy Wonder.

Former Red Sox GM and current Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein joined WEEI's resident assclowns Dennis and Callahan yesterday morning, talking about both the Cubs and the Red Sox. Here's what Pearl Jam had to say about the Sox...

• Theo said that he and current Red Sox GM Ben Cherington had discussed Epstein's possible departure from the organization for years.
• Epstein on last season's off-field issues: "There were periods that were just as unproductive and contentious in 2004".
• On the subject of Jonathan Papelbon's departure to the Phillies, Theo said, "You can get in trouble sometimes giving huge four-year deals to closers". Epstein said that Papelbon will be missed in Boston, but the additions of Andrew Bailey and Mark Melancon should help the bullpen recover from the loss.
• Theo also said that Carl Crawford didn't let his athleticism translate into success last season, but he expects Crawford to have better results in 2012 and beyond.
• Epstein said that Red Sox owner John Henry "wasn't a proponent" of the Crawford deal, but Theo wanted to sign him.
• Epstein also said that the Red Sox should obtain compensation for his departure, but referred to Andy MacPhail's move to the Cubs in 1994 and said that they shouldn't get much from Chicago.

Everything else he talked about had to do with the Cubs, and I don't know about you guys, but I really don't care about the Cubs. Not one bit. So, I won't post anything he said about the Cubs. If you want to see what else he had to say, check out the story on MLB Trade Rumors.

Red Sox Acquire Andrew Bailey

The Red Sox acquired Oakland closer Andrew Bailey in a trade the other day that also saw outfielder Josh Reddick and Oakland outfielder Ryan Sweeney change uniforms

Somewhere, Ryan Madson is bawling his eyes out.

The other day, the Red Sox finally made a move for a closer. They traded outfielder Josh Reddick along with prospects Raul Alcantra and Miles Head for Oakland closer Andrew Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney. The move was first reported by ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter link).

Well it's about damn time. I had a bad feeling the Sox were gonna go the closer by committee route and just use Melancon, who, let's face it, isn't about to be an AL East closer anytime soon. Bailey is a proven closer (he's done for more than one year) and is a two time all star, and figures to be the Sox closer for quite a while.

Despite his injury history, Bailey appears to be in perfect health and should be one of the last pieces that solidifies the bullpen. With Daniel Bard and possibly Alfredo Aceves heading to the starting rotation, the Sox needed to make this deal. And if you ask me, Billy Beane got his balls chopped off in this one.

Also, with the bullpen seemingly taken care of, the Red Sox are exploring every poswsible starting pitching option. They've expressed interest in free agents Roy Oswalt, Hiroki Kuroda, and Edwin Jackson, and have talked to the Cubs about Matt Garza. Lou Merloni thought of something brilliant in regards to Matt Garza. Swing a deal for him, but make Theo and co. let Cherington give up one less prospect in the deal as compensation for losing Theo (Twitter link). Awesome idea if you ask me. Having 3 top notch starters (Beckett, Lester, Garza), 1 starter on the cusp of being top notch (Buchholz) and then either Bard or Aceves would be a pretty good looking rotation on paper going into the year.

You can also expect the Sox to either make some sort of trade or a free agent signing to fill the right field hole, as Ryan Sweeney and Darnell MacDonald will absolutely not cut it.

Red Sox Acquire Melancon, Sign Punto

Ben Cherington made his first trade as GM the other day, acquiring reliever Mark Melancon from Houston

Cherington has officially made his first trade as General Manager of the Red Sox, acquiring Houston closer Mark Melancon for shortstop Jed Lowrie and pitcher Kyle Weiland. The move is probably the first in a series of moves the team will make in order to solidify the bullpen. Melancon was pretty good for the lowly Astros last year, converting 20 out of 25 save opportunities while going 8-4 with an ERA of 2.78. Cherington has stated that he's comfortable with Melancon being the team's close next season, but multiple reports indicate that they are still pursuing Oakland closer Andrew Bailey, and Ken Rosenthal has said that they still can't be ruled out on free agent closer Ryan Madson.

I personally like the move. Melancon is only 26, is under team control through 2016 and isn't arbitration eligible until after 2013. I don't see him as an AL East closer, but this move definitely solidifies the late innings role, as he'll most likely take over the 7th inning role. Melancon has always had god numbers against righies, but he tends to struggle against lefties. So far, it seems like Cherington knows what he's doing. Building a bullpen isn;t an art, and it sure as hell isn't easy. Hell, the most succesful bullpens were built by teams who pretty much threw shit at the wall and prayed that it would stick (Prime Example: Tampa Bay)

Later that day, Cherington signed utility infielder Nick Punto to a two year, $3M contract. Punto wasn't signed for his bat though, thankfully. He has great defense at second base, shortstop, and third base. Also, from what I've heard, Punto is a great clubhouse guy that has been very well liked by the guys on every team he's played for. That's a quality that can't be overlooked, especially considering the clubhouse issues the Sox had last year. Cherington said of Punto, "He's a guy who understands his role on a winning team". That's actually really good, 'cause you can't be signing guys who feel like they're entitled to a starting job. Punto should help clubhouse chemistry, and he'll also split utility infield duties with current utility man Mike Aviles.

Rumors From the Winter Meetings

So baseball's winter meetings are 3 days in, and there have been many, many rumors surrounding the Red Sox. Here's what you need to know:

• David Ortiz officially accepted arbitration and will be back for one more year at least. (Twitter link)
• WEEI's Alex Speier writes that the Red Sox have no plans to try and trade Carl Crawford this winter. This should come as no surprise, as nobody is going to want that contract after that kind of year.
• Scott Lauber of The Boston Herald tweets that the Sox didn't have "substantive conversations" with free agent lefty Erik Bedard before he signed with Pittsburgh. (Twitter link)
• The Red Sox appear to be in on free agent starter Hiroki Kuroda, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. (Twitter link)
• T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reported yesterday that the Red Sox and Rangers were discussing possible trades. The Sox like relievers Koji Uehara and Mark Lowe, while the Rangers seem to like Jed Lowrie.
• ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes says the Red Sox and White Sox met yesterday to discuss Chicago pitchers John Danks and Gavin Floyd. Danks is unlikely, as Chicago GM Kenny Williams is looking for a king's ransom for the guy. (Twitter link)
• The Red Sox are seen as a possible wild card bidder for Japanese ace Yu Darvish, as new manager Bobby Valentine "loves him" after watching him pitch during his tenure in Japan.
• SI's Jon Heyman says that the Red Sox don't seem too enthused by outfielder Carlos Beltran. (Twitter link)
• The Sox remain interested in free agent closer Ryan Madson, but aren't willing to give him crazy money, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Cafardo also says the Red Sox have taken many calls on shortstop Marco Scutaro but don't appear ready to commit to Jose Iglesias full time just yet. (Twitter link)
• Yesterday Peter Gammons tweeted that the Red Sox had made a trade offer to the Atheltics for closer Andrew Bailey and that it was being considered. WEEI's Alex Speier later tweeted that talks were not very far along, but the A's like Lars Anderson, Raul Alcantra, and Brandon Workman.
• Ben Cherington's comments the other day suggested that the Red Sox would not be bringing back Jason Varitek or Tim Wakefield, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe.
• The Red Sox re-signed lefty Andrew Miller to a 1 year contract. Jon Morosi of FOX Sports was the first to break the news, and WEEI's Alex Speier filled in the salary details. Miller will make $1.04M on a non-guaranteed major league contract.
• Red Sox bench coach DeMarlo Hale won't be returning to the team next year, according to Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston. He's expected to take a job within the Orioles organization.

Weekend Roundup

It's that time again! Weekend roundup! I know you guys just love these posts (no joke, I can see these get the most hits) so I'm gonna keep 'em coming. Well, last week was one hell of a week and a pretty solid weekend on top of that. Let's see, I'll start with the biggest news in sports, the end of the NBA Lockout.

• This really sucks actually. The league really is brutal, and when I say that I'm talking about the business aspect of it. The players have far too much power (see: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh all setting it up so they all sign in Miami) and the owners and league office don't have enough sack to do anything about it. They seriously need a full year off so the league and the owners scan take the power back.
• The league will have a 66 game season that will open up on Christmas Day, when the Celtics play um, I think the Knicks? You Twitter followers needa help me out here. Tweet me and tell me if I'm right or wrong. Anyways, of course the NBA wouldn't let the lockout go past Christmas. That is THE biggest money making day of the season. I can't count how many people I know that open their presents on Christmas and then sit on their asses and watch game after game after game after game (pretty ridiculous if you ask me) If they let it get past Christmas Day everyone knew they were screwed.

How about them Bruins?

• 12-0-1 since the beginning of November. It's almost getting to the point where I can't count that high (that's a joke obviously, I can count far past 12)
• KHL seems to have hit their stride. Krejci is tearing it up right now after that extension and Horton and Lucic seem to be following his lead.
• When did Chris Kelly become a goal scorer? The dude has 10 goals already and is only 5 short of his career high. The man is red hot right now.
• Seguin is still the single most exciting young player in the game right now. Do you see how people just sit on the edge of their seats whenever he gets the puck? The kid's special. All you Twitter people, don't forget to keep writing him into the All Star Game in Ottawa on the NHL website and get #SeguinforAllStarGame trending!
• Poo Poo Pouliot seems to have turned a corner. The guy brings a ton of energy every shift and is starting to make some really nice plays, as well as score some important goals (ALWAYS use Pouliot in a shootout. He'll score every time) If he keeps this up I would have no problem with the Bruins giving him a new contract.
• Joe Corvo is officially a Big Bad Bruin! He got into his first career NHL fight with Joey Crabb towards the end of the Leafs game on Saturday night. It was a pretty crappy fight, and it eneded in a draw anyways, but the fact that he's now willing to drop the gloves has made him an official Bruin in my book.

The Red Sox had quite a week last week, so let's check up on them!

• The team officially introduced Bobby Valentine as the new manager on Thursday. Well, he is the perfect guy for a culture change. But, here's the deal with Bobby V. Either things go tremendously right and the team does better than anyone could ever have expected, or this whole thing blows up in The team's face and becomes a HUGE mess for them to clean up. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
• A day after being introduced as manager, Valentine flew down to the Dominican Republic to visit with David Ortiz and attempt to bring him back to the Red Sox. I seriously don't want him and his whining back in Boston. He can take it to New York for all I care. Just not here.
• Jim Bowden of MLB Network says that the Red Sox are maintaining dialogue with Scott Boras about free agent closer Ryan Madson (Twitter link) WEEI's Rob Bradford says that the Red Sox also had discussions with closer Heath Bell before he signed with Miami.
• Jim Bowden also says that the Red Sox priorities, in order, are: David Ortiz, a closer, a starting pitcher, and a right handed hitting outfielder (Twitter link) Seriously, why Ortiz?
• The Red Sox are set to meet with Bob Garber, the agent who represents both C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt, according to Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald (Twitter link) Hopefully with Wilson their just doing their due diligence and talking to him. His playoff numbers are scary, and personally, I believe if the Red Sox signed him we'd be looking at a left handed John Lackey. I do like the idea of adding Roy Oswalt though.
• According to WEEI's Rob Bradford, the Red Sox are interested in free agent starter Hiroki Kuroda. Their ability to sign him though depends on gaining financial flexibility via other moves.
• Tim Wakefield told Scott Lauber of The Boston Herald that he would like to pitch one more year with the Red Sox. Please, for the love of God don't bring him back.
• Larry Lucchino told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that he won't be attending the Winter Meetings in Dallas. Maybe this is a sign he's finally going to back the hell off and let Cherington do his job?
• According to SI's Jon Heyman, few teams want bullpen help more than the Padres, Brewers, and the Red Sox (Twitter link) Good sign if you ask me.

That's all I have today. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted on Twitter as well as Facebook until my next post. Not sure when that will be though...

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?

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.

Red Sox Will Go After Beltran

So according to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the Red Sox are expeced to go after free agent right fielder Carlos Beltran. Oh God. They better not. Beltran had a good year last year but he's going to be looking for a multi-year deal and unless the Sox plan on trading both Reddick and Kalish, that would be an extremely stupid move. I'd rather them see go after a short term stopgap until Kalish is ready, because I fully expect them to throw Reddick into a package to score some pitching help. Now, Kalish won't be ready for at least another year, because he was hurt pretty much all year and that's basically a year of development just gone down the tubes. Maybe Beltran would be cool with a two year deal, who knows? But keep in mind, he's a Scott "I'm the biggest prick in all of baseball" Boras client, so whoever signs him is going to overpay massively as most teams do for his clients.

On another note, it sounds like the Blue Jays are going to go after David Ortiz according to Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. Hey, if Alex Anthopolous wants him he can have him. Ortiz has been a whiny bitch the past couple years, and this winter hasn't changed that after he made comments saying he wasn't sure he wanted to be part of the drama in Boston. He recently backed off and new GM Ben Cherington has had some preliminary talks with Ortiz and his agent, but I really hope he splits, especially because he's looking for more money than this past season's $12.5M salary. I wonder if he realizes that the market for DH's has gone down considerably and he's already making twice what the average DH does.

Ben Cherington is Already 10 Times Better Than Theo

Ben Cherington at his introductory press conference yesterday afternoon. Cherington was promoted to Executive Vice President/General Manager of the Red Sox.

Yesterday, Ben Cherington was officially introduced as the Red Sox new Executive Vice President/General Manager. Not only does he sound exactly like Theo (thank you Toucher and Rich), but he's already ten times the GM Theo ever was. Why is that? Well, that's because he announced about 45 minutes that John Lackey will undergo Tommy John surgery this winter. GET THE DUCK BOATS READY!!!!!! I was really hoping they could trade the fat lard, but hey, not having him for an entire season is just as good. Plus, who knows, maybe he comes back half decent and they can trade him. In any case though, here's the important stuff you need to know:

• Cherington wants "a new manager with a strong voice who cares about players and can collaborate with the front office." He says the team (aka Cherington and Hazen) will start interviewing candidates soon. They have several candidates in mind for first round interviews, but they haven't asked permission to interview any of them yet. Previous managerial experience would be a plus, but it's not a necessity.
• The team's success with free agent signings has "not been good enough," according to Cherington.
• The Red Sox would like to have Fat Papi (really? They actually want him back?) and Jonathan Papelbon (Yes!!) back, according to Cherington. They've talked a little bit with both guys and expect discussions to continue. Really, the only guy that matters there is Papelbon. He's got the balls to play in Boston, so why not just keep him instead of taking a chance that say Heath Bell will crack under the pressure?
• Cherington says the team will likely pick up the $6M option on shortstop Marco Scutaro. Thank god. It's gonna be another year at least until Iglesias is ready to take over full time (fielding skills are out of this world, but his hitting blows)
• Boston's farm system is "stronger and deeper than ever" at Double-A and below, Cherington said. Shocking....

One last note, where the hell were John Henry and Tom Werner at this presser? Supposedly "travelling". I bet they're flying out to see the chick Gronkowski posed with. Which leads to to another final point. I give mad props to Gronk for getting a picture with that chick. Talk about a bombshell.

The Ellsbury Predicament

So Jacoby Ellsbury is up for arbitration for the second time in his career. Assuming the Sox don't suddenly extend him, he'll get a boatload of money 'cause he just had a monster year. But, I do believe that at some point this season the Red Sox should sign Ellsbury to an extension in order to avoid the usual inevitability that comes with any Scott Boras client, which for all you idiots out there who are reading this trying to learn the first thing about this part of baseball, that means free agency and letting teams bid against each other until he gets himself, erm, I mean his client top dollar, whether it be with the same team or a different team. Typically with a Boras client, a long term deal before free agency doesn't happen except for a few rare cases. But, I personally am hoping that Ellsbury is one of those rare cases. So, without any further useless rambling, I will propose my plan:

• First off, avoid arbitration. Sign Ellsbury to a 1 year contract, worth somewhere in the area of $7-9M. It's the right amount of money, and probably right around what he'd get in arbitration.
• Then, right around the middle of the year, sit down with Ellsbury and Boras and talk about a long term extension. He could be worth some big money assuming he continues to play at this level or an even higher level, and buying out an arbitration year would be huge for the team.
• Now, Boras is a stubborn piece of shit, so convincing him to negotiate a long term deal pre-free agency will be a pain in the ass. Hopefully Cherington has someone on his staff that has some sort of ability to manipulate/convince boras to negotiate.

So, in my first attempt at being an armchair GM, I suggest a 5 year, $67.5M contract extension. Criticize all you want people, but it is a fair deal. I suggest this based on 1) his level of play from when he played his first full year up until 2011 (I give him a mulligan on 2010, broken ribs blow). 2) I base it on his level of play in 2011, his breakout year, in which he absolutely killed the ball and was a master fielder (unlike the highly paid man to his right in left field...) and fully deserves a hefty raise. And 3) I base it on my prediction for his level of play in the years to come, which, based on the past two factors, I believe will be at an all-star level.

So while it may seem highly unlikely that they do hammer out an extension pre-free agency, I believe that to be a very fair deal if they do manage to sign one.