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Just in time for the holidays, the Red Sox have acquired George Bailey from grumpy old Mr. Potter.

Check that, the Sox acquired Andrew Bailey from the A's and have apparently found their new closer. Which also means Mark Melancon will be the set-up man and Daniel Bard will really be in the rotation. The Sox also received Ryan Sweeney along with Bailey in exchange for Josh Reddick, Miles Head and Raul Alcantara.

A good addition. Now the Red Sox need one more starter and a few depth signings for AAA are all that is needed. That and some good luck.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Red Sox traded oft-injured Jed Lowrie and spot starter Kyle Weiland to the 'Stros for former Yankee reliever Mark Melancon.

If it were up to me, I'd have Bard set-up and Melancon close, or the other way around, but I wouldn't put Bard into the rotation. Bard has never had success at the pro level as a starter and seems to be very good at setting up/relieving, why screw around with something that works.

As for losing Weiland and Lowrie, I'm not going to cry too much. I feel badly for Weiland as he did horribly in spot duty and wasn't alone in playing poorly towards the end of the year and would have been better served in less important situations. As for Lowrie, I think the Red Sox tried their best with him, but he just couldn't put it together. He got off to a blazing start in 2011, but was awful the rest of the way (.962 OPS in April and then .689, .352, .655 and .562 in May, June, August and September respectively).

ESPN's Keith Law seems to think Lowrie is a huge loss for the Red Sox and he also thinks him having a healthy year is important and if there is anything we know about Lowrie, it is highly unlikely he'll stay healthy. Time to move on from Lowrie. I hope he does well, but if he can't stay on the field, it doesn't matter how good he is.

I like this move as it adds depth and options to the pitching staff. Melancon might not light it up as a closer in the Papelbon mold, but he should hold his own in set-up duty and maybe even closing duties.

Also, Nick Punto was signed which begs the question, what becomes of Mike Aviles and/or Marco Scutaro? Could this signal a trade is coming? Could Hanley Ramirez be coming to Boston??? Sorry, got carried away there, but it could signal a trade for starting pitching or some other pieces.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 04:03 PM | Permalink

The Red Sox have signed catcher Kelly Shoppach to a 1-year, $1.35mm deal so reports ESPN.

That essentially closes the door on a return for Jason Varitek. With Jarrod Saltalamacchia set to be the everyday catcher and Ryan Lavarnway the back-up catcher/DH/1b.

Shoppach has been terrible at the plate his last 2 seasons putting up a .650 OPS in 2010 and a .607 OPS in 2011, so to me, this is an insurance signing in case Lavarnway struggles with his defense. Shoppach sadly has turned into a Kevin Cash offensively.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The Red Sox have reportedly selected and agreed to terms with Bobby Valentine as the next manager and already, player grumblings are being reported by ESPN. Let the circus commence. Lucky Larry, I hope you are ready for this.

By all accounts, Valetine is a smart baseball man, just ask him, and he does have a decent enough track record when you include his Japanese League performance. But, also by all accounts, he tends to be the story rather than just a participant. I'm not sure that is a good thing, in fact I know that isn't a good thing. I'm hoping time has calmed him and he has found a way to tone things down.

As for Red Sox players being unhappy, who cares and too bad. They get what they deserve given how they handled themselves in 2011 and if they are unhappy, that's fine by me. Player complaints mean nothing to me, especially when they are generally so petty and out of touch.

Buckle-up I guess.

Now on to things such as players and a coaching staff. I expect the staff will fall into place shortly and the player/roster situation will crystalize during the owners meetings Dec 5-8 in Dallas. Speaking of important dates, straight from the MLB site, here they are:

Dec. 1, 2011
Last day to request outright waivers to assign player prior to Rule 5 Draft

Dec. 5, 2011
5 p.m. ET is last time to outright a player prior to the Rule 5 Draft

Dec. 7, 2011
Last date for player who declared free agency to accept an arbitration offer from former club. Deadline is midnight ET

Dec. 5-8, 2011
Baseball Winter Meetings, Dallas

Dec. 8, 2011
Major League Rule 5 Draft, Dallas

Dec. 12, 2011
Last date to tender contracts is midnight ET

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

The Red Sox manager search is progressing or at least that's what they are telling us. Much has been made of Dale Sveum being the choice of new GM Ben Cherington, but not the choice of ownership and how Ben has possibility already seen his autonomy threatened/questioned.

Both the GM and ownership has put on a game face and said it was a collaborative effort and not to look much into the Sveum issue. In fact, I would not have wanted Sveum, not because he isn't a good baseball man, but I will never be able to forget how tough a time he had as Red Sox 3rd base coach. I wasn't critical of him at the time, but I know the general fanbase was and just couldn't get past the issue.

If the choice came down to Tory Lovullo, Gene LaMont or Bobby Valentine, I have no idea who I'd want. Valentine would be the most interesting an at least initially, most fun, but his act gets old and I always think back to his attempt, after being thrown out of a game, to sneak his way back to the dugout with a fake moustache. Great comedy, but perhaps an unwanted distraction from, you know...winning baseball games.

As for player personnel moves, nothing has happened yet. We are between the GM and Owners meetings and things can take time to come together. The Red Sox need rotational depth and a few complimentary part, but I don't see them needing a make-over, so this could very well be an off-season of minor adjustments. Oh and a closer.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 03:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Since Jonathan Papelbon became a Red Sox, he made it clear he wouldn't sign a longterm deal while still eligible for arbitration and instead go for the big free agent deal. It appears that happened today with reports the Phillies have signed him for 4 years @ $50mm with a vesting 5th year option (info obtained from MLBTradeRumors.com who in turn got the info from Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com).

With Papelbon gone, the Red Sox are faced with a choice of letting Daniel Bard close or go and sign a proven closer. Top candidates for the latter include Heath Bell and Ryan Madson.

You have to be happy for Papelbon because he got what he always wanted even if it means money was his sole ambition, but the Red Sox have some thinking to do and I don't think Bobby Jenks is the answer.

A few other notes. I don't want the Red Sox to sign Carlos Beltran, he is basically JD Drew and won't stay healthy. I just celebrated the retirement (expected retirement) of Drew, please don't replace him with his baseball clone. I'd prefer to let Josh Reddick and Ryan Kalish fight it out in right field or give it to Michael Cuddyer if his price tag is reasonable.

Clay Buchholz said something interesting after the season about former Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. I'm paraphrasing but he basically said, "I talked to him as little as possible because I was afraid of the man." That probably sums up what went wrong with this pitching staff. The cat went away and the mouse did play. Hoping they get a saber-toothed tiger for the next pitching coach.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 05:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

With Theo Epstein's formal resignation Saturday, the Boston Red Sox say goodbye to a very successful era. Terry Francona was the start of this change and more is sure to come, but the departure of Brookline native and lifelong Red Sox fan Epstein, really puts an exclamation point on the overhaul.

Epstein should have earned himself a free beer anywhere in New England with his performance, but there are those will say, and I have to confess, I have wondered it out loud myself, why would a Red Sox fan give up his dream job? Seriously, what real baseball fan out there hasn't wished the opportunity to be GM for a day, let alone 9 years?

Of course there are those pesky details, like 14-hour days, family life balance, stress, Boston media, players drinking during baseball games, the list goes on. It is being reported that Epstein is going to be President of the Cubs, which puts him in the Larry Lucchino role. Apparently Jed Hoyer will be GM and a bunch of former ex-Red Sox personnel will join them in Chicago. Funny, perhaps Lucchino is worried that Epstein is just years away from exclaiming, "The student has become the master."

Good luck to Epstein and the Cubs (except when they play the Red Sox), but on to more important things like who will run this team and who will manage this team?

It seems like a done deal that Ben Cherington will be named the next GM of the Red Sox. He has been here as long as Epstein and from all accounts, is ready to take on the job. He has his hands full after the disaster that was 2011.

As for the new manager, I would expect he'll be one who can crack that whip, but who incorporates sabremetrics (good-glavin!), and can handle the pressure cooker that is Boston. I have no clue who that person will be. I didn't think Francona was the right pick. I thought Joe Maddon was the right call. Shows you what I know.

Once the WS is over, Boston will get to making announcements and getting to work on 2012. The Red Sox have talent and money to spend, let's hope this overhaul yields something more than the 10-year. The Red Sox are a very fortunate organization, in that they have an A+ fan base and high revenues (courtesy of the aforementioned fan base). I sure hope ownership gets these next few weeks right.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In light of the recent David Ortiz interview when he said "There's too much drama. I have been thinking about a lot of things. I don't know if I want to be part of this drama for next year."

It reminded me of brave Sir Robin:

Ahh David, when the going gets tough, the tough...ask for a contract from the Yankees.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 10:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Why does it have to be this way? Why is my favorite team acting like a bunch of immature sore losers? Some of the stuff in Bob Hohler's article had to have come from ownership.

Take a read:

Gordon Edes - ESPN Boston

Curt Schilling - ESPN Boston

Dustin Pedroia - ESPN Boston

Eric Wilbur - Boston Globe

Keith Olberman - Baseball Nerd (a Blog)

Dave Shook - SB Nation (Rob Neyer's new home)

Nomar Garciaparra - ESPN Boston

The Nomar article is a bit lame seeing as he was a jerk at the end and no ownership spin was needed, but the rest of these articles basically stand to call out the Red Sox ownership. Why do they do this? People will not want to come here, players, coaches even fans, if they think the end of a relationship is always going to end ugly.

It's like the Seinfeld skit where Elaine breaks up with her boyfriend only to have him call her "big head." It's school yard immaturity. No wonder the clubhouse was a romper room, the players were just taking ownership's cue.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 04:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Amid swirling rumors that Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein is headed to the Chicago Cubs, the Boston Globe today ran the following article on the inner workings of the Red Sox as a whole in 2011. It isn't pretty.

Under this ownership group, there is a pattern of nasty rumors being floated once a player (or manager) has left town, a verbal kick out the door. And if you believe all you read in today's Globe piece, well, it seems more of the same with Terry Francona. Just who is leaking this information to the author? And if Theo does leave, will we see him get slammed? Marital problems and pain killer addiction? Sounds like a soap opera.

Regardless of what really happened, Theo's potential departure really marks the end of an era. Many wins and 2 World Series Championships. It really worries me that while the Red Sox haven't had much success since 2008, that at least there was a system in place, a discipline as to how to run a team. The last thing we need is some sort of gunslinger who shoots from the hip and signs Jack Clark, Matt Young and Danny Darwin all in one off-season.

If the Red Sox pick the wrong person to be GM, we could see this team slip back to permanent mediocrity, something we haven't see since the early '90s. I'm not in the mood for that. So while Theo has made his share of mistakes, I always feel that the decision he makes are done with good reason (the Lackey and Crawford deals notwithstanding) and thought.

Think about it, the Red Sox aren't the only big-market team. The Cubs and Mets are also big spending teams who have stunk. Just because you have money to spend, doesn't guarantee success. The Red Sox are at a crossroads here and can't afford to mess this up.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)