Blog Archives

We know it is only spring training but it was good to see the Red Sox hit four home runs yesterday against the Minnesota Twins.

Ortiz, Veritek, Ellsbury and Bay all went deep for the Sox which is very encouraging.

No question the pitching depth is incredible this year. It is the offense that seems to be the unknown.

Daniel Bard is making a name for himself this Spring with the Red Sox big time!

The Red Sox pitching prospect has had an outstanding Spring and has been pushing the radar gun to its limit actualy reaching 100 miles per hour at times but consistently throwing in the very high 90’s.

While the Sox added plenty of depth to its bullpen this past off season with the additions of Ramirez and Saito, Bard may be forcing their hand with his outstanding Spring.

Is it possible that Bard could end up taking Manny Delcamen’s spot in the bullpen. What do you think???

It is being reported that the Red Sox have reached a contract agreement with John Lester on a five year contract extention worth an estimated $30 Million. In addition, the Red Sox would hold a team option for a sixth season at $13 Million.

If this is the case, the Red Sox are doing a great job of wraping up their young home grown talent at reasonable prices for the future. In addition, these players are being rewarded for their hard work and are seeing their payday well before they would typically have rights to do so.

this is just another example of how smart Red Sox management is!!!

Brad Penny was scratched from making his debut with the Sox later this week after experiencing shulder stiffness while throwing a bullpen session.

This is not good news! FYI, JD Drew also went back to Boston to get an injection in his ailing back.

Can someone explain to me why the World Baseball Classic is played before the start of the regular season instead of playing it after the season is over?

The Red Sox have now lost 6 players to the classic and they will not report back to Spring training unitl there is one week left before opening day.

That means Terry Francona has to play all of these exhibition games (extra this year because of the classic) without Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis (Team USA), Dice K (Japan), Jason Bay (Canada), David Ortiz (Dominican) and Javier Loprez (Puerto Rico).

How do you properly prepare your team for the rigors of the regular season when you are missing all of your core players for such a long period of time?

Additionaly, lets hope that this classic does not cause these palyers to fatigue before the season is over. What about injuries?

I enjoy the idea of the classic but move it to after the season is over!!!!

On Thursday, Red Sox pitchers and catchers reported to Fort Meyers Florida for the beginning of spring training.

This years pitching crop has a lot of new faces such as John Smoltz, Brad Penney, Ramon Ramirez, Takashi Saito, Wes Littleton and Junichi Tazawa.

There is now the potential for lot’s of depth with both the starting rotation and bullpen and let’s hope that both are a major strength of this years team.

It is great to see Smoltz working out already and we can’t wait to see him pitch!

Jason Veritek finally agreed to contract terms late last week and will be ready to report to training camp on time.

Unfortunately he has not spoken out publically yet with regard to re joining his teamates for another season. I hope that his silence represents his displeasure in himself for choosing Scott Boras as his agent instead of being angy over the deal he agreed to.

When you look at his prior numbers for the last year and a half and consider the state of the economy, I think the Red Sox gave him a very fair deal. So Jason, please be happy!

The Red Sox have reportedly made another offer to team Captain Jason Veritek offering him a one year deal worth $5 Million plus a team option for a second year.

The Red Sox made the offer to Veritek last week and set a deadline for this coming Friday however I cannot understand why he has not grabbed this deal already?

I think it is evident that there is no other market for his services and he already foolishly passed on arbitration so why not grab the money and run?

if he misses out on this opportunity, I think the Red Sox move on and Jason Veritek is out of baseball. Maybe he does not want to play the game so badly any more?

The Red Sox have come to terms with Kevin Youkilis on a new 4 year deal worth an estimated $41 plus plus a $13 Million club option for a fifth year. Should the Red Sox choose not to exercise that option, they would have to pay Youkilis a $1 Million buyout of that option.

So while the Yankees have been spending crazy money, the Red Sox have been successful in starting to wrap up its home grown talent with long term and reasonable deals fwith deals for both Youk and Pedroia.

I think we are starting to see Theo’s strategy revealed with all of these short term one year free agent signings. These deals are allowing them to be able to afford to wrap up the core of their team to new long term deals and I think you will find that both Jason Bay and John Lester will be next in line to get these new deals.

I think this also means that if Jason Veritek is willing to relent and come back for a one year deal, the Sox would indeed agree to take him back. He better hurry up however as our leader Theo always seems to have a long term plan in place

It is being reported today that the Red Sox have reached agreement on one year contracts with both former Dodger pitcher Brad Penney and San Diego Padre catcher Josh Bard.

Penney had an injury prone season which left him with a ERA over 6.00 as he struggled with shoulder problems. However he won 16 games in both 2007 and 2006 and was the starting pitcher for the National League all star team in 2007. He will be counted on to be the teams fourth starter. This deal is pending Penney passing a physical examination.

Bard is being given a one year non gauranteed contract. Could this possibly mean that the Red Sox are prepared to say goodbye to Jason Veritek as they continue to look for another catcher to either platoon with or be ahead of Bard?

We love Jason Veritek however he has over valued himself and therefore it may be time for the Sox to move on without their Captain.