I wonder where Manny Ramirez will go. Do you think he might sign with the Rangers? I hear Texas is looking for another hitter. Thought they would get Texas Native Adam Dunn.

He was my top wish for the Red Sox to grab, and his name wasn't even brought up.

They let Victor Martinez go. An awful move. He was more than affordable for an offensive catcher. One of the hardest finds in baseball. They could easily have afforded him and still done whatever else they may (and probably don't) have plans for.
And unless they go and pull an Adrian Gonzalez deal (unlikely) then the off-season is pretty underwhelming.

I'm not too keen on Carl Crawford. He's a great player, but he's going to be overrated in a relatively weak crop of free agents, and he's far from the answer for the Red Sox. They need a powerhouse in the middle of the lineup. It hasn't been right since Manny left.
They have speed and great all-around players. Crawford is an asset to any team, no doubt, but I don't think he's right for the tag here.
And Werth isn't worth it. No pun intended.

They won't sign Beltre, but I'm more than okay with that.

It's almost like they should wait, but they haven't done shit in a while. They basically treated last season as a bridge year too.

Rumors are they are trying to really keep costs low to stay flexible for a sale, or just to scale back spending since they basically assume the fans will still come and they now have other ventures.

Jeritron out.

Do you think they will keep Konerko as well? He's still on the market, I believe.
I would be sort of suprised if they didn't, since he is a cornerstone there.
But with Dunn, they could potentially let him go.

I met Paul Konerko this summer and he's the greatest guy ever. He's also a manbeast. I'd hate to see the White Sox disown him, but I'd also love to see him on the Red Sox.
I still doubt they'd invest in him at this juncture. Especially with Gonzalez and Fielder as possibilities in the future.

Couldn't see Dunn playing for Boston. He plays horrible defense wherever you put him. I want them to get Crawford. I don't know why, but I really want him.

David Ortiz is not going to play forever. Adam Dunn is born for that DH spot, and they could potentially be looking at Gonzalez or Fielder next season, or sooner if a trade happens.
Youkilis slides to third.

Suck on that lineup. What's funny is it's possible too. Dunn has a smaller pricetag than what they're probably going to squander away elsewhere.

Just not feeling Crawford as an elite signing for them as a team. At all.

I could see Konerko getting real excited about having Dunn hitting behind him in the order. Not like Dunn's any threat to steal his time in the field.

I heard the White Sox say they can't afford Dunn, Konerko, and Buerhle but are getting close to re-signing Konerko.

I wonder what the status is on those Hanley trade rumors. I doubt it, but it's certainly an interesting rumor.
The only problem with half of these potential trades is everyone wants Bucholz. They can suck my peepee.

Oh no, I didn't mean they can't exist on the same team. I just wondered if the White Sox would shell out for both in the same offseason.

I mean, look at the Lackey deal compared to others. I never understood that either, because he was a second starter on the Angels. And his numbers against good teams (especially the Yankees and Rays) were piss poor.

Hate to be that guy who bitches about money, but that deal is a fucking joke and it was before he ever threw a pitch here.
His wife would catch it though. Maybe she can play catcher now that they didn't sign V-Mart. I could get into that.

This kid I know who is a drunk piece of shit was at an Angels/Red Sox playoff game and was being an asshole to some chicks rooting for the Angels, and one of them ended up being John Lackey's wife apparently.
She was absolutely disgusted and said something like "Ugh, who is this pig?"

What a piece of shit

Her husband is making far too much money that should have gone to a juicy free agent though

Kenny Williams said that getting Konerko back is his top priority now.

Always seems like the White Sox can find money when they want to.

Paul Konerko spoke with the Red Sox yesterday. But that doesn't really mean anything.

He also turned down arbitration from the White Sox, which means he wants money. And it means they'd have to give up their top draft pick.
So it's very doubtful. Especially since the Red Sox are probably looking to field other options at that position in the near future.
And we know the Yankees aren't looking for a first baseman.

So unless some random team makes an irrefusable offer towards him, he'll be on the White Sox I guess. But a lot of people seem to be saying the opposite.

And Jayson Werth isn't nearly as valuable as Adam Dunn, especially longterm, no matter where he plays.

* Orioles are apparently interested in him. They have money, and a need for him.

Douchebag NESN blogger ragging on Konerko's defense

Well Konerko did have the worst fielder rating of any 1B in the majors last year. And it wasn't even close.

But he was Top 5 the year before that, and usually pretty good. Especially as far as % goes. I don't think he's nearly as bad at first as that guy makes it seem

Well no matter who they sign, they're not gonna get a better defensive 1B than Youkilis. So if he's on 3rd that's just something they'll have to deal with.

That's what snobs in Boston like to do. Dwell on the defensive shortcomings of a guy who hits 40/100. That's what blogs are for.
I hope they get their Crawford and wonder why the lineup still isn't getting it done for a remarkable pitching staff.

I think it's well worth it. Youkilis is a huge asset, and luckily he's flexible so they can pave way for a huge bat.

From what is being reported, Victor looked like he wanted to be out of Boston regardless of the money or deal Red Sox offered almost similar to Jayson Bay leaving even though he was happy at Fenway.

Varitek signing the 1 year at $2 million means the team knows it needs to speed up developing its future catcher or buy one after next season.

The rumor of them thinking about selling the team doesn't make sense when in 2 years, they can apply for the government to designate Fenway as a landmark and save millions they spend each year renovating the place. The government would give them the money needed to fix the stadium like they do with every official landmark.

Red Sox still need to fix the bullpen since it was a disaster last year with all the blown saves and costly mistakes it did.

Bullpens are built at the very end of the offseason though. That's just how it's done. Tbh, it's kind of a crapshoot a lot of the time.

No way the government approve Fenway as a landmark. It is a landmark, but it doesn't need to be approved for government funding since it's making money hand over fucking fist.
I think the powers that be will recognize that.

They just bought a massive soccer team you know (Liverpool.) All ventures in a portfolio have an impact on one another. Even if they say it doesn't, it does. The Red Sox ownership likes money. They put a lot into the team to make it very viable, but now they could be scaling back a bit. These are financial decisions.

The Red Sox of the past 6 or 7 years behave very much like a small market team with their moves. Some who don't follow the team may scoff at that blindly, but it's true. They just make more of them, and have more leeway.
Theo Epstein is closer to Billy Beane than Brian Cashman. Sometimes I wish they'd be a bit more aggressive though, rather than cultivate multiple contracts and eat money.
But in the past couple years they've really changed their approach. It's obvious.

However PR is beginning to change. Fans are starting to bitch, and ownership has actually shown up on TV and radio addressing it specifically this week.
So they might do something.

The Red Sox also have the media bought here in Boston lately. Most of the baseball writers and major outlets eat out of their hands. The reason for this is because the team and ownership have a very upfront relationship with the media.
They give them priveleges. It used to be the exact opposite before them.

The trick, though, is that nobody says anything to shake the tree, because they don't want to lose their priveleges.
Baseball writing in Boston is pretty awful lately, and they let a lot of things slide that they never used to. Only a few really state their mind, and they are outsiders anyways.

The major Boston sports radio outlet is owned by the Red Sox, as is the television network.
There is an alternative now though, and they are a bit more honest since they're not on the payroll and being kept in line.

I also think the baseball writers are a bit easy on them because of 04 and 07 too, though. Understandable, but not completely.

They already applied the paperwork, they just need to wait 2 more years for it to become the 1st 100 year old stadium that is still in use for a major sports league (not sure if college has any that are older and still in use). It is also why they pushed very hard to get the 2012 All-Star game as a celebration of the centennial of the stadium.

I agree that the team seems to change how it spends money since they like to go all out one year (ex. 2004, 2007, 2010) and then cut back the next year as a way to restock the cash or see what they need for a long term fix. It helps to explain why their team salary ends up being #2 one year and around #4-#6 a year or two later.

But they didn't get the 2012 AllStar Game. And I doubt they'll get that government funding to make renovations to an already updated venue that sells out every night and makes boatloads of cash. Paperwork completed or not. But we shall see.
I'm not saying it doesn't deserve the title of a landmark, but I don't think it deserves the money. At all.

I also wouldn't call signing John Lackey and Mike Cameron going all out. I'd call it a waste of money, but life goes on.

The Rose Bowl is a landmark and that actually seems to create more problems than anything. Once it's a landmark you can't change anything without approval.

Soldier Field lost its landmark status after they renovated it four years ago.

Fenway Park should be made a landmark once the team stops playing there, so it doesn't get torn down.
The proposed plan for that years ago was to take down the seating structure, but leave the field, wall, and foul poles, and pave the infield with cobblestone.

And then I'd imagine they'd add new walkways or fences around it, and some statues of Red Sox legends or moments etc.

I don't think any of that will happen anytime soon though. That new field went kaput after the new ownership came in. They've put a bunch of money into it to make it modern. Plus the demand for tickets and nostalgia/preservation has never been higher. I'm sure way less people are in favor of a change now than 10 years ago, and it was always a touchy issue.

The businesses surrounding the ballpark (and there are a lot) would suffer greatly. Plus the zoning for a new park would be really difficult. Fenway is right in the middle of downtown Boston. It's right on top of everything else. It's not on the outskirts of a much larger city like New York or Chicago, and there's really no room for anything else.

There is no way they could build a new park even remotely near the current location unless they bought up boatloads of property, and even still I'm not sure if it could work with the city's layout.

Why shouldn't Fenway have landmark status? Wrigley does. (Or at least the sign, the brick wall behind home, and the ivy does). The Cubs obviously make money hand over fist as well and have for some time, in spite of the fact that they are basically the worst team ever.

Apparently you just skim

Wrigley also has no screen, hardly any digital scoreboards, and their huge Toyota sign isn't allowed to light up at night.
I'm all for tradition, but that's a bit ridiculous.
So it's basically an eyesore after dark. It's a wonder they ever opened up to having floodlights for night games.

And the tradition of playing mostly day games is believed by many in baseball to be a burden for the team.

Yankees close to re-signing Rivera to a 2 year, $30M deal.

Apparently he passed up another teams offer of 17M/year for 3 years. Red Sox and Angels offered him 3 years too.

This makes Jeter look even more ridiculous with his demands.

The fact that they gave it to A-Rod is what makes his demands carry weight.

<font color=goldenrod>Except A-Rod is a far better player than Jeter.</font>

Hank helped with that contract, Hal is more in charge now.