So, after all that hand-wringing, we finally got him. All it took was some $$$ and a PTBNL. Done and done.

(Kelly, we hardly knew ye. Hope you can catch a break out there on Lake Erie.)

Who knew we’d wanted him for a year and a half?

Here’s why Cleveland was willing to piss off so many of its fans.

But remember: He's no Johnny Damon. (Who wishes him well, by the way.)

No indeed. Give him a season or two, and he’ll probably be better.

He’s got “swagger” too. Good. Just bump up that OBP and draw few more walks and we’re ready to roll.

Etc.
Razzes to the Red Sox and NESN for denying fans who don’t have cable access to any games this season save the handful that are broadcast by Fox. Imagine Tim McCarver being the only lifeline to your favorite team? The horror.

And jeers to Major League Baseball ticketing system for another half Saturday wasted in virtual waiting room hell. Here it is at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, and this fan is still shut out. Boos all around also for what looks to be another dearth of Saturday afternoon games this season. Isn’t that the whole point of playing ball in summer? Sunny days at the park? In the mean time, I’m very much looking forward to opening day in Texas at 2 pm on a Monday. Why watch when you can listen at the office?

1/30/2006 9:49:23 AM by Mike Miliard | Comments [2] |  

A central part of the new vision on Yawkey Way is supposedly a redoubled effort to control the flow of information, a rigorous stanching of the leaks that have been flowing like torrents lately.

Nonetheless, the Sox Blog was able to get his hot little hands on this print-out of a back-and-forth between our erstwhile co-GMs, and boy are they steamed. Ha! Guess dry-cleaning gorilla suits wasn’t in the “vice president/player personnel” or “assistant general manager” job descriptions.

In other news, over on Page 2 Bill Simmons talks to Curt Schilling (a/k/a Number 4 on GQ’s “10 Most Hated Athletes” list.).

Best line: “I am looking forward to this season, and being physically right again, and listening to those same people that basically wrote off my career last year suck it.”

1/26/2006 4:05:22 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

To paraphrase Don Orsillo, Theo’s back! And he’s back big!

Or not. If the press release is to be believed, he’s back in pretty much the exact same capacity he was when he left. Curious, that.

Hoyer and Cherington knew all along that they were just stopgaps, and they’re happy to see their buddy retake his rightful place at the top of the pecking order. (“Ben and I were not only aware, but also quite hopeful, that this structure could pave the way for Theo’s return. We are thrilled that it has.”)

John Henry says domestic affairs in the house at 4 Yawkey Way are much more serene than they are made to appear from the outside. ("The media has been in much more turmoil over the Red Sox than has been the case internally.") Or maybe they weren’t, but they sure are now. (“This is not the same organization that Theo left. There was enough discord then to give Theo legitimate reasons to move on.”)

Larry Lucchino’s primacy is undiminished (“there never was a power struggle between Larry and Theo.... Larry’s role has not changed at all”). Or maybe it is, a little (“no general manager in baseball could ask for more autonomy than Theo has”).

Tom Werner is all smiles. (“This is a very happy day for Red Sox fans. I have always had great regard for Larry and Theo, but my respect for both of them has significantly increased as I have witnessed them work through issues which have resulted in a strong, shared commitment going forward.”)

And so is Theo. (“I believe that with our new vision in place, with renewed lines of communication, and with a real sense of unity, we have a chance to be a greater organization than we were before. We thank Red Sox Nation for being patient with us, and we promise to work tirelessly, quietly, and in harmony to field clubs that can contend for a World Championship year after year.”)

So the sun is shining and all is right with the world. “Kumbaya” all around. Good. Because frankly I’m sick of talking about this. And unsurprisingly so are they. (“I think we have grown a bit weary of all of the conversation about front office intrigue -- real and imagined. It has almost taken on a melodramatic soap opera quality.”)

We may never know what exactly has gone down in the weeks since that chilly All Hallows Eve, and maybe we shouldn’t.

(One thing I’m curious about. It was reported post-10/31 that he was leaving $4.5 million on the table. How much is he now picking back up off the table? Same? Or more?)

So I’m fine with no press conference. It would only have been the same parade of boilerplate platitudes and gnomic quips that marked the one they held when Theo left. Just more grist for the media mill.

Let’s just get this behind us. For real now. Because right now we’ve got bigger things to worry about.

If Mota’s balky shoulder makes this deal a no-go, or forces the inclusion of another player -- Lil’ Manny? Hyde Park would cry rivers! -- it will be an enormous bummer. Obviously.

I’ve thought a lot about the post I made on Monday, and I’ve reconsidered. If Andy Marte turns into the next Manny Ramirez, losing him will sting, no doubt. But there’s no guarantee that he will. Meanwhile, it’s a pretty sure thing that Coco Crisp, with his speed, an .810 OPS last season, and an adequate arm, will be a more than serviceable replacement for Johnny Judas. He's the best hope we've got. It’s gotta get done.

And he seems like a helluva character, just the most famous in a family of boxers and sprinters and figure skaters and actors and musicians.

All that and he’s a snappy dresser. Knows how to rhyme too. Check out a sample of “We Got That Thing," which was one of only two originals on the Oh Say Can You Sing compilation that came out last spring.

“I sacrifice bunts like burnt offerings.” Genius. Get this guy in the two-hole.

1/25/2006 12:24:41 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

Count me as one fan who thinks we’re giving up too much to get Coco Crisp.  

Yeah, he’s a young, relatively cheap player who can play fine defense, hits for ~.300 average from both sides of the plate, has a little power, and could bat lead-off if we wanted him to. In other words, he fills all our most glaring needs.

But giving up Andy Marte and Guillermo Mota and Kelly Shoppach to get him?

Marte is the best prospect we have. He’s the best hitting prospect we’ve had in more than a decade. (Remember this guy?) By some estimates, he’s one of the top five prospects in all of baseball, someone who could conceivably be putting up superstar numbers by 2007.

And we’re handing him over to an AL team that’s good and getting better, one that already a strong, young core. Why do I have the feeling we’ll be regretting this in a big way before too long?

What do we get in return? Crisp, a solid bullpen arm in David Riske, and a below-the-Mendoza-Line nonentity like Josh Bard?

This is way out of whack. Riske is a better pitcher than Mota, but Shoppach is more valuable that Bard. And while Crisp is a fine player who will be very welcome and may well thrive here, it’s this writer’s opinion that getting him by giving up a player of Marte’s potential is a little much.

Sure, he’s “just a prospect.” One who’s put up pretty lousy numbers in winter ball so far. And, yes, the deal isn’t even official yet. (Here's another potential verision, even worse, where we don't even get Riske.) But how many times have you hard Jeff Bagwell’s name invoked as the quintessence of a shortsighted, lopsided, one-that-got-away trade? If you believe some analysts, Marte could one day be even better than Bagwell.

If Mike Lowell doesn’t rebound at third base this year, we may well regret not having Andy Marte to step in and give it a shot. And if Andy Marte is hitting like Albert Pujols in 2007, well, we’ll regret that even more.

We’re giving away a potential superstar to make up the difference between Crisp and lesser outfielders outfielder like Dave Roberts (Crisp hits for 25 more points or so on his average) or Jason Michaels (Crisp never beat up a cop).

Maybe it had to be done. And maybe Marte is wildly overrated. But I’ve got a queasy feeling about this one.

Meanwhile, I’m perplexed, to say the least, about the need to sign Alex Gonzalez when Alex Cora could put up similar numbers and field almost as well for cheaper. (More discussion here.)

Um, In Theo we trust?

1/23/2006 12:51:32 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

As you know, we have spoken frequently during the last 10 weeks. We have engaged in healthy, spirited debates about what it will take over the long-term for the Red Sox to remain a great organization and, in fact, become a more effective organization in philosophy, approaches and ideals. Ironically, Theo’s departure has brought us closer together in many respects, and, thanks to these conversations, we now enjoy the bonds of a shared vision for the organization’s future that did not exist on October 31. With this vision in place, Theo will return to the Red Sox in a full-time baseball operations capacity, details of which will be announced next week.

Theo’s back! Theo’s back! Theo’s back!

Yawn.

This is news? This is what exactly what everyone from Caribou to New Canaan has known was going to happen since about the first week in November.

The only thing we don’t know is, uh, what his job is gonna be.

We’ll have to wait a few more days to find that out. In the mean time, how will we sleep?

It’s been said before and I’ll say it again: this whole stupid drama has been handled extremly poorly by everyone involved. For two and a half months it’s been all sly hints and coy non-denial denials. Just a silly charade. When they were announced as co-GMs, you could tell by the looks on Hoyer and Cherington’s faces that they knew damn well they were just the seat warmers. And now, after this long and drawn out soap opera, they’re prepared to take their rightful place in the back seat.

Because the dramatic Theo/Larry power struggle has finally been resolved. Somehow. Or not.

Meanwhile, what has really changed? Not much, from the looks of it. Everything seems the same, right down to Shaughnessy’s compulsive need to inject himself into the story. (“I told [John Henry] the same thing I had told him in December. I thought it looked as if he could not make a decision. I thought he should either fire Lucchino or tell Epstein to get lost.”)

As Tony Mazz puts it: “Some people travel around the world in 80 days. It took the Red Sox that long to run in a circle.”

The only surprising revelation so far is that, just like the old days, Theo is gonna be reporting to mean ol’ Mr. Lucchino -- which most sensible people figured would be the one thing to change in all this.

And so we watch. Like sands through the hourglass, the days of our lives pass as we await the next press conference. As the world turns, the bold and the beautiful play out their human drama.

Just get to work.

1/20/2006 10:42:59 AM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

“Bronson Arroyo will get his wish to remain in Boston.” But for how long?

Yeah, contract he signed today, for somewhere between $11 million and $12 million, negates his remaining years of arbitration eligibility and ostensibly keeps him here for the next three seasons -- at a very reasonable salary, assuming he can remain the solid 3, 4, or 5 starter we know he’s capable of being (never mind a potential long man with “nuts the size of Saturn”).

But by ignoring his agent’s advice and leaving “close to maybe $4 million on the table," has Saturn Nads ensured himself job security, taking a hometown discount to stay in the city he loves for the foreseeable future? Or is he simply making himself more appealing to precisely the sort of small market teams that have the shortstops (Tampa Bay) and centerfielders (Cleveland, Seattle) we covet?

"I want to play in this town," he says. "I love being a Red Sox. I wouldn't have signed a deal [like this] in any other place. The reason I took a discount was because I love playing here and I want to stay here my whole career."

Admirable, to be sure. And refreshing to hear in this day and age.

Let’s see if the front office will reciprocate the warm sentiments.

“With this deal, Arroyo has basically a ‘gentleman's agreement’ that he won't be shipped to another team this off-season, writes Dan Roach

"They didn't give me any guarantees,” Arroyo tells Ian Browne, “but Jed and Ben both stated to me that there were no deals on the table for me right now and they felt pretty strongly that I wouldn't be traded anywhere any time in the near future. Not that they could guarantee me any security for the lifetime of the contract, but at no time in the near future did they see me going anywhere."

Of course, “near future” is a very subjective term. And if Roachie’s “spring training” assessment is accurate, it should be noted that our co-GMs have said they’d be open to deals even after the team has reported to Fort Myers.

Of course, if a deal pops up in the next weeks or months that can make the team better, it should be done. But Bronson’s a good guy, and a good pitcher. And you don’t see many players taking hometown discounts these days. So it would be nice to honor his wish to be around for a while if we possibly can.

One thing’s for sure. As a Sons of Sam Horn poster points out: If there are any ‘gentleman's agreements’ at all, then the first one must be no more CD parties the night before a game.”

Hear, hear. We couldn’t agree more.

1/19/2006 5:21:57 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

* Welcome, Julian Tavarez. He's not the prettiest guy in the world (or the sanest), but I'll take the 2.38 ERA he gave St. Louis in 2004. (But if we make it to the World Series with him, let's just hope he doesn't do this.)

* Mike Lowell -- who is pretty, at least according to People En Espanol -- says he's gonna turn it around this season. Please be right. Skip the World Baseball Classic and get your work in at City of Palms Park.

(Speaking of the WBC, since when are Doug Mirabelli, Mike Piazza, and Matt Mantei from Italy? Ancestry counts? Does that mean I could suit up for the Irish National squad or Les Capitales de Quebec?)

* I hope you can find a home with the O's Kevin Millar. Not only because I think you're a good guy, and will feel bad if no team picks you, but also because having to face you in the lineup 19 times a season will, in a way, make having to face Johnny Damon 19 times a season a wash. Please keep not hitting.

* Tony Graffanino signs a one-year deal. Good news. Now we just gotta get David Ortiz that lifetime contract extension.

* And Jim Rice deserves to be in Cooperstown. We all know that. But he's hardly the slam dunk many New Englanders seem to think he is. Indisputably great, yes. We saw that for years. But he's a borderline candidate for the Hall. Many national writers just can't get past the double-plays, the sudden drop-off, the relatively short career, the relatively few home runs. It's a disappointment, but not a disgrace.

That said (and even though it's been said many times before), we should be rewarding the greats from the pre-steroid era. Y'know, back when players actually looked like normal guys. He won't get in next year, not with Ripken and Gwynn sharing the ballot with him. But I agree with Shaughnessy (gasp!) that he's a lock for '08. (Shawon Dunston? Mike Morgan?) Mark it down. The good news is that this guy won't be put out of work for a couple more years.

* Belated condolences to JT Snow on the loss of his father Jack.

* And RIP, Sarah Toomey. "Ms. Toomey, who was known as Sadie, was 104 when she stayed up late with her son to watch the last out of each game in the 2004 playoffs." If living more than a century doesn't prove her endurance, making it through marathon Games 3, 4, and 5 sure does.

* Finally, kudos to NESN for making good use of all those games they're got socked away in their vaults with their Reliving the Rivalry series. It was a pleasant surprise to flick on the tube last night and see Derek Lowe standing on the mound at Stade Fasciste, turning in a solid performance during our 10-3, seven-homer drubbing on July 4, 2003 down in the Bronx.

It was a trip seeing clean-shaven and short-haired Johnny Damon patrolling the Stadium's center field (much like he'll look next year) and great to see old friends like Nomar and Todd Walker stepping into the batters box. I remember watching that game in a bar up in Camden, Maine two summers ago. Combined with the freakishly warm weather we've been having and Terry Francona's post-game appearance on Red Sox Now, where he talked about heading to Fort Myers in merely five weeks' time, it put me in the mind of fresh air and warm spring breezes. Bring it on. All we need now is a shortstop and a center fielder.

1/12/2006 12:53:18 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [1] |  

A quick highlight reel from last night's Hot Stove Cool Music event at the Paradise.

* Jonathan Papelbon, spiffy in an argyle sweater and lit up like a Jumbotron, clutched a Bud bottle and played auctioneer. He promised to sweeten the deal for that infamous gorilla suit: if bidding surpassed $5500, he pledged with grave seriousness to step to the mound next season and "SHOVE IT UP THE YANKEES' ASS!"

* The bidding for the costume (all proceeds went to Theo and Paul Epstein's Foundation to Be Named Later) got all the way up to $11,000. In HSCM's six years, the money raised for Boston's kids has now surpassed $1 million.

* When the winning bidder revealed himself to be an exec from pricey ACE Tickets, he was showered with a chorus of beery boos.

* Peter Gammons -- "The Commissioner," Hall of Famer, best baseball writer in the country -- tore through "Death or Glory" by the Clash, and it was fairly awesome. Even if he muffed a few lyrics, and purposely elided the "he who fucks nuns will later join the church" line. (He also proved himself a pretty sick lead guitarist and, with his love song "She Fell From Heaven," more than serviceable tunesmith.)

* Bronson Arroyo, sans guitar and singing off-key, and Lenny DiNardo, strumming an acoustic, joined Juliana Hatfield for a warbly version of Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love" -- but left the stage before she lit into the Ramones' "Beat on the Brat." They're pitchers, after all, and have no use for baseball bats. (.073 and .000 career averages, respectively.)

* Papelbon, Arroyo, DiNardo, and new-guy Craig Hansen joined Gammons and the Hot Stove All-Stars (comprised of Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz and various Gentlemen), added backing vox to a scorching cover of Warren Zevon's "Model Citizen."

* Our former General Manager, dressed in that sweltering gorilla suit, still found a way to tilt back a beer through the mask.

* Epstein aped Pete Townsend, windmills and all, as he joined Buffalo Tom -- ahem, "Buffalo Theo" -- on a hard-charging cover of the Who's "The Seeker." (He's looking for a job, get it?)

All and all, it was a fun, relaxed night, marked by none of the queasiness and ill-will that have seemed in many ways to be the defining characteristics of this off season so far.

As indicated by the laid back tone taken by Ben Cherington and Jed Hoyer at the Gammons's HSCM roundtable discussion on Saturday afternoon (a SOSHer's loose transcription is here), the front office seems much less stressed about the coming season than are many Joe Sixpack fans (this one included). Or maybe they  just want it to look that way.

At any rate, there are many perplexities that confuse the mind. Manny and Miggy have both had changes of heart? Yet the trade could still happen anyway? Who exactly is going to play center field? Assuming no Tejada, is Alex Cora -- a/k/a "the smartest player in the game" -- their fallback option at SS? Are they really comfortable with that? Or would they really be dumb enough to trade Andy Marte for Julio Lugo?

And the big one: Is Theo coming back or not? Truth be told, this fan is sick and tired of the undying rumors -- scuttlebutt the guy in the gorilla suit has done almost nothing to discourage or discount.

When Gammons offered to ensure the Theo's return to GM-hood last night if the bidding for the monkey suit surpassed five grand, I wondered for a sec if he was serious and we were in for a big announcement. He wasn't. So we now we get to wonder about the Boy Wonder for another several days, or weeks, or months. It's getting silly. Stop being coy. If you're coming back, just come back. If not, say so.

1/9/2006 1:28:40 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |