Sumo Lounge TRIVIA: Last not-sold out game?

Who was the Red Sox' opponent the last time Fenway Park was not sold out?

David Pauley designated for assignment

David Pauley was designated for assignment to clear a 40-man spot. The Red Sox currently now have a full 40-man roster with the addition of John Smoltz and Takashi Saito.

Over three years, Pauley had a 9.53 ERA in the major leagues but sacked up big time with a thrilling assignment at Yankee Stadium in 2006. Sean O's reaction to that tough loss: "Pauley, the guy almost everyone thought would suck, throws an absolute gem, and loses because goddamn Seanez walks in Giambi? And then, when we're about to tie it up, a home run gets taken away by Melky Freaking Cabrera?"

Only 25, Pauley could have a decent major league career ahead of him but with his poor fastball, is better suited to the National League. He stands a good chance of clearing waivers and being outrighted to Pawtucket, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Pauley's former team, the San Diego Padres, claim him.

Sox’s recent additions don’t mean young pitchers will be dealt

The Boston Red Sox have made a few sensational low-cost, high-reward moves lately, bringing in Rocco Baldelli, Brad Penny, Takashi Saito and John Smoltz.

This has led several people to posit that the Red Sox may now be more amenable to dealing Michael Bowden, Clay Buchholz or Justin Masterson for a catcher such as Texas' Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden and Arizona's Miguel Montero.

Really?

Don't be so quick to assume the Sox may be more likely to ship out some of their younger pitching because of these deals.

Vazquez claimed by Padres, Day by Rays

The San Diego Padres claimed starting pitcher Virgil Vazquez, 26, off waivers fromt he Red Sox today. Vazquez pitched 16.2 innings for the Detroit Tigers in 2007, amassing a 8.97 ERA in five games, three of them starts.The Red Sox had claimed Vazquez off waivers from the Tigers in October. The depth chart is updated.

UPDATE: Reliever Dewon Day was also claimed off waivers, this time by the Tampa Bay Rays. Day was claimed off waivers from the Chicago White Sox in October. He got lit up in 12 innings at the big league level in 2007. He has decent stuff but poor command.

Reasons why Manny will end up in NY; Biggest jerk in baseball?

Joe Loudmouth gives several reasons why Manny Ramirez will end up as a New York Yankee. My favorite:

In Cleveland they complained about him falling asleep on the bases. In Boston it was worse. Why does Manny run thru stop signs? How come he does not run out grounders? Why does he hang out at home plate and show up the pitcher on a towering blast? Manny has a proposal for Commissioner Selig. Make every at bat a home run derby and cut out this waste of time running. Manny has never spoken to the Commissioner, but he is sure he would be happy to go along. He must be a great guy as everyone calls him Bud and all of Manny's buds help him out.

Joe Loudmouth also is taking nominees for who should be named the biggest jerk in baseball; leave your comment with who it is!

Rocco Baldelli, John Smoltz signings are master strokes

Smoltz - y-its-mom (Flickr)

As we all know by now, the Boston Red Sox are on the cusp of signing outfielder Rocco Baldelli and starting pitcher John Smoltz to contracts. These are master strokes by general manager Theo Epstein.

All that's standing in the way of Penny, Smoltz and Baldelli is not ineffectiveness, it's injury. And all indications (considering the Red Sox do their homework on this) is that these players do not have injuries holding them back anymore.

They're ready and able to get Boston that World Series ring in a year where they have two heavyweights on their back in the Yankees and Rays. What the Yankees and Rays may not be counting on, however, is that the Sox, as presently constituted, could be better than them.

Using xBABIP and IF/F to predict some Sox’s 2009 numbers

A month ago, Chris Dutton and Peter Bendix collaborated together to come up with a new statistic -- xBABIP. For batters, a .300 BABIP is not a reliable benchline (as it is for pitchers), nor is there one standard benchline across all batters. They have to be personalized, which Dutton and Bendix did.

David Ortiz looks to be in line for a monster regression to the mean... except in this case, regression is a good thing. You can expect a .300 average as a reasonable forecast next year for Big Papi.

Check out the numbers behind the reasoning for Big Papi, plus some interesting numbers on Jason Bay, Julio Lugo and others...

Yankees keep sticking it to Red Sox

It started with Jose Contreras as the first strike then moved on to Mark Bellhorn and Alan Embree... it graduated to Johnny Damon and Carl Pavano... then they whisked away Mark Teixeira and made sure we couldn't bring Kevin Cash back by bringing him aboard too... and now they've signed... JASON JOHNSON!

When will this madness ever end! Johnson, an ex-Red Sox had an 0-4 record with six starts for the Red Sox during 2006 where he also played for the Cleveland Indians and Cincinatti Reds. His ERA in those starts? 7.36. Curse you, New York! Who will you take from us next?

Interviewing Red Sox prospect Stephen Fife

Red Sox prospect Stephen Fife took some time out of his schedule to answer some questions for Fire Brand.

Fife, 22, was drafted in the third round of the draft out of Utah. In 14 relief appearances for the Lowell Spinners, he posted a 2.33 ERA while participating in the Futures at Fenway doubleheader.

Red Sox changing team logo?

Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald is reporting that the Red Sox will unveil new alternate uniforms -- and a new logo as well.

"There's no word yet on what the new logo will look like, or whether it will replace the existing one, which dates back decades."