Wagner to Atlanta, Pedroia to Short, Tito Really to the Tea Cabinet?

Pedroia to Short? Sometimes, the answer is so obvious that it was staring you in the face the entire time. Well, maybe Pedroia to short isn’t that obvious, but I’m surprised that it took this long for anyone to suggest the move at all, myself included. There are risks here, though. Pedroia was moved off short for a reason. Even during the minor leagues, many scouts liked him at the keystone long term. Now, three seasons into his major league career at second base, there is no saying what his arm or his range will look like across the diamond. Though he’s got great fielding skills for a second baseman, there are differences in reading grounders, going to the left up the middle, throwing distances, positional defensive standards, and a litany of other concerns when changing positions...

Financial Darwinism and the Economics of the AL East

The winter months always bring to light the advantages of the rich over the poor in the MLB. Without a doubt, there will, again, be a ring of publications bemoaning the struggles of low-market teams as they fight to compete in their league and division. The American League East division is, in many ways, a microcosm of the entire major leagues - running the gamut of haves and have-nots as hypercompetitive juggernaughts stand side by side with the financial runts of the litter. The state of hypercompetition in the AL East is shocking, if not alarming, in the way that it dominates competitive balance within the division. There is no escaping the trends. Any layperson can make the connection between finances and on-field success. The ‘08 Tampa Bay Devil Rays were the only team this decade to win the division other than Boston or New York. Before then, it was the Orioles in 1997. The Blue Jays were the only team of Tampa, Baltimore, and Toronto to even finish second in the past decade, in 2006. Clearly, there is a competitive balance problem, which is not being helped by the MLB Commish’s office nor the MLBPA. And why not? Sport fans love dynasties and heels – the Red Sox and Yankees fulfill both of these needs – even if they only love to hate them. And the MLB and MLBPA love the ratings, which inflate the sport’s bottom line.

Gonzalez Signs With Toronto – Scutaro or Bust!!!

Though the Red Sox will be seeing plenty of Alex Gonzalez next season, it won’t be in a Red Sox uniform, as their ultimate fail-safe signed on with the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday. It’s never a good sign to see Plan B go off the market - or Plan C/D/F for that matter - as the Sox’ shortstop options are dwindling, meaning that they are all the more likely to go hard after Scutaro for a contract much more favorable to player than to team. At the off-season’s beginning, the team could select from any of Hardy, Stephen Drew, Scutaro, or a Gonzalez-Lowrie timeshare. Now, with both J.J. Hardy and Gonzalez off the table and Arizona clinging hard to Drew, the Sox’ options have become alarmingly limited to a shot at a trade with Diamondbacks or duking it out with Scutaro’s many admirers.

The Sox Try to ReHash ’09, Tug Hulett Who?

ReHashing 2009 with Kelvim Escobar and Justin Duchscherer In an attempt to rehash the 2009 off-season, the Sox have expressed interest in the dual cautionary tales, Justin Duchscherer and Kelvim Escobar. But the potential moves themselves are somewhat interesting in their projected roles with the team. As both would be expected to start, they would take the spot as the fifth starter much in the mold that John Smoltz and Brad Penny took on last year...

Will the Sox Acquire Adrian Beltre to Replace Lowell?

As the hot stove whisperings grow louder, the eyes of the Boston powers have shifted to Mike Lowell. Rumors have been building in strength over the last few weeks surrounding the future of the third baseman within the Sox' organization. Growing in popularity among the potential scenarios involving Lowell is the signing free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre, which would inevitably precede a trade of Lowell. According to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, the Red Sox have been looking to trade Lowell with the condition of paying for $6 million of his $12 million salary in 2010. Replacing Mike Lowell with Adrian Beltre is certainly an interesting avenue for the home town team. However, such a move itself has a number of roadblocks that could preclude, including teams picking up Lowell’s $6 million and the likelihood of aggressive suitors for Beltre’s services. In addition, such a move would prevent the team from acquiring Adrian Gonzalez, who is coveted by the current front office.

The Current State of Baseball Economics

Yesterday, ESPN's Rob Neyer published an article quoting Commisioner Bud Selig's thoughts concerning the current state of baseball economics. Says Selig,

Some teams lost money in 2009, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday after the final owners meeting of the year. "There was no question about that," Selig said. "I don't think the concerns have been ameliorated at all. I think the concerns are still there because all these people have their own economists." Selig said final figures for this year are still being calculated and everyone is living in the most difficult economic times since the Great Depression. He declined to identify the teams. "I think of all the heartache that's in the world," Selig said. "We live in this environment. We don't live in a bubble. And so, I think the clubs in some areas have been hit a lot harder than others."

This seems to happen every year, where multiple MLB owners allege that their team has “lost money” and therefore needs any number of amenities, including, but not limited to: extra money towards the building of a new stadium, special tax relief, more money from the state, etc, etc, etc.

What John Henry Can Learn From Belichick’s 4th and 2

Sure, this is a Red Sox site, not a Patriots one. But, we would be remiss if we ignored the lessons of the greater Boston sports community for lack of a baseball diamond. Whether or not you agree with Belichick’s 4^th and 2 call is irrelevant. The interesting part of the move is that Belichick actually did it. While the credit goes to Belichick for making a gutsy call – whatever credit is left to go around after the loss – should go to Robert Kraft. There are very few organizations in any walk of life, let alone sports, that foster a culture where a coach can take a risk like Belichick did – and not worry about job termination in the event of failure.

Matsui in Red, Varitek’s ‘C’

Hideki Matsui as a Red Sock? (Left: While not the best "action shot" out there on Matsui, it would offend our sense of decency to have pictures of Yankees high-fiving or trotting around the bases on our site. Therefore, we felt a picture of Matsui being brushed back by a fastball was much more appropriate.) Yesterday, the Red Sox official website announced a rumor linking the team to Hideki Matsui. According to sources at nikkansports.com (don’t even bother with the link, unless you can read Japanese), the Japanese website expects the Red Sox to tender Matsui a contract at some point this offseason. Though Matsui proved this season that he is still a force at the plate, the real question is whether or not he can effectively man left field.

Quick Musings on the Latest Sox Rumors

Billy Wagner According to MLB Trade Rumors, Billy Wagner is considering accepting an arbitration deal from the BoSox because he "loved his experience with the Red Sox enough that's it's now a possibility." That is an MLB Trade Rumors quote, not Wagner directly from Wagner's mouth. However, it's hard not to be skeptical of his sudden change of heart, as no one could love a city enough from four short weeks to make a complete 180 in their opinion of the team and their place within it... Varitek's Player Option Due at Midnight ***UPDATE: Varitek has officially picked up his $3 million player option. As we continue to follow the Jason Varitek story, his contract is undergoing more flip-flopping than a Brett Favre retirement or Florida in the 2000 presidential election. Is he or isn't he? We'll find out before the end of the day, though the verdict is still out as to whether it would be better for him to re-sign... Mauer Extension Talks Begin While all of Boston awaits the man of our dreams... er, catcher of our dreams leaving Minnesota for our nightly NESN living room broadcast, agent Ron Shapiro is beginning to discuss a contract extension for his all-world catcher...

Reaching into the MailBag

This one courtesy of James, aka "jgr jgr". James submitted a few puzzling questions, though this one made me think the most: "Is there some hitter or pitcher out there under the radar that you think will be wearing a new Boston uniform in 2010?" Well, going off this question, we'll avoid talking about the likely suspects, including Bay, Holliday, Harden, or Scutaro who have all received a great deal of coverage not only on this site, but on Sox discussion boards 'Nation' wide (Yes, that was a pun. No, I won't apologize.) As for truly under the radar names, we must look really deep into the free agent roster, probably to the point of back-end bullpen types or bench hitters. While these moves may not be exciting to the average layman, these are the transactions that make championships. Depth and injury/slump insurance is perhaps one of the most underrated aspects of building a championship team. John Henry could grab any fan off the streets to build a team that could win 100 games if everything were guaranteed to go as planned. However, the true talent and meddle of a front office is tested by their contingency planning. When a team has the type of financial resources the Sox have, it's difficult to pick a truly "under the radar" name that will make an impact, as the players the team is likely to sign are usually the top free agents, too big to fly below the hard deck. But there is still value to be that the rest of the baseball world is not discussing. Here's a few that I think the Sox may settle on before the off-season ends: Value at Starting Pitcher Assuming that the Cubs re-sign Rich Harden, while Ben Sheets and Erik Bedard find other suitors, I would love to see the Sox sign Carl Pavano. Though his 5.10 ERA left much to be desired, Pavano actually turned in quite a season in 2009, with a 4.00 FIP ERA to go along with a 3.77 K:BB rate. While his 6.64 K/9 was merely average, a 1.76 BB/9 rate is more than adequate. If you have burning questions about Red Sox Baseball, please submit your questions to Mike_Silver_FireBrandAL@yahoo.com. We'd love to hear what's got you thinking!