The Truth is Out There

While the truth may be out there, it's awash with a sea of misinformation deeper than any Mulder and Scully had to wade through.

Buster Olney provides the latest fodder for the Red Sox rumor mill in his links column on ESPN Insider.

Why Red Sox should not sign Mark Teixeira

Mark Teixeira - ccho

I am not a proponent of signing Mark Teixeira, as talented as he is.

While signing Teixeira and trading Mike Lowell are possibilities, it would mean investing money in a position that we do not have foreseeable issues at for the next two years and perhaps beyond

The premise for signing Teixeira, many people seem to believe, is predicated on the fact that they think David Ortiz is done. Sorry, I'm not prepared to write off a hitter who has finished in the top five of MVP voting five straight years after one injury-marred season.

Analyzing the Coco Crisp/Ramon Ramirez trade

Coco Crisp - Evan Brunell

This trade is excellent from the Red Sox's perspective. The Sox had a very solid bullpen last year but now add Ramirez to their corps of young, cost-controllable arms that are capable of setting up and/or closing.

This trade is the first of many dominoes that will start to fall for the Red Sox. The question is, where will these dominoes fall?

Wherever the Sox go from here, the opening salvo of the Sox's offseason was the Crisp/Ramirez trade, and it's going to impact the rest of the offseason fundamentally.

AL MVP revealed: It’s Dustin Pedroia!

Dustin Pedroia has been named the 2008 American League MVP after being a force in every aspect of the game. His ferocious hitting, determined fielding and high character spurned Boston to within one game of the World Series.

Pedroia, 24, arguably had a better year than his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2007. He hit .326/.376/.493 with 17 HR, 118 R and 83 RBI in 653 at-bats.

Projections for 2009 Red Sox and others

Bill James has come out with his new handbook for 2009, and in the handbook are the early statistical projections for players next year. This may be especially significant in the case of the Red Sox, as James has a vast amount of knowledge of players in the Red Sox system due to being employed by the team.

Internal Affairs

Some of the biggest signings that the Boston Red Sox make this offseason might not have anything to do with new faces set to make a splash in Boston. The biggest signings to happen, or "not" to happen, may be with some more familiar faces (and no, this isn't a sign Derek Lowe and take a flyer on Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling post).

I'll throw out a few names for you; Jason Bay, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis, Jon Lester.

While each of these players is currently "under team control" for next season and in most cases beyond, each could pen to paper on a new contract this offseason. At the same time, each enters their respective negotiations with their teams under slightly different circumstances.

Youkilis named AL’s best hitter; is he for real?

In fan voting, Kevin Youkilis was tabbed the AL's best hitter, an honor formerly bestowed on such luminaries like Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez.

The official title of the award is the Hank Aaron award, and it comes on the heels of Youk's MVP-caliber (career?) season, a season in which he led the AL in RBI per at-bats (one for each 4.7).

Is Kevin Youkilis another Edgar Martinez? Or will he become another Nomar Garciaparra? Is he destined to flame out quickly or will he enjoy another decade of production?

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