Uh, so what is the problem here? Why can’t Sox Management get this done? Apparently part of the problem is Oswalt thinks Boston is too far away from his house in the Midwest.

Honestly, if someone told me they would give me MILLIONS of dollars, I would live in a cardboard box down by the river in the middle of Bumblef**k Egypt if that is what they wanted…

And if they cannot get Oswalt, they can’t find someone else? Would it kill them to offer Tim Wakefield a deal? Really? I am not saying Wake is the Messiah by any stretch–but he is a known quantity to the Sox, not like that rag-tag pile they have assembled…

We all know that the reason the Sox crashed and burned in September started and ended with pitching–and yet the Sox plan on going to camp with no major changes to the starting rotation–unless you include the addition by subtraction of John Lackey, out for 2012 to recover from Tommy John surgery.

That leaves us with 3 front of the line starters, 2 maybes in Aceves and Bard–and a bunch of pitchers no one else really wanted…

While the Skanks have what? 8 starters? And Tampa Bay has 6 or 7?

Freaking wonderful…

Rumor has it Big Papi’s arbitration hearing is next Monday the 13th–he is still holding out for a multi-year deal with some teeth, or the $16 million and change he asked for..Holy Buckets, this needs to be resolved before the hearing, or we are going to have to deal with a sulking Ortiz all year–who is mad because of what is going to be said at that hearing to justify the smaller salary…UGH

And shockingly, (NOT) the Theo Epstein compensation issue has not been resolved by the commissioner’s office–what was the deadline again? Oh yeah, NOVEMEBR 1st…WHAT a cluster….

Scott Atchison, who was designated for assignment to free up a spot on the 40-man for Cody Ross, has clear waivers, and been assigned to Pawtucket. He will be in Florida for Spring Training, and could quote possible win a spot in the pen that way….

Finally: If you are looking for a REALLY excellent Valentine’s Day Present for your favorite Red Sox fan, then this may be the most unique thing–EVER: 732 Red Sox Baseball Cards, including a bunch of Jersey Cards on EBay. Here is the full description:

MAKE AN OFFER! 732 cards in lot. Total book value of lot is over $1535. Cards are Mint. Top cards include (some of them shown in the 12 pictures in this listing): Jonathan Papelbon 1 of 1 Printing Plate card (photo above); Thirteen Jersey cards (including Schilling/Beckett (dual), Wade Boggs #’d to 100, Papelbon (2), Jim Rice, Beckett, Tony Perez, Schilling, Fisk/Varitek (dual), etc.); PSA 8 Upper Deck Red Sox Triple Jersey Card (Dice-K, Curt Schilling, Jonathan Papelbon); Nomar Garciaparra Ionix Reciprocal (BV $50); Two Hundred and Twenty-Nine additional Boston Red Sox Nomar Garciaparra cards (including Seventy Upper Deck Nomar Garciaparra, Chrome/Finest. Numbered Nomar Garciaparra cards: 27); Two Hundred and eighteen Boston Red Sox Roger Clemens cards (including 1985 Donruss Leaf Rookie, Fourteen promo or numbered cards, Fifty-five 1987, Forty-Two Topps Stadium Club); Wade Boggs 1983 Topps Rookie card; Thirty-Seven Dice-K Rookie cards (and 12 additional Dice-K cards); 1958 AS Jackie Jensen; Five Autographed or Bat Memorabilia cards; 5 cards numbered to under 200; Sixty-Nine Boston Red Sox Pedro Martinez cards; 1971-1974 Mint Red Sox: Twenty; Seventeen David Ortiz Red Sox cards (including 4 numbered to 250 or less) and many more. Free shipping. 100% positive eBay feedback rating.

You can see pictures, and bid here: . And if you do bid, tell ‘em Boston Red Thoughts sent you!

Coming up: Truck Day is 2 Days Away! Whoo Hoo!

Glad for those who are happy the Giants won, feel bad for those who are sad the Pats lost…but the best part of the Super Bowl being over is the fact the way is clear to focus on baseball!

And then there was 1: Ben Cherington’s chances of actually being able to hold onto Theo’s arbitration hearing-less record of 9 years just got better by 50%, as the ballclub has reached a deal with Alfredo Aceves for $1.2 million dollars–and a 1-year non-guaranteed deal. Also included are incentives that could bump him up another 100K. The deal is just about in the middle between what the club offered ($950K), and what Aceves asked for ($1.6 million). He made $ 650K in 2011…

So, the only one left is David Ortiz, whose hearing will be held in the next 2 weeks if a compromise is not made. Supposedly both sides are hard at work trying to get it done before the hearing happens–I really don’t think Big Papi is going to want to hear the team’s “justifications” for offering him “only” $12.65 million for 2012…He thinks $16.5 is more appropriate, more “respectful” I suppose…

You know you’re in trouble when Scott Boras drops you as a client, as he has apparently done with Manny Ramirez. Guess there is no money to made there–or maybe, even Satan has his limits…

Speaking of limits, it looks like if Tim Wakefield does not get an offer from the Sox (which is looking more and more likely these days), he is strongly leaning towards retirement. While that would sadden me not to see Tim to be able to try for the 200 wins, it would suck more to see him pitch for another team…Let’s hope that Jason Varitek makes the same decision as well–for the same reasons…

But I would like to see the Sox sign both, have them each play 1 game, so that they could be thanked properly by the fans…

Finally, Check out Brian Evans’ new commerical on his song “At Fenway”, starring him and Jim Ed–Good stuff–and a great song!

Coming up:  59 Days until Opening Day–Holy Buckets, the end (or beginning, depending on how you look at is) is near!

That is sort of how I feel about how the Red Sox off-season is going. We are all expecting this really big splash (or at least a wading pool) with at least SOME improvement of the pitching staff—but no, manager Bobby Valentine was apparently the big signing for this off-season.

Not only has Ben Cherington went on record to say that its “unlikely” the Sox will add another starter before Spring Training begins this month, but the “best of the rest”, namely Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt appear to be bound for other teams…

Apparently, Jackson is all but signed to pitch for the Nationals for the 2012 campaign, opting to do the “Scott Boras Trial Marriage” contract, of 1 year, in hopes that next year’s market will be more conducive to a bigger contract (and have a shot at improving his numbers as well). So $10 million is the number that will get him to the Nationals. Apparently, that was too much money for the Sox.

$10 million for a pitcher who could give you 200 innings, 12 wins, and an ERA under 4? And they paid HOW much for John Lackey?

So, I guess my question is: Why EXACTLY did the Sox dump the $6 million in payroll by getting rid of their starting shortstop in Marco Scutaro? My friend Paul from Boston is of the opinion that this trade was Bobby’s Valentine’s doing, as he didn’t want to have to deal with Marco after the whole Mets thing. I guess it’s possible, and we certainly know Valentine has that much of an ego…But it just seems SO “cutting off your nose to spite your face”…

So instead we get to deal with pitchers with legal issues, like Vicente Padilla, who cannot leave his home country of Nicaragua until he resolves the issue of his allegedly unpaid child support–for this TENTH child. And the kicker is? It’s less than 5 THOUSAND dollars–and he made $2 million last year. Lovely.

Registered for my “chance” to buy Monster and Right Field Roof Deck tickets. I don’t know why they bother doing this. All you do is get a CHANCE–I got the “chance” 2 years ago, and there were no tickets for me…Why not just offer them when you offer everything else? You could also register for the chance to win Red Sox/Skanks tickets, as well as tickets for Opening Day…

So Josh Beckett has decided that “what goes on in the clubhouse should stay in the clubhouse”. How convenient. It seems like when its bad stuff, everyone wants to “keep it in the clubhouse”. And I agree 100% with fellow Sox Blogger Cyn from Toeing the Rubber with regard to his alcohol comparison of 2011 to the 2004 Jack Daniels’ shots: Please don’t compare the 2. EVER.

Finally, I am sad to hear that Josh Hamilton was seen drinking in a bar in the Dallas area recently. His battle with drugs and alcohol is both legendary and inspiring, and I am hopeful this will be a small blip on the radar….

Coming up: A number of players, including Kevin Youkilis and Jon Lester, are expected to start truckling into Spring Training Camp this weekend…a little more than 2 weeks!

And yes, I should be all excited about the thoughts of a brand new season, and being able to turn the page on what was a thoroughly disappointing 2011 campaign.

But I’m not. Not Really…

We all know the facts: The Boston Red Sox, known for the greatest comeback in all of sports history, is also known for the far less dubious honor: The worst collapse in all of sports history…or, if not the worst in ALL sports, it’s pretty damn close.

September was horrible, OK, we’ll all move on, the Sox will get some good and deep pitching, make some tweaks here and there, and they will be locked and loaded for the 2012 campaign, which coincidently is also the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park…

Instead, we get every bargain barrel, bottom of the heap pitcher out there, in the hopes that one will rise to the surface, as they all battle it out in spring training.

And the Sox trade the best option for shortstop, ostensibly to “free up payroll”–and it appears that freed up payroll isn’t to get a legitimate #3-4 starter, but MORE bargain basement pitchers…

Maybe the Sox will do something splashy yet, but I have the sad and sneaking suspicion that the “big and splashy” portion of the program was the signing of Bobby Valentine–maybe Sox management think they can distract us with the larger than life personality, and the new ticket stuff, and the 100 year anniversary, that none of us will notice that the Sox have absolutely NO PITCHING DEPTH–the same thing that KILLED them last September…

I reallyREALLY hope I am wrong…

Arbitration hearing dates have been scheduled for the last 2 holdout from the Sox, Big Papi and Alfredo Aceves. I really REALLY hope they get these done before the hearings. Because my understanding of the hearings is the ballclub pretty much goes in and tries to minimize the player to get the best deal possible, while the player tries to maximize themselves. How do you think Big Papi will take that? This is a man with a huge ego, who is all about respect–for himself anyway. I can’t see that ending well, even if he gets the money he wants out of the hearing. So, c’mon Ben, get it done, because the couple of dollars you save will not outweigh the damage it will do…

Daisuke is still working hard on his rehab from the Tommy John surgery he had early last year, throwing off the mound for the first time yesterday in Fort Myers. He threw 21 pitches, and if all goes well, he will continue his progress, and could potentially be ready sometime in July/August…

Coming up: We wait and we hope…

These are the Boston Red Sox people! Can we please stop acting like the $30 million payroll Marlins already? Hell, even THEY have stuff going on these days…

And what do the Sox have? Another bargain basement pitcher. This time its former Met John Maine, who pitched an oh so impressive 1-3 record with a 7.43 ERA in 2011-IN THE MINORS–for COLORADO–and he left there in JUNE and didn’t play for the rest of 2011!…and his best season? FIVE YEARS ago….And the kicker is there is no invite to Spring Training–just a minor league contract–what’s THAT about?

Hey, Ben, I hear John Wasdin would be open to a minor league contract, with an invitation to Spring training…UGH…

And, they are signing this dreck, but cannot find a place for Tim Wakefield? Really?

So Kevin Youkilis weighed in this weekend on the wonky team vibe that helped contribute to the crappiness that was September 2011: “…It’s just playing the game and not worrying about other stuff and the media hype and things that are going on. Because if you’re going crazy with that stuff, it’s going to eat you all up….If you just play the game, not worry, not read what’s put out there, everything that’s said, it handles itself.” C’mon Kevin, REALLY? Last year was not your first day at the rodeo–you have been part of TWO World Series teams–and I don’t think there could have been anymore media hype than there was in 2004–and Josh Beckett was MVP of the 2003 World Series at 23, after mowing down the Skanks. So please don’t tell me the MEDIA pressure got to the players…

So Cody Ross will wear #7, which was last worn by JD Drew, and before him, Trot Nixon. Cody is MUCH more worthy to wear Dirt Dog Trot’s # than JD ever was…To make room for Ross on the 40-man, Scott Atchison was designed for assignment–can’t say I am too broken up about that…

Oh, and Bud Selig is going to resolve the Theo compensation deal–and he REALLY means it this time…Feh…

So Red Sox ticket o’rama happened on Saturday. And, because I had some other things going on, I didn’t get to sit in front of my computer until mid afternoon–and I was pleasant surprised at the changes the Sox has made to the ticketing system. Instead of the horrible virtual waiting room they used to have, where you would sit in limbo, never knowing where you were in line, or if you even were in line, only to find that once you actually got past the virtual waiting room, there were no more tickets available for the date I chose, and it was hit or miss if you could get to another date.

But this year, they actually gave you am indicator as to where you were in line, as well as how tickets were selling, and the page refreshed every 45 seconds or so. And the nice thing is that once you made it to the head of the “ticket line”, music started to play, so you didn’t have to sit glued to the screen, fearing that if you stepped away for a beverage or bathroom break that you would miss your window of opportunity.

Surprisingly, I only had to wait about 45 minutes to get the chance to buy tickets, and there were still some decent seats to be had. I didn’t buy any, as I have some things coming up in the summer and I am not sure when they are going to happen, so I didn’t want to commit a bunch of money and not be able to use the tickets…So I am hoping that when my schedule settles, there are still some tickets to be had.

Apparently, there is some other new stuff as far as tickets this year. Called “Digital Ticket Initiative”, this is supposed to help prevent the lowest priced seats at Fenway Park (the $12 Upper Bleacher Seats) from being sold on the secondary market for more than that–sometimes A LOT more…And basically what it means is that these tickets are non-transferable. The person who bought them needs to bring the same credit card they bought them with to Fenway and have it swiped to gain admittance…

And while Fenway is one of the 1st parks to do this, it will be implemented in all MLB parks in the near future…The 1st round of digital tickets for Fenway go on sale tomorrow for the following home games: Opening Day April 13, April 20-22, June 8-10, June 22-24, July 6-8, July 16-19, July 20-22, August 3-5, August 24-26, and September 11-13.

Finally, ESPN’s Jenny Dell with replace Heidi Watney as NESN’s roving reporter teaming with DO and Rem Dawg–and former player Matt Stairs, who played with the Sox in 95, will join the trifecta of baseball eliteness Eck, Jim Ed, and Peter Gammon, as an analyst.

Coming up: 19 More Days to Pitcher and Catchers! 65 Day to Opening Day! And it’s 55 Degrees on the Eve of February in NE Pennsylvania…Whoo Hoo!

But can I just tell you how incredibly stupid I think it was for the Sox to trade Marco Scutaro, who would have made a measly $6 million dollars in 2012 to “free up payroll” Not only was he one of the most productive players in the horribleness that was last September, he stepped up and played hurt…and he is also, very quietly, one of the better shortstops in the game…But at least he won’t have to deal with Bobby Valentine…

Because, really, is $6 million dollars matter in a payroll of nearly $200 million? And I reallyREALLY hope that “all this savings” goes somewhere USEFUL, like a starter, cause the Sox kinda need one of those…

And what I find pretty amusing (and more than a little sad) are the folks that think that, now that Scutaro is gone, the Sox are going to go out and get Hanley Ramirez. Not only does me make almost twice was Marco made at $11 million a year, he is an immature malcontent. Thanks, but the Sox could do without any of THAT nonsense…

Oh, and in case you were wondering: Since 2004, the Red Sox have had 24 different shortstops, with Alex Cora playing the most games at the position with 301….Thanks to Billy-Ball.com for the info…

I love all the positive spin folks are trying to put on this team for 2012, like how signing all the bargain bin guys worked for the Skanks last year, so it’ll work for the Sox this year. Or how competition is good, keeps people from getting complacent…blah. blah. blah…

And what is also troubling is that none of our Top 3 starters have thrown 200 innings in a while. Jon Lester and Josh Beckett came close in 2011 with 191.2 and 193, respectively, But Jon hasn’t hit 200 since 2010, and Josh hasn’t since 2009–and Clay Buchholz never has, the closet he got was in 2010 with 173…

That’s could be a problem–a big one…

So the Tiger, reeling from the loss of Victor Martinez, who blew out his knee, signed former Milwaukee Brewer Prince Fielder to a 9-year $ 214 million dollar contract. Everyone is talking about this is destiny, because Prince’s father, Cecil, played for the ballclub. So now the club has 2 heavyweights (in more ways than one) 1st basemen, in Fielder, and Miguel Cabrera–interesting to see how THAT all works out…

Speaking of working out–pitcher Jamie Moyer, who will be turning 50 this year, as been offered a spring training invite by the Rockies. No word on whether or not he will accept…but pitching at 50 for a non-knuckleballer? Holy Buckets!

And speaking of knuckleballers, there is still NOTHING on Tim Wakefield–anywhere…

Jorge Posada officially retired yesterday at a presser at The Stadium, after 17 seasons with the Skanks. He was a 5-Time all-Star, a career .273 hitter, and Jason Varitek had this to say about him: “After hundreds of head-to-head games during the regular season and the postseason, I can’t say I respect and admire anyone at our position more than I do Jorge. The hard work and preparation he put into catching is a huge reason he has five championships on his resume. He is a true grinder.” As for me, I will not miss him. At all…

Also retiring is Davis Eckstein. Despite offers to spring training, the fireplug shortstop, who did not play at all in 2011, has decided to call it a career after 10 seasons…

And then there were 2: Only Alfredo Aceves and David Ortiz remain in the arbitration sweepstakes, as the Sox have agreed with Daniel Bard on a 1-Year non-guaranteed (!) contract for $1.6 and change, which is just about in the middle of the 1.4 the Sox offered, and the 1.825 he asked for.

The Sox also agreed with Andrew Bailey today to a (surprise surprise) 1 year contract worth $3.9 million, which is a bit higher than the arbitration $’s of 3.35, and lower than the $4.7 he asked for…But the contract also includes up to $100K in incentives, so that doesn’t hurt as well

Could you imagine having a hundred thousand dollars in incentives at your job?? Me either…

Coming up: 25 Days to Pitchers and Catchers, and 3 Days to the Ticket Vigil…and who know how many days until the Sox do something REALLY special…