The Sox have decreased their arbitration eligible players by one, signing Jarrod Saltalamacchia to a 1 year, $2.5 million contract. Tomorrow is the deadline for the teams and players to exchange arbitration numbers….

The rumor around town is that the Sox may invite Jason Varitek to Spring Training as a Non-roster invitee. Holy Buckets, how far have we fallen. Could you really do that to the man who, up to a couple of months ago, was your CAPTAIN?

And there has been absolutely NOTHING with regards to Tim Wakefield–nothing….

As I mentioned before, Michael Clair from Old Time Family Baseball held a charity blogathon over the weekend to raise money and awareness for Doctors without Border. Boston Red Thoughts was a contributor to the weekend (You can read my post here), which helped raise over $2,000 for this wonderful cause. Congratulations to Michael and to all who participated!

So, after a winter of nothingness, the Skanks made some moves, acquiring 2 starters in Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda. Pineda, a young (22) right traded from Seattle, is very good, but the Sox fared pretty well against him the one time they faced him 2011, lighting him up for 7 runs on 8 hits in 4.1 innings. Kuroda, formerly of the Dodgers, has had 1 start against the Sox, and a 0-1 record with a 2.57 ERA against the ballclub….

So, I guess we should not even bother playing the 2012 Campaign, because the Skanks have it all buttoned up. Why don’t we just start planning the ticket tape parade now?

Honestly, what IS it with some Skankee fans? Some of them just go bezerk when they acquire some good players, and for them, it’s all over–the Skanks are a lock. And they do this EVERY time.

We all know that baseball is a fickle mistress, and if there was ever a case study in this point, it was 2011–The general consensus was that the Sox and the Phillies were all that and a bag of chips, destined to face each other in the World Series, and that would be that. And we all know what happened there–It was St Louis and Rangers in the World Series, with dark horse St Louis taking it all…

So, forgive me if I am not ready to concede the whole 2012 campaign yet…

And it looks like Jorge Posada may finally retire (about time)–and here are some neato stats with regard to how he fared, lifetime, against the Sox: .266 with 32 homes and 114 RBI’s–which seems so low to me–always felt that he beat the crap out of the Sox whenever he would come up to bat…

Finally, Wally Fish from Seedlings to the Stars passed along their prospect list for the Boston Red Sox. Good stuff–definitely worth checking out!

Coming up: A little more than a month to Pitcher and Catchers and warm and sunny Florida! And on days like today, when the temp gauge in my jeep says 11 (yes, ELEVEN) degrees, that feels like a lifetime away…

Benefiting Doctors without Borders, the blogathon will start tomorrow, Saturday, January 14th, and end 48 hours later.

The first 24 hours is all Michael, all the time, as he will post fresh new content every 30 minutes. On Day 2, some of the best sports bloggers out there will lend their talents to the cause, submitting posts on a wide variety of baseball topics.

Boston Red Thoughts is one of the bloggers on the slate, and I am honored to be part of this very worthwhile cause.

You can read the blogathon here and make a donation here…

About Doctors without Borders: Also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Doctors without Borders provides emergency medical care to millions of people caught in crises in more than 60 countries around the world. MSF provides assistance when catastrophic events — such as armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, or natural disasters — overwhelm local health systems. MSF also assists people who face discrimination or neglect from their local health systems or when populations are otherwise excluded from health care.

On any given day, more than 22,000 doctors, nurses, logisticians, water-and-sanitation experts, administrators, and other qualified professionals working with MSF can be found providing medical care around the world.

Benefitting Toys for Tots, the official charity of the US Marine Corp, for the 8th straight year, Winterball is a 9-inning baseball game fundraiser played the first weekend of December each year. Upwards of 100 adult amateur players from several local baseball leagues are expected to attend.

All Winterball participants are required to make a toy donation to Toys for Tots to get onto a roster. This year, those aged 18+ will battle those aged 30+ to see if age is truly eternal, as The Young Bucks take on The Aging Stallions.

Batting Practice begins at 10:00am, with the Marines arriving at 10:30 to collect the toys, and then first pitch is 11:00am. Since inception, the average game temperature has been 39 degrees, with the 2010 contest kicking off at a balmy 41…

Want to cheer the teams on? Maplewood Park is located at 99 Crystal Street, Malden, MA. And by all means, bring a new, unwrapped toy…

For more info, you can check out their Winter Baseball’s webpage, where you can also find picture of previous years events. You can also find them on Facebook…

About Toys for Tots: The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

In addition, the objectives of Toys for Tots are to help less fortunate children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; to play an active role in the development of one of our nation’s most valuable resources – our children; to unite all members of local communities in a common cause for three months each year during the annual toy collection and distribution campaign; and to contribute to better communities in the future.

Benefiting the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, the auction can be found here and is open until 11:59 p.m. ET on December 2, 2011. Then, the items listed will move to the live auction at the Golf Classic, and the online bidders will be represented by proxy at the event.

You can bid on these, and much more:

Hitting Lessons with David Ortiz, where you will visit batting practice and tour the stadium prior to a 2012 home game, on a mutually agreed upon date, and get to meet David Ortiz. Also included is a pair of seats for the game.

The chance to play catch with Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, and get fielding tips from one of the best in the game! Not only do you get a game of catch, on a mutually agree upon date, but you also get FOUR tickets to a Red Sox home game at Fenway Park for that date in 2012!

For the tennis fan in your life, there is The Hero & Prodigy Package, consisting of a 30 minute tennis session with Andy Roddick, an autographed copy of Agassi’s autobiography “Open” and autographed tennis ball from both Agassi and Roddick.

Or how about the The US Open Package, consisting of US Open Suite tickets for a 1 day session during the first week of the Tournament. Also included is a 2 night stay at the New York Marriott Marquis, Dinner for 2 at Crossroads American Kitchen & Bar and 2 round trip JetBlue Vouchers.

And there is the ultimate Dominican Paradise Getaway, where you and ELEVEN (12 total) get 5 nights/6 days all inclusive, at the Golden Dolphin Villa on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. You get meals prepared daily by the private chef at your request, and also included are six 6 spa treatments, and 1 round of golf for 6 players at the neighboring Playa Grande Golf Club. WOW…

Additional items in this year’s auction include: the chance to be an honorary Bat Girl/Boy for an upcoming Red Sox game, VIP passes to the Justin Timberlake Open in Las Vegas, a pair of autographed Dwight Howard sneakers, MLB Network behind the scenes Meet & Greet, a Stella McCartney handbag, and jerseys, bats and balls from members of the 2011 Red Sox.

About the David Ortiz Children’s Fund: Committed to helping children in New England and the Dominican Republic who do not have access to the critical pediatric services they need, DOCF is proud to partner with Massachusetts General Hospital to fulfill its mission in New England and with the World Pediatric Project to fulfill its mission in the Dominican Republic. Working together, these organizations are increasing the number of children that will receive lifesaving services. For more info, follow Big Papi on Twitter @davidortiz, or go to the website…

For the final TFC-Red Sox Reader Giveaway for the 2011 campaign, TFC will award two (2) tickets to the Thursday, September 15th game against the Tampa Bay Rays that starts at 7:10pm. And these are some of the best seats at Fenway: The tables on the Right Field Roof Deck! I sat in these seats while I was on the Fenway Park Tour a couple of years ago, and Holy. Buckets! These are the seats I want to sit in before I die…The view is wonderful, and its just way cool…

In addition to the tickets, you get $25 of food and beverage credit, as well as the company of two TFC sports staffers to talk all things baseball (and maybe even some Pats and Bruins).

So what are you waiting for? Go to this Tickets For Charity special link, fill in your email address, mention that Boston Red Thoughts sent you, and that’s it! And remember: Only one entry per email address allowed. Deadline for Entry is midnight EST on Tuesday, September 12th.

The winner will be selected at random from the emails received, with the winner being notified on Wednesday, September 13th. And, your chances of winning are pretty good; this link is not accessible to the general public—it’s only available to the followers of the exclusive TFC partners!

So, go on over, sign up–and good luck!

And just to let you know, Boston Red Thoughts will be holding TWO MORE giveaways in the coming weeks, both oriented on the Holy Land itself–Fenway Park…so stay tuned–you are going to LOVE these!

About Charity Partners: Created to dramatically increase critically needed funding to some of the world’s most admired charities and foundations, Charity Partners’ free fundraising platform enables the partner charities to spend more time executing their missions to serve and less time seeking the funding to do so. Tickets-for-Charity is Charity Partners’ first fundraising platform, offering music and sports fans the opportunity to access great seats to high-demand live events nationwide while supporting respected charities in the process.

In addition to currently partnering with more than 30 highly-respected national charities and foundations such as The Red Sox Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Feeding America, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, The National Children’s Cancer Society, and United Way Worldwide, Charity Partners/Tickets for Charity have also supported performing artist and sports team foundations. They invite team-affiliated foundations across the country to benefit from free hosting on their platform in order to meet the dramatic increase in consumers seeking local giving opportunities.

So if you need tickets–Tickets for Charity had ticket for every game at Fenway Park this year–head on over and check them out!

Now, in this penultimate series (and the final one at Fenway for 2011–in the Regular Season anyway) The Sox are only a 1/2 game better than they were at the beginning of the month, but I think the potential for things to be much more interesting when this series is over is pretty high.

To the Blackboard!

To recap: The Sox are 1.5 games ahead of the Skanks, and they will play 3 games in another of those weird middle of the week Red Sox/Skankee series…

So…

If the Sox Sweep: Possible, but I never consider this, so….But if it happens, the Sox would be a very nice position of 4.5 games ahead with 26 games to play, including 3 more at The Stadium at the end of September…

But personally, 15 games ahead would not be enough for me, so while 4.5 is nice and all–this is baseball–so until Skanks stage a collapse of epic proportions and are mathematically eliminated–never say never…

If the Sox win 2: 2.5 games ahead in the AL East.

If the Sox win 1: 1/2 game ahead in the AL East.

If the Sox are swept: They drop to 2nd place, 1.5 games down in the AL East…

My personal prediction is the same as always–they Sox will win 2 out of 3…

Look for JD Drew to be activated on Thursday when the rosters expand, and he is still hoping he will be able to contribute in some way this year. In his last year of his way too large contract with the Sox, he is still undecided as to whether or not he will play after this year. Anything can happen–but I am not holding my breath as to what exactly JD Drew can do for the ballclub at this point…

Someone who will definitely be back, and will certainly be able to contribute is Kevin Youkilis, who will be joining the playoff bound Paw Sox tonight for his rehab assignment. Youk has been on the DL since August 18 with a lower back strain…

More Hardware for Adrian: For the 5th time in his career, and his 1st time with the Sox, Adrian Gonzalez was awarded the AL player of the Week Award, based on these stupendous numbers in 7 games: .393 BA with 5 homers, and 9 RBI’s–the Sox were 5-2 during that span. He joins Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz, and Carl Crawford who have all won the award this year…

Check out this very cool interview with sport agent Storm Kirschenbaum, who is also the President of Metis Sports Management–its offers a unique perspective we don’t see every day. Here he talks about contracts, trade deadline, and most importantly: Jerry Maguire! Thanks so much to fellow BBA-er, Through The Fence Baseball, for sending it along!

Finally, this morning at 6:00am, the 10th Annual Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon began and will run today and tomorrow, Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 from 6:00am to midnight, broadcasting on WEEI and NESN.

To celebrate its 10th year, The Telethon will focus on the progress that has been made in cancer research over the past decade. Since its inception in 2002, the Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon has raised nearly $26 million dollars, with over $3.1 million dollars raised in 2009. With gifts coming in from every state in the country, the radio-telethon continues to be the Jimmy Fund’s fastest growing event.

Even if you can only give a dollar, do it today. Give them a call, toll-free 877-738-1234. For more information, or to contribute online, go to The Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon website.

About the Jimmy Fund: The official charity of the Boston Red Sox for nearly 60 years, The Jimmy Fund supports the fight against cancer at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, helping to raise the chances of survival for children and adults with cancer around the world. Since 1948, the generosity of millions of people has helped the save countless lives by furthering cancer research and care.

Coming up: John Lackey, who hopefully has left Yukky Lackey somewhere far far away, takes the mound tonight, opposed by CC Sabathia. A couple of weeks ago, this matchup would have filled me with dread–but since the Sox seem to have CC’s number, and Lackey hasn’t been sucking, this could end very well for the Sox. Of course, it could also end very badly–but since the only games the Sox seem to lose are the ones where Tim Wakefield tries for his 200th win (and who knows when his next chance will happen), I like their chances. 1st pitch 7:10pm…