Oh My God

Oh my God the Red Sox are playing!

A 1,2,3 first for Schilling, with 8/9 pitches for strikes. He pitched 2 innings, then Joel Pineiro came in. And Julio Lugo already made an error on a routine play, but I'm not saying anything because it's his very first game as a Bostonian.

Ortiz drove in a run, Ellsbury had a 2-run single, and Donnelly was impressive in his debut.

And the game ended in a 4-4 tie after 10, because (get this) Julian Tavarez gave up a 3-run homerun to blow the lead. Yes, I'll be saying that A LOT this season. HE IS A STARTER NOT A RELIEVER!!!!

I thought Spring Training games were free on MLB.TV? What the hell, I want to watch my team!

Manny Ramirez apparently now wants to finish his career in Boston. This means that we will definitely not be hearing anymore trade requests out of Camp Manny.

Ha! Yeah, right.

Roger Clemens' agent said this about where he will play this season: "Let me repeat. Houston, Boston, New York. Only three teams will be picked from if he plays. And he hasn't decided."

Interesting.

But most importantly, baseball was played tonight. It's time for the best months of the year!

Hell No

The Sox are reportedly interested in first baseman Todd Helton (forget that we already have a fine one in Youkilis for a minute). Helton comes, plays first, so Youk moves over to third, and...don't worry about Lowell's playing time, he's already been traded to Colorado!

Yeah, I don't like it too much. Other than Lowell, the Rockies are interested in Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen, Julian Tavarez, outfield prospect Jacoby Ellsbury and Matt Clement. You know they'll want more than Tavarez or Clement, which means a young guy. And that is something I cannot get on board with.

I have faith that Theo won't trade away prospects, we got burned with that already (Cla Meredith and Hanley Ramirez to name a couple, though I too was hoping they'd unload Meredith). So don't make me upset Epstein, especially by trading Hansen or Delcarmen. They may not be that great yet, but they are just starting and have potential. So basically...we don't actually need Helton. Not to mention all the money he's owed ($90.1 million).

I will admit that I don't actually know too much about Helton...and numbers don't tell the whole story. I am just very hesitant about trading away Hansen or Delcarmen (the Rockies' top 2 choices). Maybe Lowell... I don't know. I like Lowell. And Mike's a year younger. His numbers aren't as good, but...

I'm glad I'm not GM!

The Latest

The latest speculation has the Yankees interested in Mark Loretta as a first baseman, which is a possibility since the Sox have Dustin Pedroia to fill the spot at second base.

My take? No no no a million times no! No more Red Sox to Yankees moves! I cannot say that enough. I like Loretta a lot, and not just because he looks good (I'm sure Christine has something to say about that!), but because he is good. And because a sign of evilness is going from Boston to NY.

Seibu should be happy - they got the $51.1 million for Matsuzaka. And they shall spend it on...well, who cares? We got Matsuzaka!

So Much Talk

...and all we can do is wait! There's so much being talked about, and the worst part is guessing at what will happen. And there's always getting excited about something, then having it not happen. Maybe that's the worst.

Anyway, sounds like the Dodgers don't want to pay for Manny. Yesterday they were our best bet, today the chances are, at best, 5 percent. Things change on a dime during the offseason.

Next up, the Dodgers and Angels are meeting with the Sox to discuss Manny tonight. This is from the Globe: the Sox want either closer Francisco Rodriguez or Scot Shields. Rodriguez isn't going anywhere, and the Angels have consistently maintained they have little interest in moving Shields, either. Sox also asked about SS Orlando Cabrera, and the Angels' prized two young starters, Ervin Santana and Jered Weaver. Make the Angels a longshot in this one. The Giants also had a meeting scheduled with the Sox, and according to the lobby buzz, they wonder how serious the Sox are in wanting to move him. The rumor sweeping the lobby is that the Washington Nats might be part of a three-way with the Sox and Giants, offering closer Chad Cordero as part of the deal, with a pitcher like Noah Lowry headed toward D.C. Seattle also appears to be in the picture--they have two top bullpen arms in closer JJ Putz and setup man Rafael Soriano, who has closer stuff.

And with that...we wait some more!

J.D. Drew Signing Looks Close

Though we haven't heard much about it (officially), the Sox are closing in on J.D. Drew. He plays right field, so...it's not looking good for Trot Nixon. It never really was, but it's looking more and more likely that we won't be seeing good old Trot in right field next season. Sad.

Drew reportedly wants a many-year-long contract, something that the Sox FO does not like to give out. He sounds like another Manny to me, with the attitude problem and all. Plus, he is injury-prone, so...can't spend too much money on him.

News

1. Theo Epstein revealed yesterday that he has made formal offers to two free-agent pitchers, and he wants to make more offers before Thursday. Nick Cafardo's guesses: Gil Meche, Miguel Batista, Mark Mulder, Justin Speier, Eric Gagne, Scott Schoeneweis. So much speculation, so little information.

2. 8 pm tonight = we find out about Matsuzaka. We pretty much "know" the Sox have made the high bid, all we need is confirmation that Boras plans on negotiating over the next 30 days.

3. Dave Wallace is now with the Houston Astros.

4. Apparently, Matsuzaka going to Boston is big news in Japan, since Hideki Matsui is in NY. "The Red Sox-Yankees series will have new meaning to people in Japan because you have one of the best hitters against one of the best pitchers," said Yasuko Yanagita of the Hochi Shimbun sports newspaper. "Boston is a popular team because they won the World Series not so long ago, and if Matsuzaka plays for them and Matsui plays for the Yankees, it will create excitement." And you know what all this means: money.

5. Theo said he has not made any offer to J.D. Drew.