Henry & Company Leaving After 2010?

Gotta thank Manramsclan over at SoSH for leading me to this. Back on October 12, Boston Herald Deputy Business Editor Frank Quaratiello followed Red Sox owner John Henry for a day and blogged about it. The blog was posted under News & Business and may have not been noticed by many Sox fans, but Manramsclan certainly noticed it and a hats off to him for posting about it. at 4:40 PM Quaratiello posted this bit that Henry said at 3:20. JH goes into meeting with Werner and Lucchino. They discuss changing the date of the partners meeting and the timeline for installing a new center field scoreboard. JH wants it done by 2010. “We may not be here in 2011,” he says. The scoreboard’s got to go. “What we have now isn’t attractive.” They decide to try to get all work on Fenway Park finished by 2010 and also to try to convince PR maestro Charles Steinberg to stay. Steinberg is getting Daniel Vinik, who grabbed Manny’s foul ball during the ALDS to throw out tonight’s first pitch. So this leads us to the question, are there already plans made for the ownership group that has totally changed the history and future of our beloved Red Sox to skip out of town in the next few years? I certainly hope not, they have changed baseball in Boston like no one else has or could. I fear what a new ownership group would do to the Red Sox.

Lowel, Sox Agree

Mike Lowell has agreed to re-sign with the Boston Red Sox for three years at $37.5 million. The Red Sox had set a deadline for today for Lowell to say yes or no to the offer. Boston was unwilling to add a fourth year even though sources indicated Lowell had a four year offer from atleast one team. This deal became more important for Boston when Alex Rodriguez decided to return to New York.

Record Setting Patriots; Pats 56, Bills 10

The New England Patriots kept up their pace to several NFL records and at the same time came away with more then one record on Sunday night. ● New England tied a franchise record with 56 points in their 56-10 win in Buffalo. The record was previously set in a 56-3 win against the New York Jets in 1979. ● The 56 points scored by New England is the most by an NFL road team since 1978. ● Randy Moss became the single season Patriots franchise record holder for touchdown receptions with 16. The previous record was held by Stanley Morgan at 12. ● Tom Brady became the alltime Patriots career leader in touchdown passes. Brady now has 185 touchdown passes in his career. The previous record was held by Steve Grogan at 182. ● Randy Moss tied an NFL record with four touchdown receptions in the first half. ● Tom Brady extended his own franchise record with 38 touchdown passes on the season. ● The Patriots 510 yards of offense is it's most since 1979 when they gained 593 yards in a 56-3 win over the New York Jets. ● The Patriots have scored 54 touchdowns on the season which sets a new franchise record with six games remaining.

Fenway Park Adding More Seats, Amenities

Larry Lucchino talked to NESN about the work at Fenway this winter.

B.B.W.A.A. HAHAHAHAHAHA

The success of Boston area sports teams has sports fans around the country celebrating the failures of our athletes and hissing at us fans when we complain. Well to all you fans out there who are in that group, prepare to hiss. Josh Beckett was robbed of the Cy Young Award today. Beckett finished the season 20-7 one win better then C.C. Sabathia. The other statistic categories were practically identical with Beckett pitching about 40 innings less. Many point to the gap in innings, which was caused by Beckett having a stint on the disabled list as the reason Sabathia won. The first reason to complain about the voting of the 2007 Cy Young is the fact that Beckett was left off two ballots completely, Sabathia was also left off one ballot, this shows that the voters are either totally clueless or failed to vote for each of them for personal reasons. Were the two New York voters bitter that the Sox prevailed in the East? Perhaps the two Cleveland voters wanted to give the edge to Sabathia in what was thought to be a close race? Was there a Boston voter who did the same? Voters need to be held accountable by the public for how the cast their votes and the ballots should be released to the public. The other side to this whole argument uses pure fact to show that Beckett deserved the Cy Young more. He pitched 11 times this season against teams that would end up in the playoffs and 17 times against teams who would finish above .500 at seasons end. On the other side of this was Sabathia who pitched only four times against eventual playoff teams and 11 times against winning teams. Cleveland fans, and Red Sox haters are quick to point out that Beckett had a lot more starts against playoff teams because the Yankees made the playoffs. And that is actually the whole point. Beckett faced tougher competition and still succeeded at a similar rate to Sabathia, so shouldn't the one who had the tougher road end up on top at the end? Sabathia faced divisional opponents 18 times in 2007 and aside from Detroit, the teams in the AL Central were very bad offensive teams. Detroit was third in runs score in the majors while the other three, Minnesota, Kansas City and Chicago were ranked 25th, 27th and 28th respectively. Meantime up in the AL East Beckett had to face the top run scoring offense in baseball four times. Tampa Bay, Baltimore and Toronto meantime were ranked 15th, 16th and 17th in runs scored. Beckett by far had the tougher road and in the end he lead his team to the World Series title. Sabathia got an award he didn't deserve.

Rookie Of The Year!

Dustin Pedroia was named the American League Rookie of the Year Monday. Pedroia won the award easily. Several sports site comment sections have been ridiculing the choice saying Delmon Young was the more deserving rookie, however statistics do not back up that argument. In fact if one looked at the statistics they would ask why Pedroia wasn't a unanimous choice. The traditional money categories, home runs and RBI were in favor of Young, but he also had two advantages. First he had 120 more at bats then Pedroia and he also batted in a spot that had a lot of RBI opportunities. The differential in home runs wasn't that great. Pedroia had eight for Boston while Young had 13 for the Rays. So where did Pedroia win the award? His great defense at second base was one area that helped, but his bat did a lot of talking too. Pedroia scored 21 more runs then Young, 86-65. He also had one more double then Young, remember in 120 less at bats. Pedroia also excelled with his eye, he had 47 walks, but just 42 strikeouts. Meantime Young only had 26 walks and struck out 127 times. Young had advantages in hits 186-165, and stolen bases 10-7. Again this was with 120 extra at bats. What does all this come out to? For Pedroia it was a .317 average with a .380 OBP and a slugging percent of .442. For Young? .288, .316, .408. Advantage Pedroia. Seriously how can anyone make an argument for a guy with a .316 OBP? And to add to that the fact that Young had five more homers proved unimportant as Pedroia still slugged 34 points higher. Ladies and Gentleman, there wasn't and never should have been any doubt who deserved this award.

Pedroia Has Surgery

Dustin Pedroia played the final two months of the season with a broken hand helping the Sox capture their second World Series title in four years. The broken bone was the same as what kept Wily Mo Pena out for two months back in 2006. Pedroia doesn't know when he suffered the break but it was revealed in an MRI in early September. “Some days I would wake up and it would be hard to grip a bat,” Pedroia said. “I changed my grip a little bit on the bat and went from there. It was just one of those things you know you have to take care of after the season, but you have to play through. A lot of guys have done that. You definitely don’t want to shut it down and have surgery during the whole thing. We just had to find a way to fight through it.” He's restricted from using the hand until early December. It's possible he suffered the break on August 22 when Tampa Bay's Edwin Jackson hit him on the hand, Pedroia left that game but didn't miss any time.

Sentiment On Lowell Turning?

Even before the World Series was over, a clear majority of Red Sox Nation was letting it be known that Theo Epstein should re-sign Mike Lowell at any cost. Fans were saying if Lowell wanted a fourth year then give him it, losing Lowell would be worse then losing Johnny Damon or Pedro Martinez. This is pretty much what one read no matter where they were reading be it Yanks Fan vs Sox Fan, Surviving Grady or even the Boston Globe and Boston Herald websites. The sentiment has appeared to change, at least a little. Yesterday the Herald reported that Mike Lowell has received a offer from the Red Sox that would guarantee three years. The story certainly comes off as the Red Sox positioning themselves to the fans as the good guy doing everything they could to sign Lowell without harming the club in the future. Fans have spoke out in response to the article and a sampling of the comments make it seem it's working at least to some degree. From the comments section of the Herald story Tara said, "Don't be stupid Mike. Is it about Boston and baseball or about money. Budget your money well and retire rich and happy after 3 years. Red Sox Nation has shown the love, time to show it back." Kevin added, "If the money is right, mike should sign this deal. Any team would be stupid to give him over 3 years. A "conservative" (and possibly smarter) offer by the sox would have been for 2 years." Ron said, "Losing Mike Lowell is bad, but not the end of the world. A few years ago evryone wanted to sign Bill Mueller to a contract to play 3rd base and look what happened to him...The moral of the story, don't fall in love with the player(s)." Meantime over at Yanks Fan vs Sox Fan Dionysus said "I think I'd give him four years. Im ok with that. Im pretty sure I am. Or I'm desperate." The general consensus there seemed to be that the Red Sox offer was a take it or leave it message from the Red Sox Front Office. The Boston.com message boards were busy with Lowell chatter with PrahaSMC saying "There's my off-season agenda. No Lowell, no ARod. Yes to fiscal sanity." Robin_Graves said "Lowell's gone. He had a good year because Manny had a bad year. He got Manny's RBIs. That's the end of the story. I'm sure Lowell and his agent think a big raise is due. It's not. 2007 was an anomoly. Slim chance he gets 100 RBIs again with the Red Sox. No chance he hits .300."

Lowell To Stay?

While Boston.com reports that the Red Sox will meet with Scott Boras tonight when Alex Rodriguez is sure to be discussed, the Boston Red Sox have reportedly offered Mike Lowell a three-year deal with an option for a fourth year. The Red Sox are still waiting to hear back from Lowell and his agent.

2008 Red Sox Schedule

This is the first place you can get the complete tentative 2008 Red Sox schedule. The dates that haven't been released by other teams were filled in by comparing all other 29 teams schedules and determining who wasn't scheduled for those days. With only a few teams missing it was easy to fill in. The opening series with Oakland will consist of two games in Tokyo (Home dates for Boston) and then two more games in Oakland (road dates) before the Sox head to Toronto. They then head home for their home opener will the World Series banner will be raised and rings presented. http://travisliles.com/soxschedule

Youk's Glove Is Golden

Kevin Youkilis today won the American League Gold Glove for first baseman. Youkilis was the only Red Sox recipient as Coco Crisp was passed over. Youk becomes the first Sox Gold Glover since Jason Varitek took home the award for catchers in 2005. Last year when the Red Sox set a then Major League record for best fielding percent they received no Gold Gloves. This year Colorado set a new record and they also failed to ear a Gold Glove. Congrats Youk!

Worth Every Schilling

It's a done deal. Curt Schilling and the Red Sox have finalized the deal that will bring him back for his final season as a MLB pitcher. From Boston.com Curt Schilling and the Red Sox finalized a one-year, $8 million contract today, the pitcher announced on his web site. According to Schilling, the deal includes a possible $6 million in incentives in addition to his base salary: $2 million in weight incentives, $3 million based on innings pitched, and $1 million if he receives a Cy Young vote. Schilling made the announcement on his blog with the permission of the Red Sox front office. The deal looks like this. $8 million in guaranteed base salary $2 million in bonuses for 6 seperate (sic) weigh ins. I inserted the weigh in clause in the 2nd round of offers, counter offers. Given the mistakes I made last winter and into Spring Training I needed to show them I recognized that, and understood the importance of it. Being overweight and out of shape are two different things. I also was completely broad sided by the fact that your body doesn’t act/react the same way as you get older. Even after being told that for the first 39 years of my life. Now I can’t get on Dougie anymore, which sucks, and I am sure the clause will add 15-100 more jokes to Tito’s Schilling joke book. $3 million in IP incentives based on IP totals. $1 million for receiving a Cy Young vote, any vote. Schilling added that he left money on the table. Did I ‘leave’ money on the table, yes. Could I have gotten another year? I think so. In talking with my advisor Ed Hayes, assessing the market place and current free agent crop as well as existing contracts. Looking at the teams that called, my best guess would be around 14-15 million for a 1 year deal with the potential to get 25-30 for a two year deal.

CURTain Call?

Theres reports that Curt Schilling and the Red Sox are close to a contract extension to bring Schilling back for the final season of his career. The Boston Herald reports the deal maybe close... Schilling, when reached by phone last night, said that things “gathered momentum and if they continued to progress like they did (yesterday) something could potentially get done.” The deal is believed to be incentive-laden and, according to sources, might be simply contingent on a final physical. Schilling had initially been looking for a $13 million extension before last season. Other sources are saying the deal is done and an announcement could come tomorrow. Check back for more on this breaking story.

Did The Colts Finally Get Caught Cheating?

It has long been suspected that the Indianapolis Colts pumped noise into the RCA Dome when the opposition had the ball and during yesterdays game against the New England Patriots they may have finally been caught. Early in the fourth quarter there was a skipping type sound heard. ProFootballTalk.com and Sportting News are both reporting this story. Yahoo Sports is reporting that the NFL has begun a formal investigation against the Colts. Jeremy Green, the son of former Vikings coach Dennis Green admitted on ESPN Monday that the Vikes used to pump artifical crowd noise in the Metrodome, Tony Dungy was among the current Colts coaches who were on the Vikings staff then.

Where Does A-Rod Want To Play?

According to reports, Alex Rodriguez is telling friends he wants to play for Boston. That was clear in 2003 when he was willing to lower the value of his contract as part of a trade to the Red Sox, the MLBPA refused to allow him to do that and he was eventually traded to the Yankees. The question now is if he indeed does want to play in Boston, how much will he demand to play here. He reportedly asked the Yankees for #350 Million over the next 10 years. Would he be willing to go less to play in Boston? Say $300 Million over 10 years? The Epstein doesn't seem interested in talking about the matter publicly, but he surely has or will have an initial conversation with Scott Boras before the end of the first day of the GM Meetings that started today.

Patriots 24, Colts 20

In a history making day the officials nearly picked up an assist for the Indianapolis Colts. Despite bad calls against New England that led to a franchise record 146 penalty yards, the Patriots rallied behind MVP Tom Brady for a 24-20 victory. Brady in the win collected another three touchdown passes to set a new franchise record at 33, that record will be broken each week til seasons end. Randy Moss tied Stanley Morgan for the Patriots record with his 12th scoring reception of the year. Moss later added what could be the catch of the year in the NFL when he went up and brought down a high Brady pass with one hand. Moss had 145 yards on nine catches. Early in the 1st quarter, former Patriots Adam Vinatieri missed his first kick ever in the RCA Dome, a 51 yard field goal attempt on the games opening drive. Vinatieri later added two field goals. The Patriots have their bye next week. With the win and New York's loss today the Jets are officially eliminated from the AFC East race. The Dolphins have already been eliminated. If the Bills lose to Miami next weekend the Patriots could clinch the AFC East the following weekend when they travel to Buffalo.

Game Day Predictions

The 8-0 Patriots and the 7-0 Colts. The game of the year. The ESPN experts split between the two teams. The guys at Sunday Countdown also split between the Pats and Colts. The ESPN Madden simulation gives the Patriots a 35-21 win. The Fox Sports experts give the Pats the edge. Yahoo picks the Pats across the board and 65% of Yahooers picked the Patriots. Greg Lee is the only traitor in the Boston Globe picks. Eric Wilbur takes a look around the sports world for predictions. My pick: Patriots 45 Colts 24

Revenge Of The Wildcat: Northeastern at New Hampshire

UNH Audio | UNH Video (pay) | UNH Live Game Stats One year ago New Hampshire suffered a heartbreaking loss at Northeastern after John Sperrazza connected with Kendrick Ballantyne for a 20 yard score on 4th and 5. Northeastern went for 2 and won the game 36-35. Under normal circumstances man would expect New Hampshire to come out flying Saturday looking to solidify their playoff hopes while getting some revenge. Early in the week many were predicting huge UNH blowouts but the changing weather could keep the scores down. Hurricane Noel is tearing up the east coast and is expected to dump rain and heavy winds on the New Hampshire coast Saturday which could turn the Santos air attack into a ground game. Either way you got to like New Hampshire's chances against a 1-7 Northeastern squad especially after the way the defense played last week against Rhode Island, they will have extra motivation to perform well. Early prediction: UNH 52 Northeastern 17 Current prediction: UNH 35 Northeastern 14 Game updates in the comments Saturday.

Red Sox: Friday Transactions

The Red Sox today picked up the options on Julian Tavarez and Tim Wakefield. With the move Wakefield has also reeceived a 2009 team option as part of his contract with the Red Sox, each year if they pick up the $4 million team option he gets a new team option at the same amount for the following year. Tavarez will return for his third year with Boston, the do-it-all pitcher will also make $4 million in 2008. Boston also completed its deal with St. Louis that sent Joel Pinero to the Cardinals. The Sox pick up outfielder Sean Danielson. Kevin Cash declined an assignment to AAA and opted for free agency.

Curing The Winter Time Baseball Blues

Do you suffer through the winter months with no baseball? Well your in luck this year and Curt Schilling isn't quite done leading the Red Sox to victories. Sporting News is doing an online Strat-o-Matic replay of the 1986 season and the man who brought two World Series titles to Boston over the past four seasons will serve as Boston's manager. The season begins on Monday and runs through May of 2008 which could lead to the question of what will Schilling do when his days are filled with baseball activities, either with the Red Sox or another team. Let's hope he has the time to lead the Sox to a better outcome then the actual Sox of 86. Bill Daughtry of MSG will managed the hated Yankees. For the site click here. I will update the status of our beloved Red Sox throughout the season, and i'm sure Curt will keep us informed over at 38pitches.

Position Breakdown: First Base

Recap Kevin Youkilis had a great year in 2007 with the bat and glove. Youk should win the gold glove and could be a fixture at first unless Boston doesn't re-sign Mike Lowell and can't land another third baseman which would require Youk moving across the diamond. Looking Ahead I would imagine Youkilis remains at first next year and Boston lands a big bat for third. If they don't Boston could move David Ortiz to first and Manny Ramirez to DH, that of course would be an extreme move but not out of the question. The final answer will depend on what happens at third so stay tuned. Beyond 2008 There is no shortage of power bats who will begin being ready by mid-2008 in the minors. Kevin Youkilis could find his days on the Red Sox infield numbered which would be a sad day for Sox fans. However Youk could possibly move to left field full time when Manny Ramirez' contract expires, if Manny can play it, Youk can. As for the depth in the minors. Chris Carter has an ETA of 2008 and could be a bench player for the Sox. Aaron Bates should be ready by 2009 and Lars Anderson in 2010. Brandon Moss, an outfielder who has played some first this past year could spend all his time at first in 2008 and be ready for 2009. Moss has an ETA for mid-2008 without taking into account moving to first full time.