Battle of the old vs. the new.
Do you prefer newly hired, Jenny Dell, to NESN’s former blonde bombshell, Heidi Watney?
Give me Watney every day and twice on Sunday but that’s just me.
Boston Red Sox Ownership: Henry and Co. Have Become Cheap
In an offseason in which a rotten clubhouse was supposed to be fixed, things have only become more confusing at 4 Yawkey Way.
Perhaps the most puzzling move of all was the recent trade of starting short stop, Marco Scutaro, to the Colorado Rockies in return for a pitcher with an ERA north of nine in triple-A last season.
A midst the offseason after the worst September collapse in baseball history, for some strange reason, the front office thought it would be a good idea to trade it’s starting short stop, one of the only reasons the team even won as many games as they did in September.
But the fact that they traded Scutaro isn’t even the most mind boggling thing, it is why they traded him. To free up money to go after other free agents.
In a market such as Boston, freeing up money should not be an issue. The team sells out every home game and is one of the highest earning franchises in sports.
Yet ownership felt the need to rid of Scuatro’s $6-million contract to make room for a few more free agency signings. One being the recently signed outfielder, Cody Ross.
The trade of Scuatro was likely an avoidance of the luxury tax but the Red Sox will likely pay it without him as they still need to sign another starting pitcher.
In 2010, the Red Sox paid $1.49-million in luxury tax, a minute amount compared to the teams spending ability so what is with ownerships reluctance to break the luxury tax threshold this offseason?
Up to this point in the offseason the Red Sox have allotted just $7.85-million to major league contracts and are reluctant to make a one year offer lucrative enough to draw Roy Oswalt to Boston — they reportedly offered Oswalt a one year, $5-million deal.
Has John Henry and company gone cheap?
Quite possibly and it could be directly tied to the purchase of the Liverpool Football Club by the New England Sports Venture — headed by Henry — for $426-million in October 2010.
Now you’d be hard pressed to call them cheap after last offseason, one in which they dished out two $100-million deals to Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford but the group could be feeling the financial now, just a year and a half after the purchase.
Fans and supporters of smaller market teams will probably gripe at this but the fact that ownership is weary about handing out a few smaller one year deals to guys like Oswalt because they don’t want to pay a small amount of luxury tax is ludicrous.
If this trend continues in future years, which I’m not sure it will, there could be reason for worry in Beantown but until then, the Red Sox could be looking at another third place and maybe even a fourth place finish in the AL East if they don’t dish out the dough for a starting pitcher.
Filed under General News
Heidi Watney Replacement: It’s Official, Welcome Jenny Dell
Multiple sources have been reporting that Jenny Dell is officially signed on to be the Boston Red Sox in game reporter. She will replace Heidi Watney, who will be taking the same job with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Everybody send Jenny Dell a welcome tweet @JennyDellESPN, al though she will have to change her Twitter handle now.
Dell was a cheerleader during her time at UMass Amherst and definitely has the looks to please the male viewers of the Red Sox broadcast’s but I will personally miss the blonde hair, blue eyed Watney as it doesn’t get much better than her.
Filed under General News
Boston Red Sox: Team Prefers Edwin Jackson to Roy Oswalt
Edwin Jackson is one of the top pitching free agents on the market currently and has apparently drawn some serious interest from the Boston Red Sox.
The team reportedly has so much interest in the 28-year-old flame thrower that they prefer him to the much more accomplished Roy Oswalt.
In an already strange offseason for the Red Sox, in which they traded Marco Scutaro, this is another strange move by first-year GM Ben Cherington.
Throughout his career, Jackson has been the guy who hasn’t lived up to the potential many scouts attrbuted to him. His highest WAR in a season,4.3, came in 2009 when he was an all-star for the Detroit Tigers posting a 13-9 record with a 3.62 ERA.
Other than that season, Jackson’s success has been sporadic at best.
But Oswalt on the other hand, has been fairly consisten over his career even though he is no longer the pitcher who won 20 games in back to back seasons for the Houston Astros. Just two seasons ago, in 2010, he finished sixth in Cy Young voting.
It has been reported that Oswalt could be had on a one year deal worth just $8-million, which would be a bargain.
Unless Jackson comes significantly cheaper, the move to sign him over Oswalt makes no sense for the Red Sox but then again, nothing has for them this offseason.
Filed under Rumors
Heidi Watney’s Replacement: New Developments
A little while ago, I reported that Jen Royle was set to become Heidi Watney’s replacement as NESN’s in game Boston Red Sox reporter but it appears as though I may have been wrong.
El Presidente, of Barstool Sports, says he is hearing that ESPN’s Jenny Dell is going to be the next “Heidi Watney” per se.
Either women would be a good choice for the job. Both are attractive and have actual merit in the sports broadcasting field.
Dell currently works as on on camera talent for ESPN and would be a welcome addition to the Red Sox broadcast but nothing is official yet and El Presidente did not reveal who he heard the news from. Seeing as he is the editor of a smut blog, it could very well be nothing but it’s all we’ve got as of now.
Boston Red Sox: Why they Should Sign Roy Oswalt
Headed into the 2011-12 offseason, the biggest need of the Boston Red Sox was starting pitching. With the way the pitching staff performed down the stretch in September, it was clear change needed to happen.
But, to this point, the Red Sox have not done much to address the hole in their roster.
Two underwhelming pitchers, Aaron Cook and Vicente Padilla, have been signed to minor league deals but neither should have an impact on the starting rotation in 2012 barring any major injuries.
Cook started 17 games in 2011 for the Colorado Rockies with a 6.03 ERA and 3-10 record. Padilla pitched just 8.2 innings in 2011 for the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 4.15 ERA.
Neither of the two pitchers is guaranteed a roster spot, and it wouldn’t shock anyone if both were left off the major league roster come April.
With Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett all expected to be 100 percent in spring training and Daniel Bard expected to transition to a starter in Fort Myer’s, the Red Sox have one open spot in the rotation.
The longer Ben Cherington takes to address the hole in the rotation, the player pool to choose from will diminish. The New York Yankees signed Hiroki Kuroda and theArizona Diamondbacks re-signed Joe Saunders, who were both believed to be Red Sox targets at one point.
But there is still a very serviceable pitcher left on the market that finished sixth in the Cy Young Award voting just a year ago: Roy Oswalt.
There is talk that Oswalt could be had at the price of $8 million over one year, a bargain for a pitcher of his caliber.
It is no secret that Oswalt isn’t the pitcher he was back in the mid-2000′s when he won 20 games in consecutive seasons for theHouston Astros—but the Red Sox don’t need him to be that guy.
If he can post the numbers that he did last year in Philadelphia, a 3.69 ERA and a 1.338 WHIP, the Red Sox would be ecstatic, considering what they got out of the back end of the rotation this past season.
At a 50 percent pay cut from last season, Oswalt is probably the biggest bargain on the market right now. And with John Lackey out for the season and Daisuke Matsuzaka’s status up in the air, he would provide some stability in the rotation that the Red Sox did not have in 2011.
The report that the Red Sox cannot afford to sign Oswalt seems a bit far fetched for a big-market team such as Boston. The team has some big issues if they can’t afford to sign the former Phillie for $8 million.
Cherington would be wise to draw up some papers for Oswalt’s agent as he would solidify Boston’s rotation as one of the best in baseball entering the 2012 season.
Filed under Rumors
BREAKING: Boston Red Sox Acquire Oakland A’s Closer Andrew Bailey
Andrew Bailey has been acquired by the Boston Red Sox according to a tweet by ESPN’s Buster Olney. All that is known at this point is that Josh Reddick is being sent to Oakland as part of the deal.
The Red Sox are also giving up to young prospects in the deal, Miles head and Raul Alcantera. If this proves to be the official deal, the Red Sox got away with murder here. Bailey has been an all-star caliber closer for the A’s over the past couple years.
Acquiring Bailey also allows a smoother transition for Daniel Bard to the starting rotation as they now have a legitimate closer in the bullpen.
Bravo Ben Cherington, bravo.
Filed under Trade Rumblings
