As you may have heard, Marc and I have been doing a podcast. As everyone knows, when you do a podcast you get emails. These emails often contain one or more of the following items: insults, personal insults, extremely personal insults, questions, and extremely personal insulting questions. So, in the spirit of Nick Carfardo's mailbag over at the Globe's site (with a hat tip and a sincere thanks to Chip Buck over at Fire Brand of the AL), I present to you the first installment of The Over The Monster Podcast Mailbag!
Does this collapse hurt the Red Sox chances of resigning Papelbon? Could he watch another team win the World Series and decide to head over there?
- Colin
He sure could, Colin, but there's a thing you have to always remember with free agents. Money is the deciding factor in almost all cases. Sure, winning is important, and sure, sometimes a player wants to play in his home town or close to it, or for the favorite team of his youth, but in the end the dollars are going to decide where the vast majority of them go. The same should be true of Jonathan Papelbon. If the Nationals offer him a five year, $75 million contract you can bet he'll be closing games in DC next year. That said, of the teams that are likely to spend big bucks on a closer, the Red Sox are at or near the top of the list. Papelbon is at or near the top of a long list of available closers as well. There is surely common ground here. But as we were reminded last off season by the Nationals, it only takes one crazy team to come out of nowhere and blow up the market, so you never know.
DEAR FRIEND. I hope that this message might not come to you as a surprise. I am one of the directors in a financial insitution here in BURKINA FASO. There is a deceased client of our bank, who died with his wife and left the sum of $ 22.5 M DOLLAR on the date of 1st june 2009 in Air France Flight 447. The names of the clients with his wife are... Michael Harris and Anne Harris. He lost his life with his wife leaving the huge fund without any next of kin. I want us to work together and get this fund transfered out of this bank. You should reply back and I will guide you on what to do. please Contact me. Also, should the Red Sox give David Ortiz a three year $40 million contract.
- Mr Kalifa Yaro.
There is no way, Mr. Yaro, that David Ortiz will get a three year deal this off season. As a DH his potential suitors are limited by the fact that the National League doesn't use the DH (thus cutting the possible number of teams in half), by the fact that some AL teams already have the DH slot filled, and by his salary demands, which are high for the position. The guess here is Ortiz re-signs with the Red Sox for two years at around $20 million. As for the first part of your email, of course all my personal information including my social security number, bank account numbers, and a complete family history are all on the way.
Hello It is with profound respect and humble submission, I beg to state the following few lines for your kind consideration. I hope you will spare some of your valuable minutes to read the following appeal with sympathetic mind. I must confess that it is with great hope, joy and enthusiasm to write you this mail and I believe by the faith that it must surely find you in good condition of health. I`m the daughter of Late Hon. Geddi Abdi Gadid, a former Somali member of the Transitional Federal Parliament. My father was among the four(4) lawmakers who were killed in a bomb attack on Tuesday 24 August 2010, by the Islamist rebel group Al Shabaab. I lost my mother long time ago, when I was just 6 years old and since then, my father loved me so dearly may he rest in peace and may the great God give him a safe entry in Paradise. Amen. Is there any chance John Farrell re-joins the Red Sox as manager in the coming year? If not I may take my own life.
- Sonia Geddi Abdi Gadid, Somalia
Well, Sonia, that sure sounds... excessive. I'd say there is a chance that Farrell comes back to the Red Sox, though how good a chance it is remains to be seen. I'm sure the Red Sox will find someone eminently qualified to take over for Terry Francona. As long as that person isn't either Ozzie Guillen, Tony La Russa, or Ron Washington, it should be fine.
I am Mr Park Zihao, an Account Officer with the International bank of Taipei,I need your assistance in a business deal and you will be paid 30% for your Management Fees". Why haven't the Sox canned Tim Bogar yet?
- Park Zihao
Park, that sounds like a great deal. I'll be happy to forward any pertinent information to you immediately. As for Bogar, he's obviously not the most popular person in Boston. It strikes me that all third base coaches are treated in the polar opposite way to that of a second string quarterback on a bad football team. Everyone loves the guy who isn't currently screwing up which, unfortunately for Bogar, wasn't often him in 2011. That said, there is more to being a third base coach than sending runners to their untimely death, and I'm sure Bogar must bring lots of those other things to the table otherwise. I surmise this because if he didn't he'd have been out on his keester a long time ago.
Good day my dear Friend, How are you doing together with your entire family, I hope all is well? I am contacting you for a confidential business proposal and please carefully read and understand my reason of contacting you through email. My Name is MR.Rifat Muhammad. The Director Of Foreign Remittance Unit via African Development BankGroups (ADB). West Africa Here. I want you to apply as business partner. And all the information and data's you will need to make successful claim of this fund in the bank here are fully ready with me here. If Ellsbury can't win the MVP this year, what would his hypothetical MVP season have to look like? How can he get better?
- MR.Rifat Muhammad
Ellsbury had a great season, one of the better ones in the American League. Whether his was better or, excuse me, more valuable than anyone else's depends largely on the who is doing the answering. There are other players in the league who have had roughly equally valuable seasons, and predicting who the writers will fancy at the end of the day is pretty much impossible. All that said, Ellsbury would be a fair choice.
My Dear Friend, Please I want you to read this letter very carefully and I must apologize for barging this message into your mail box without any formal introduction due to the urgency and confidential of this issue and I know that this message will come to you as a surprise. Please this is not a joke and I will not like you to joke with it.
- Prince Ama Idrisa, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Well, does it for this week's OTM Podcast mail bag list. I look forward to reading more emails from all you listeners out there, especially you international listeners, and responding to them next week.