Another day, another day with out a new starting pitcher. Hopefully you aren't holding your breath over this one because you'll be achieving previously unseen levels of crimson.
Link time!
After dealing Marco Scutaro to Colorado for a left over Halloween candy and a few beer coasters (nothing worse than moisture rings, right people?) many thought the Sox might have had another deal waiting just up their sleeve. Nope. We're a week into year 1 PS (that's post-Scutaro) and nary a starting pitcher has been seen. There was some thought that Roy Oswalt might bring his decreasing strikeout rate and bad back to Boston, but now it seems he'd rather not, preferring to pitch in either Texas or St. Louis. Probably St. Louis. Unless his meeting with the Rangers today goes really well. In either case, Ol' Roy ain't coming through that door, unless it's one of those special space-time dimensional doors that will take him to St. Louis or Texas without having to check baggage.
In other news, the issue of compensation for the loss of Theo Epstein is back in the news. Compensation is like the Sasquatch in that we only hear about it very infrequently, and nobody reputable has ever actually seen it. This time though, Commissioner Bud Selig is getting into the act. He's jumping in on this one because, frankly, the eleventeen years this thing has taken are a bit too long, if you please. Parenthetically, if Bud Selig decides you're taking too long, you know you're either really taking too long or dead. Selig is the guy who doesn't get angry at the people who take forever to order at McDonalds despite a) having fifteen minutes in line to look at the menu, and that b) the menu has not having changed since 1968. In any case, there are rumors that Bud will compensate the Red Sox to the tune of, as a source told the Globe's Nick Carfardo, "a significant player." The Chicago Tribune is reporting the two teams have made lists (and checked them twice) of players they'd be willing to part with/receive and passed them on to the commissioner's office. If there is a single player in common on those lists I'll eat dirty socks for a week. For his part, the Tribune quotes Selig as saying he wants to move, "as expeditiously as possible." So this whole issue should be behind us somewhere around President Bieber's second term.
Since I'm already blabbing about Selig, I'll pass along the note that he also expects the whole second Wild Card thing to start up this season, though it hasn't been ratified by the owners yet. What is interesting though, is how much Selig's quotes on the issue (via the Chicago Tribune, hat tip to Joy of Sox) sound like a kid talking about a toy around Christmas time. To wit:
I really believe [I]'ll have the [Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle] for this year. [I} really want it. I don't think I've ever seen an [Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle] that [I] want more than to have this [Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle]. It looks to me like [I]'ll have it, because I've told everybody [i] have to have it. It will be exciting.
NESN.com's Ricky Doyle has Tim Wakefield mulling retirement. Wake can probably give the Red Sox (or some other team, though he seems less than inclined to pitch elsewhere) 100+ innings of below average baseball next season, but as big a Wakefield fan as I and others around these virtual parts are, that probably won't get the Red Sox any closer to the playoffs.
Over at ESPN's Sweet Spot Blog, Christina Kahrl goes through and finds the most average offensive players in baseball. The newest Red Sock, Cody Ross (an anagram for whom is Scrod Soy) is the most average of all left fielders. Ms. Kahrl says the group is setting "the bar for mediocrity" but, not to get all pedantic, mediocre means 'not very good' while this group is average, which is neither good nor bad. In any case, Scrod Soy should be a welcome addition to a lineup that featured either well above average talent, well below average production, or both last season.
Finally, for those of you who religiously watch NESN during the baseball season, you won't have the lovely Heidi Watney to gaze longingly at this year. Her replacement hasn't been officially named, but it has been rumored to be ESPN's Jenny Dell.