Daily Red Sox Links: John Farrell, Ben Cherington, David Ortiz

David Ortiz and the Red Sox: a match made in heaven! Or so says SI's Jay Jaffe. No argument here, by the way. (Jay Jaffe; Sports Illustrated)

So remember when Mariano Rivera adamantly assured us all he would come back? Yeah, well, maybe not so much with all that. (Al Yellon; Baseball Nation)

If you're not familiar with the great Craig Robinson from Flip Flop Fly Ball, this is a pretty good example of his amazing work. In this one he reminds us all that Alex Rodriguez has actually been a pretty amazing baseball player. (Craig Robinson; The Score's Getting Blanked blog)

It probably comes as no surprise to you, dear reader, that Bobby Valentine has his facts mixed up when it comes to the Red Sox players and the season just passed. Just reading this gets me all nostalgic for three weeks ago! (Tim Britton; The Providence Journal)

A nice piece by Jeff Sullivan on the hitting techniques of the Panda during his three-homer game. Dude is ridiculous. (Jeff Sullivan; Fan Graphs)

Did I mention Bobby Valentine doesn't know what he's talking about? It's true! He doesn't! (Rob Bradford; WEEI.com)

There's a new Japanese pitcher on the scene. His name is Shohei Otani and he throws 100 mph. The Red Sox are rumored to be interested. Actually, I'd be kinda shocked if every team wasn't interested. (Dustin Parkes; The Score's Getting Blanked blog)

Max Fogle at Cornell's Sports Business Society blog tries to quantify the Red Sox acquisition of John Farrell. (Max Fogle; Cornell ILRSBS blog)

Ben Cherington has at least heard of Ontani. We can confirm that much. (Maureen Mullen; CSN New England)

John Farrell wants the Red Sox to be more aggressive. A selective approach to agressive baseball is fine for teams with no real offensive talent, and right now that includes the Red Sox, but should the Sox actually accumulate an above average offense talent-wise, I'd advise against aggressiveness for aggressiveness's sake. (Tim Britton; The Providence Journal)