ESPN and ESPN Deportes, reporting based on conversations with members of the Ortiz family, are saying today that the Red Sox are about to agree on a 4 year, $50 million extension with their DH and perennial MVP candidate David Ortiz. Papi will make his current salary through 2006, and an annual average of […]

With the 2006 season rapidly approaching (only 4 days!), there are a few story-lines that I’m eager to follow as they unfold. It’s an eclectic group of topics, from Sox-specific to MLB-wide, regarding players, media, fans and front offices. I wanted to talk a bit about each now, in no specific order; […]

Okay, so not quite midnight. Not that it turned out to matter; neither vote was anything even close to contentious.

Stubby Clapp and Bum Ho Lee handily defeated their competition, moving onto the final round over the heads of Gavin Fingleson and Dirk van Klooster. Here’s the final voting:

Semifinal 1 (26 total votes) Stubby Clapp, […]

Voting has closed on round 1 of the WBC Arquimedez Pozo Awards, and the semi-finalists are set. First, a quick rundown of the results:

Pool A (34 votes cast): Lei Li, China: 0% (0 votes) Chia-Hsien Hsieh, Taiwan: 3% (1 vote) Kosuke Fukudome, Japan: 41% (14 votes) Bum Ho Lee, South Korea: 56% (19 votes)

Pool B (33 votes […]

I’m not sure whether to be more amazed by the abilities of this front office or the inabilities of 25 others. Hee Sop Choi, a man whose closest 2003 comp was David Ortiz and who looks every bit like a player who would have breakout potential if someone ever gave him a decent chance, […]

The utter inability of Joe Morgan and Jon Miller to pronounce non ‘Smith’ names last night reminded me that the WBC is fertile ground for a Pozo Award; sure, the MVP has been awarded, as has the all-WBC team, but this important issue remains undecided. The Pozo award, for those of you that don’t […]

Winners of the Inaugural World Baseball Classic, with a convincing 10-6 victory over the Cuban team. Daisuke Matsuzaka is the MVP of the series, with a 3-0 record in some tuly dominant starts.

This has been a tremendously fun tournament, more fun than I could have imagined it would be. Now it’s […]

I swear to god, if I hear one more thinly-veiled reference to how all Asians look alike tonight, I’m gonna scream.

Just when you thought it was safe to pencil in a 25-man roster…

the Red Sox this morning completed a trade that would send Bronson Arroyo and an undisclosed amount of cash to the Cincinnati Reds, in exchange for 23 year old OF Wily Mo Pena. It’s a surprising move, though a subtraction from this […]

My favorite aspect of the pre-season countdown has, as of today, arrived. My first fantasy baseball draft begins in exactly 8 hours.

I’m ready, more or less. I know my top 12. Hell, I know my top 60. I know the starting lineups and rotations of all 30 MLB teams by heart. […]