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Winter Meetings, Day 2
December 9, 2008
12.9.
08, 4:42 PM
Winter Meetings, Day 2
Teixeira, Lowell,
Lugo, Burnett and more!
By: Jared Carrabis
This blog was originally posted here on SoxSpaceNews.com
The Day 1 buzz for Red Sox fans at the Winter Meetings was seemingly all about Jason Varitek. Day 2, not so much. On Tuesday it seems as if though the hot stove spotlight in Boston shined brightly on free agent prize, Mark Teixe
ira. Gordon Edes of Yahoo! Sports reported early Tuesday morning that he had surveyed several club officials and they believe that Mark Teixeira will be in a Red Sox uniform come Opening Day. Whether or not this becomes true remains to be seen as to the general public’s knowledge, no team has made an offer to the switch-hitting slugger.
An official from a team not in the Teixeira sweepstakes spoke to Edes and was quoted as saying, “I think he’ll sign with the Red Sox,” music to the ears of a majority of Red Sox Nation. The official went on to say, “They want him. They have a good relationship with (agent Scott) Boras, and in the end, they have the dollars to make it happen.
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John Heyman of SI.com wrote a column that claims the Red Sox are pursuing Mark Teixeira very aggressively, perhaps more aggressively than any other team. We all know what happens when the Red Sox covet a player, they stop at nothing until that certain player has a Red Sox uniform on their back. Daisuke Matsuzaka and JD Drew are two prime example of this ownership’s aggressive pursuing of players that they stop at nothing to acquire.
With Teixeira setting his sights on signing with a team on the east coast that is also a legitimate contender for a World Series title in 2009, Boston could very well be the perfect fit for the .467 hitter in last October’s ALDS.
The Boston Globe is reporting that the Red Sox have some interest in former Red Sox farmhand, Carl Pavano. Pavano’s agent, Tom O’Connell, verified that the Red Sox have contacted him showing interest in the right-handed pitcher who appeared in 7 games last season for the New York Yankees posting a 4-2 record with a 5.77 ERA in 34.1 innings pitched. Pavano has pitched in a combined nine games since the end of the 2005 season. If the Red Sox were to offer him a contract he could be brought on board for chump change and be this year’s “Bartolo Colon experiment”.
With all this talk about Mark Teixiera coming to Boston to play first base and Kevin Youkilis moving to third, we have seemingly forgotten that we still have a World Series MVP on our roster that played under great amounts of pain for the Red Sox and their fans towards the end of the season and into October.
The latest on Mike Lowell’s recovery from hip surgery can be found in the Boston Herald’s Red Sox Notebook.
Manager Terry Francona spoke about the health situation of his third baseman on Tuesday, “He had a sparkling report, which was really nice to hear,” said Francona. “I think the timetable is that he’ll probably be hitting by the middle of January. I think everybody, from the medical people on down, think that when the season starts, he’ll be ready to go.” Francona later goes on to say that Lowell’s “range of motion” might be better in 2009 than what it was when he arrived in Boston via trade in 2006. Certainly those are encouraging words that we have been waiting to hear.
The Boston Herald’s Red Sox Notebook also discusses the future of Julio Lugo with the Boston Red Sox. The shortstop has recovered from a quad injury that he sustained on July 11 in a game against Baltimore at Fenway Park. Lugo plans to play in the Dominican Winter League as early as next week. The Red Sox are still looking to move Lugo to allow Jed Lowrie to become the fulltime shortstop in Boston. The only team interested in Lugo was the Detroit Tigers but they have since filled their void at the shortstop position with Adam Everett. If Lugo puts up some solid numbers in the Dominican Winter League then his trade value may seem more appealing for teams looking to acquire a shortstop knowing that the Red Sox will eat a majority of his salary remaining on his contract ($18 million over the next two seasons).
Boston.com’s “Extra Bases” is reporting that the Red Sox have had “significant dialogue” with free agent pitcher, AJ Burnett. They can have all the “significant dialogue” that they want, the Red Sox would never give Burnett the five years that he is looking for. The Atlanta Braves offered Burnett a 4-year, $60 million deal with an option for a fifth year and if Burnett’s agent Darek Braunecker was smart, he would tell his client to jump all over this offer while it’s still on the table.
On Monday, the first day of the Winter Meetings saw the trade of one of the many Texas catchers. However, it wasn’t Jarrod Saltalamacchia and the Red Sox were not invovled. Texas sent Gerald Laird to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for pitching prospects. It should also be noted that the Tigers acquiring a catcher shrinks the market for Jason Varitek even smaller. With the Red Sox planning their future without Varitek just in case, the Sox have their eyes set on either Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden of the Texas Rangers.
The Providence Journal has reported that the Rangers president, Nolan Ryan, has shown significant interest in Clay Buchholz by saying, “I think he's a real talent. Obviously being a Texas kid we think will look really good in a Texas uniform.” If the Rangers want Buchholz, he will come at a high cost according to Theo Epstein who responded to Ryan’s interest by saying, “I’m sure he is.” Epstein went on to say, “In our minds, he's a top-of-the-rotation starter who we control [contractually] for six years,” said Epstein. “He's very high-priced, and we value him tremendously.” It looks like Buchholz could be a ticket to a new starting catcher, either that or the Red Sox are really banking on his development into a premier starter at the Major League level.
Now this last one may come as a surprise to you but, Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe has confirmed that the Red Sox are interested in left-handed pitcher, Andy Pettitte. The Red Sox made an offer to Pettitte at the end of the 2003 season when he left the Bronx to pitch in Houston but the lefty chose to join up with his workout buddy, Roger Clemens.
If Pettitte still has something left in the tank, this could be an option worth exploring for the Red Sox as we are now all sure that they are exploring all options.
-Jared Carrabis
-Jared Carrabis
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