Rumors and Nothing To Announce
It was about a half a month ago that the Red Sox won the rights to negotiate with Dice-K. To this point, there really hasn’t been much to announce to the public as the talks continue and have until December 14th before a deal has to be struck. Aside from all of the initial Matsuzaka press, the Sox have been keeping quite busy dealing with free agents — going and coming. Here’s a bit of what’s been going on over the last few weeks and my opinion on the matters.
Outbound:
Keith Foulke: both parties declined options, but might see him back here next year if no teams show enough interest in Keith. I suspect he’ll be pitching elsewhere come April
A-Gonz: Signed a multi-year deal with the Reds
Trot: Was not offered arbitration and will probably get enough interest elsewhere as the Sox appear to be looking to acquire a bigger bat (potentially JD Drew)
Mark Loretta: Loretta most certainly will not be back next season. The Red Sox seem very certain with Pedroia and Cora platooning. Mark has been a .300+ hitter his career and has solid defensive skills. I expect he’ll move back to the NL
Doug Mirabelli: Despite the Hollywood return to Fenway last year, I think everyone sees the mistakes in that trade, what the team lost by way of Meredith and Bard. Sorry, Doug, I do hate to see you go but we need to get younger and better and the team already made a mistake for a quick fix