jacksonianmarch

Bowden also has the luxury of being on a "rebuilding" team with a less than rabid fan base. He has the luxury to try what he has and if it doesnt work, nobody will really care. If the red sox have a solid season, but lose because they did not get a closers spot then the teflon GM will be on the hot seat. Pressure is a wonderful thing.

Dotel proved he was healthy last yr. Gagne has not. In Dotel, you will get a guy whose command was awful after his return, but at least he returned. Gagne is still not cleared to throw a pitch at full strength.

Boras announced to everyone early on that he was not interested in getting Gagne signed until february because that is when he could work out with teams and show he is fully healed. Last week he had a change of heart because he market was so good. Could he be insinuating something there? We all know Gagne is failing his physical, that is a given. So will the sox shell out 6-10 mil this season for a guy who will fail his physical but there is a hope and a prayer that he can return to dominance?

There have been rumors today of the red sox stepping up to the plate for Gagne now that their fallback option is in KC. But many teams are supposed to be in the running including Boras' "mystery team" who has offered 5mil. There are more teams than first indicated involved in these talks btw. Cleveland is considered to be the favorite to be the "mystery team" and SF is definitely in the bidding. The Rays are out there too as well as the Blue Jays. Consider the Jays to have the homefield advantage because Gagne was born in "America Jr." but I guess the quebecans are not too big of a fan of toronto, so maybe I am wrong. One more thing to remember is, this guy is certainly not going to care where he goes. This is a one stop deal to try and show he is healthy then he will use it for a big payday. So I think any team that can pony up the most money and the closers slot will get him. Now lets assume the sox don't get him and he lands in Cleveland. Who will the sox use to close games if Gagne is taken off the market? Will it be internal? Will they have to center a package around Wily Mo to get something done or will they have to settle for overpaying in a trade for a middle of the road closer? The options are down to 1 now.

No, he cannot. But on another board a reliable member was saying that there is nothing against Seibu sending Matsuzaka a parting "gift" of millions of dollars. I think that is what MLB will monitor because they dont want that to happen.

overall, I think there is no doubt there was tampering, but I think it happens a whole lot more than we are aware. I think it will be very hard to get solid evidence and if there is solid evidence, it wont impact the 07 sox, aside from a stiff fine and compensation going to the dodgers (potentially a large draft pick bushel).

if I remember correctly, he was a pretty good OBP guy. Maybe the sox will sign him for 15mil over 5 yrs?

No.

They also had Jaret Wright throwing in game 4 and Torre had burned his pen to a point of not being confident in them in game 2.

completely disagree. We are getting a foot of snow tonight, try driving your car in this s*** and then tell me how strong your driving is. And they dont call work or school up here when we get snow.

if found guilty, the sox would lose some draft picks and be fined. It wont be anything too earth shaking anyways.

Drew will care. He has the rep of being a large gaping vagina.

that day is already here EZ. WEEI has been killing him already. A small slump and he is dead.

bad notions? There is no way Boras knew he was getting into such a great market at the time Drew opted out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/sports/baseball/08chass.html?_r=2&ref=sports&oref=slogin&oref=slogin the dodgers dont like the way the drew case went down. It looks like there will be an investigation.

he wants to stay in the sunshine.

I dunno. They really did not need him, unless they had a deal for Farnsworth on the table.

you better believe it.

They didnt need him. He was AWFUL as a yankee. AWFUL.

now that would be a hoot. He is so fat right now, he will likely hit a treadmill and quit 5 minutes in.