Spitball

Salary dumps happen all the time without the pieces in place.

The Sox are apparently talking to the Rockies about Scutaro. If the Sox don't have a better alternative than Punto, I will be very unhappy.

A year ago, I was much more concerned about how Pedroia would come back from a much more serious injury that required a screw in his ankle. Even Youkilis had me more worried. The Yankees survived Alex Rodriguez's late arrival. I'm confident the Red Sox and Crawford will survive this surgery. At least we are not looking at a Victor Martinez like injury. Crawford might be back by spring training. He has nine years in the big leagues with a .293 batting average, .333 OBP, .441 SLG, and an average of 51 stolen bases. I have to believe those numbers over nine years trump a one year blip of last year. I'm not trying to be a foolish optimist, but nine years has to be more meaningful than one single year. I'm confident Crawford will have a better year. Btw, I will miss Francona but felt he was too conservative with Crawford and lacked appreciation of his talents (see 24 stolen base tries last year versus a career average well over 60).

McDonald is smiling...but we are not.

There must be concerns about his back, or someone would have signed him at his current asking price. He has always put a tremendous amount of torque on his back with his delivery. But, as has been said, one year at $8 million seems like he's a pretty decent gamble. Plus, he pitched well in September.

I'm not worried about Pineda or Kuroda, but with Montero gone, who DHs for the Yankees? Do they sign Fielder or Damon? I certainly hope not. At least Montero was an uncertain.

Pineda's stats look better because of his Safeco splits, and Kuroda put up his numbers in the NL. I'm not worried about the MFY.

Ah, geeze! With the rumors of Red Sox pitchers drinking in the clubhouse, I bet ol' Vincente begged Boston management for a shot at making the club. Back in 2002, Peter Gammons reported that a pitcher got too drunk in the clubhouse during the All-Star game to pitch. Rumors circulated that the pitcher was Padilla. When he was abruptly released by the Rangers a few years ago, it was rumored to be because of his drinking. What was it Abraham Lincoln supposedly said when questioned about U.S. Grant's drinking? "Find out what he drinks and buy a case for each of our generals." Maybe the plan plan with Padilla is something along those lines.

The other player going to the Cubs, Zach Cates, is a former student of mine and a good kid.

If he had played in a bigger market, he would have been in on the first ballot. He was an incredible player. I loved watching every aspect of his game. Ozzie Smith was a great fielder, but Larkin was a better hitter and nearly as excellent in the field. Congrats to him.

Reds To Sign Ryan Madson By Ben Nicholson-Smith [January 10 at 9:56pm CST] The Reds have agreed to sign Ryan Madson, Jon Heyman of SI.com tweets. Scott Boras represents the right-hander, who figures to become the closer in Cincinnati's new-look bullpen. Madson posted a 2.37 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 48.8% ground ball rate in 60 2/3 innings for the Phillies in 2011. The 31-year-old saved 32 games in his first full season as a closer. Last week 17.7% of 13,700 MLBTR readers said they expect Madson to sign with the Reds. Madson ranked 14th on MLBTR's list of top free agents entering the offseason. The Reds don't have to surrender a draft pick to sign Madson, but the Phillies will obtain two picks this June for losing him after offering arbitration. One selection will come before the Reds' first round pick and the other will come in the supplementary draft. Francisco Cordero had been talking with the Reds throughout the offseason, but it seems unlikely that he'll return to Cincinnati at this point. Kerry Wood also loses a potential suitor.

Agreed....and Epstein is trying to capitalize on the lack of pitching options out there. Garza had declining numbers in the AL but saw a spike in his statistics due to a move to the NL. I hope the Red sox stay away. I hope they save their chips until something better opens up. Malholm = not interested.

The Sox have signed Aaron Cook to a minor league deal. I'm not too excited but okay with it.

If they had traded for him, where would the White Sox have played Anderson?

Yes, he does. He's a pretty good all around player. Now that the Padres have added Quentin, he might be available. Btw, he is a New Englander who went to Wheaton College.

This appears to be off topic, but the Padres just acquired Carlos Quentin. I was hoping he he might be an option for the Red Sox. I wonder if Chris Denorfia (.887 OPS versus left handers) might be a fit to platoon in right. He is a little known who does a lot of things very well but not great. He actually platooned with Sweeney at one time in Oakland.

I brought this up earlier but think it must have been lost in an ongoing discussion. Bailey has similar home/away splits except his k/bb rate. It is very pronounced. He has a 106/19 k/bb ratio at home, but a 68/30 on the road. Whoa! This guy has obviously been less aggressive away from that large Oakland stadium. How will he pitch in Fenway?

Ryan Sweeney has had right knee problems, but I assume it is better now.

From MLB-Traderumors I would love to see the Red Sox get Marlon Byrd.