Portland Sox Fan

A very, very interesting article by Gordon Edes this morning. Points out a couple interesting things..

-ARod REALLY, REALLY wanted this deal
-Hicks started it, NOT the Red Sox.

Check it out.

Since it looks like there will be no groundbreaking Sox news for a while (not even the rumor of Daubach signing to a minor league deal is groundbreaking…), time to change the focus for a few weeks.

The Pats are looking pretty damned good.

How’s that for an understatement?

I’m not a bandwagon Pats fan by any means; it’s just that over the past 10 years or so, I’ve grown to be more of a baseball fan than a football fan. But I was a Pats fan before I was a Sox fan, and I still make every effort to pay attention to them. I’m on the season ticket waiting list (although not for a stadium in Hartford like when I signed up for it!), and I’ll be at the first playoff game. My prediction is that the Pats play the Titans in the first game, and should they advance, they will play the Colts in the AFC Championship.

Couple of other interesting notes…if you are in my neck of the woods, and you have Comcast Digital Cable, call them NOW about getting one of their new DVR boxes. I got one this weekend, and it is VERY sweet. Well worth the extra $10 a month.

And if you are in the mood for the most depressing movie ever made..go see “House of Sand and Fog”.

Care to make an NFL playoff prediction? Do so here

On to the most overrated ‘holiday’ of them all…New Year’s Eve.

My wife got me the ‘Cowboy Up’ DVD for Christmas..not sure when I’ll watch it. Also got a desk calander for work with daily Sox trivia on it. Don’t be surprised if the questions sneak in here every once in a while.

And apparantly, my family thinks that I’m moonlighting as a lumberjack. I got SIX plaid dress/flannel shirts as gifts. Then again, as I look through my closet, that’s mostly what I buy. But six at once has to be a record.

So, on to the Sox. What do you think? All done now? With the apparant demise of the ARod/Manny trade, I’d guess so. What else do they really need? And has the team ever been assembled before New Year’s Day before?

EDIT: Watched the Cowboy Up DVD on the laptop while working today. Great summary…very enjoyable until the end.

So, can we all move on and wait for Santa (for those of us that are waiting for him tonight)?

Some good points from Bob Ryan:

For the Red Sox and their fans, this was always a win-win. What was the worst that could happen? The worst that could happen was the deal with Texas falling through and the Red Sox going to battle next season with Garciaparra playing short and batting third and Ramirez playing left field and batting fourth.
……
All right, so what happened? We’ll probably never know for sure, but at least one reputable source speculates that the Red Sox were, in the final analysis, very afraid of getting into luxury tax territory.
……
The only loser here is A-Rod, who remains in Texas, where he and manager Buck Showalter have their publicized differences and where it appears he will be marooned in his unhappy state for a very long time. This was his one chance for escape. Where else is a $20 million-a-year player such as Ramirez going to surface?

With or without Rodrigiuez, the Red Sox are a significantly better team than they were the night of Game 7 in Yankee Stadium. That’s a non-negotiable premise.

Anyway, in case I don’t update again…Merry Christmas (and a somewhat belated Happy Chanukah) to you and yours…

“There is nothing further to report relating to the consummation of a transaction between the Boston Red Sox and the Texas Rangers involving Alex Rodriguez,” it said. “No further discussions regarding this transaction are planned.”
—————————————

Statement from Sox. About time this is over.

Another ‘deadline’ comes today. Am I the only one who hopes that whatever does/doesn’t happen at 5:00 today is the end of it? I’d be happy either way at this point…

Oh, and as a bonus, here is the Christmas song that my kid is obsessed with.

I haven’t read anything yet this morning, but as of last night, there weren’t any changes.

I see Hicks added another ‘deadline’. Jeez.

Fire away!

So before I went to play cards last night, I turned on ESPNNEWS at 7:00 to get an update. This is what I saw:

1. Peter Gammons SUPREMELY confident that the deal gets done. If the host asked Peter to bet a million dollars, my guess is Gammons would have

2. Just after Gammons, Gene Orza was a live guest. This whole situation aside, the man really does not come off well on TV. Annoying, smarmy, and condescending come to mind.

3. Just after Orza, Lucchino’s statement declaring the deal ‘dead’ was shown.

4. Just after that, John Hart gave a live press conference that didn’t say anything. “Deal may be dead, deal may be alive”

I then went out. I’m done trying to guess what is going to happen…most of the day yesterday my gut feeling was it is done, as in over. Now I have no clue.

For those out of range of WEEI, here is Schilling’s call to the Big Show yesterday. An interesting listen.

JohnWHenry
Owner, Boston Red Sox
Posts: 16
(12/17/03 6:16 pm)
Reply Re: Manny-ARod rumor thread
——————————————————————————–
It’s an astonishing ending isn’t it? Astonishing. In fact, it transcends baseball.

By the way, that is post 2550 or so in the thread.

EDIT:
And, of course, probably as he planned it, this post made its way into the AP update 3 hours later. Looks like it could get ugly..and it looks like this is on the MLBPA.

Posted on Wed, Dec. 17, 2003

AP NewsBreak: Union rejects changes to A-Rod’s contract
RONALD BLUM
Associated Press

NEW YORK – The baseball players’ union got in the middle of the proposed Alex Rodriguez trade Wednesday, forcing the Red Sox and Rangers to seek another way to complete the blockbuster deal they had already agreed on.

Boston and Texas said they settled on all the players involved in the trade. The Red Sox and A-Rod agreed to restructure the shortstop’s contract, Rangers owner Tom Hicks said.

But in a rare move, the union intervened and rejected an agreement between Boston and Rodriguez to restructure the shortstop’s record $252 million contract, changes that were needed before Texas could send the AL MVP to the Red Sox for Manny Ramirez.

“Given the impending deadline imposed by the office of the commissioner, the actions of the players’ association may, unfortunately, determine this issue,” Hicks said.

The commissioner’s office said it was studying the agreement between Rodriguez and the Red Sox, but Gene Orza, the union’s No. 2 official, said it was unacceptable.

“It was clear it crossed the line … and by a huge margin,” Orza said after meeting with Rodriguez, his agent and Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. “We did suggest an offer the club could make to Alex that would not do that. As was its right, the club chose not to make it.”

Rob Manfred, baseball’s top labor lawyer, challenged the union’s interpretation.

“The basic agreement contains a rule that requires any special covenant to be an actual or potential benefit to the player,” Manfred said. “In a situation like the current situation, where there was a restructuring, where the player was getting something and the club was getting something, Gene Orza is not the final arbitrator on whether the restructuring provides an actual or potential benefit to the player. The commissioner currently is considering his legal options in consultation with the two teams.”

While no one detailed the agreement between Rodriguez and the Red Sox, Boston president Larry Lucchino said the union proposed “radical changes.”

The agreement called for some salary to be reduced and some to be deferred in exchange for giving Rodriguez the right to become a free agent earlier in the deal, a high-ranking baseball official said on the condition of anonymity.

“It is a sad day when the players’ association thwarts the will of its members,” Lucchino said. “The players’ association asserts that it supports individual negotiations, freedom of choice and player mobility. However, in this high-profile instance, their action contradicts this and is contrary to the desires of the player. We appreciate the flexibility and determination Alex and Cynthia Rodriguez have shown in their effort to move to Boston and the Red Sox.”

That’s not the way Orza saw it.

“The principle involved is a transcendent one, affecting all of Alex’s fellow players,” he said. “To his credit, Alex, from the outset, recognized this.”

If Selig approves the restructuring and the union files a grievance to block it, the case would go to Shyam Das, baseball’s arbitrator.

There was a posting on a Red Sox fan Web site saying, “It’s an astonishing ending isn’t it? Astonishing. In fact, it transcends baseball.”

…by those who really love Nomar and those who don’t like the deal at all.

Seems that ARod, MLB, MLBPA, and Theo met in NYC today to discuss restructuring.

As I’ve said over and over, I’ll withold my opinion until all is said and done. I do feel that unfortunately, Nomar made his bed on this one, and I hate to see it end this way.

If this ends up being Nomar/Manny for ARod, and the Sox get nothing else in return (not counting FA pickups), I’m not going to like it. But we’ll see, I suppose…