And the Winner is...

Even though baseball season has ended, the hot stove has already heated up. Joe Giraldi will be named the new manager of the Yanks & there is speculation the Grady Little will be fired in favor of Joe Torre being readily available. Dusty Baker has recently been named the new manager of the Reds, and Barry Bonds is making a desperate last ditch effort to return to the Giants. There is a saying that goes,"any publicity is good publicity" and that is definitely the case for National League ball clubs, especially after the destruction of the Rockies in the World Series sweep by Boston. The Braves traded often traveled & under-appreciated Edgar Renteria to the Detroit Tigers yesterday, only to show that American League teams will always try to improve their offense so they can continue to beat up the junior circuit every October. Now if they could just swap the Phillies with the Oakland A's, that would make the picture even more interesting. The Baltimore Orioles are rumored to be shopping Miguel Tejada, and why shouldn't they, his homeruns have regressed every year he has played for them, not to mention his suspected use of performance enhancing drugs.

The free agent market likely will not be all that exciting. Some of the headliners for offense include Torii Hunter, Jorge Posada & Barry Bonds. The pitchers category is even more bland unless you are looking for a closer, than you have the option to choose between Mariano Rivera, Francisco Cordero or Armando Benitez. However, after watching the World Series, why not try and groom a younger arm bred in your organization like John Papelbon or Manny Corpas. If it is a starting pitcher you're looking for, Kerry Wood(with all his artificial limbs and insurance policy included) is out there along with Bartolo Colon, but the last time I checked, he just ate the entire Angels infield. And that leaves us with Alex Rodriguez(who opted out of his contract with the Yanks). Even more, he had plenty of face time during game 4 of the World Series with the exploitation of his contract opt out announced by super agent Scott Boras. The early reports are Boras will command anywhere from 27-30 million a year. We already know the Yankees are out of the running. Why would Boston want him when they can have Mike Lowell back for half the salary and they just won the championship without Arod. The Angels could make a run at him, but could be gun shy after signing Gary Matthews to a 5 year 50 million dollar deal last offseason with no big dividends in return. Perhaps he could go to the National League and feast on their pitching. The Cubs may try to sign him, but who is going to sign his paychecks with their ownership not being settled. The Mets are intriguing because they could afford him, but does he really want to stay in the New York media market that never embraced his presence in the first place. The Braves may have opened the door by trading Renteria and having announced that Andruw Jones will not return. That clears probably around 20 million in pay role. He could return to shortstop and play along side of Chipper Jones, and perhaps be taken in by the Atlanta media and fans. Could the departure of John Shurholtz mean the arrival of Arod, possibly, knowing Shurholtz's philosophy was developing strong young pitchers and building a solid infrastructure from the inside out. The Giants will have a huge hole to fill with the departure of Bonds, and will need to be players if they want to keep that beautiful stadium in the bay area filled with fans day in and day out. Their front office is not afraid to overpay for free agents, case in note Barry Zito.

So, what is the second largest market in America behind New York? Who has an abundance of young talented players basically making nothing, but could benefit from Arod coming in to be a mentor? Out of every team in the National League, there may only be one that Alex can go to and play in peace, blend in with the crowd & not have to worry about playing second fiddle to anybody. What other team could he play for and be re-united with his former manager? This team is none other than the Los Angeles Dodgers...

What a year it was!

The year ended for the Sox fans in glorious fashion, much like it did in 2004. In the first round they swept the Angels, like they did in 2004. They spotted the Indians a 3 - 1 lead only to come back and bring devastation to the Indians and their faithful, much like they did to the Yankees in 2004. They swept the Colorado Rockies in 4 games to become the World Series Champions, much like they did in 2004. Even though we had the chance to see some new faces for the Sox, we were also blessed to see the reliable David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Mike Timlin, Jason Varitek and Curt Schilling cement their legacy into Red Sox greatness. The rookies were outstanding(some have argued that Jacoby Ellsbury could have been named the World Series MVP) and may been more effective than any class of rookies for one team in any postseason known to date. Daisuke Matsuzaka was 2-1 in the October classic after winning 15 during the regular season, not bad for his first campaign in the bigs. Dustin Pedroia started off the series in dramatic fashion with a home run and help spark some insurance runs in game 3 to put the Sox in a commanding 3-0 lead. He most likely will be accepting the award for R.O.T.Y. in a few weeks. It was encouraging to see superman Jon Lester knock out the Rocks in game four, just like he did to the lymphoma that attacked his body over a year earlier. Hideki Okajima had the hick-ups in game 3 & 4 but had terrific post season overall and was key to the best bullpen in baseball. He served as an excellent set-up man all year to perhaps the most dynamic closer in baseball, Jonathon Papelbon. Papelbon was a year removed from dead arm syndrome after posting a 0.92 era & 37 saves in 2006 to follow it up with a 1.85 era and 35 saves, including 3 saves and 10.2 scoreless innings in the postseason, not to mention the Irish jig he showed off after every winning series finale. That leaves the players that we traded for and signed in the off season(s). Before the 2006 season, the front office traded top super-rookie Hanley Ramirez and others for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell. Beckett had a reputation as a "Big Texas" fireballer prone to blisters, but did have some postseason success during the 2003 fall classic after shutting down the Cubs and Yanks. Mike Lowell was a throw-in to clear salary for the Marlins. Did you catch that last phrase? Let me say this again, Mike Lowell was a throw-in to clear salary for the Marlins. What? How could this guy be a throw-in for any trade. He is a Dyson Vacuum cleaner at third base, not to mention the 120 RBI's he drove in during the regular season. Oh, and he took home the World Series MVP trophy after his solo shot in the deciding game. Beckett was in the zone in game 1 of the ALDS, single handily kept the Sox alive in games 1 & 5 of the ALCS , only to lay the wrath upon Colorado in game 1 of the series. The free agents brought in during the offseason paid huge dividends. Julio Lugo leaped to make a game saving catch in game 3 of the series while JD Drew pummeled a Fausto Carmona fastball into the centerfield camera area for a grand slam to set the tone in game six of the ALCS. Even Bobby Kielty and Coco Crisp entered the scene with a homerun and a rally starting single. It would have been nice to see Eric Gagne pitch in the series before he collects his ring and wave bon voyage into the offseason of free agency. He won't be back, but lets hope the Sox brass can put together a nice deal for Mike Lowell to bring him back. If not, lets hope that Arod does not enter the picture. I have faith that there is a "young buck" playing at double A or triple A, possibly to take over, but not fill the shoes of Lowell(for they are big shoes to fill). I had to save the best for last, and that is Kevin Youkillis. He was bred through the system as a third baseman. He occasionally played in the outfield but really excelled at first base, making only 1 error all year(coming in the playoffs). He came up tremendous in the playoffs by going 19 for 41 with 4 HR's, 16 runs scored and 10 RBI's and taking a seat so David Ortiz could start at 1st base while playing in the National League park. The future looks as bright as can be. With Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz expected to start in the rotation next year, John Papelbon will be closing & the one/two punch of Ellsbury/Pedroia will be lethal as TNT. I'm not sure whether Manny or Schill will be back, but would not be surprised if they walk (Manny has an option year) just like Pedro and Damon did in previous years. That would allow Tito to move Ellsbury to left and leave Crisp in center full time with the option of promoting Brandon Moss for future stardom & bringing up Buchholz to replace Schilling. However, if they do that, I hope they find a way to bring back Mike Lowell to make up for Manny's production. With that being said, lets enjoy the success from this year for a while before we stress about the upcoming season. All in all, is was a very nice year in baseball.