Well, things are certainly heating up for the Red Sox. They made that blockbuster offer for the Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Interestingly there seems to be some level of uncertainty about whether the Sox and the pitcher can agree to a deal. It would be ridiculous if after all the bidding that the two parties cannot reach agreement. Of course, the issue could be that the Sox got gold feet after offering $51 million for the guy. If that’s the case, shouldn’t they have thought of that before bidding???
The rumors are flying yet again about Manny Ramirez being traded. These discussions seem to come up every year, but this year given some of the recent signings, it may actually happen. The downside of the trade is that it will likely impact David Ortiz. The Sox have such a strong line up with Ortiz and Ramirez that it protects Ortiz from being walked because the pitcher will still have to deal with Ramirez. If Ramirez goes, it is unlikely that the Sox will be able to replace him with someone of the same hitting caliber, and thus I would expect to see Ortiz walked more.