Kuzul

The fact that manager Bobby Valentine and Red Sox brass have been so non-committal about announcing a starting rotation leads one to believe there might be one last deal in the works.Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston.com speculated on that possibility yesterday, quoting Valentine as saying, “There might be some situations I need to wait on before I make any declarations.’’ Don't misunderstand me—there has been absolutely no indication from the team about making a move, and no rumors are floating around about a trade.But what other "situations" could Valentine possibly be waiting on? Like Sherlock Holmes and the dog that did not bark, I am looking at what is not there.1. Everyone within the Red Sox organization has been bending over backwards to say how happy they are with the pitchers they have—but no starters have been named beyond the top three (Lester, Beckett, Buchholz).2. Even if we assume Felix Doubront gets a shot, ...

I don't really envy Jenny Dell, coming in to Red Sox Nation after Heidi Watney. She has big…er, shoes…to fill. On Jan. 28, I expressed my surprise that Jenny, a relative unknown from the hinterlands of ESPN's fringe sports coverage, would be Heidi's replacement. (At the time of her hiring, she was in Aspen, working on the upcoming Winter X Games.)I had spent my Christmas vacation laboring over pictures and bios of potential replacements for the lovely and talented Ms. Watney. (Yeah, I know—tough job, but somebody had to do it.)The result was my presentation of 27 hottie candidates from all over the country, which you can view here.Much to my chagrin, I did not include Jenny Dell as one of the 27. In fact, despite my exhaustive and distracting research, I had never even heard of Dell until her name was rumored as one of the finalists.The new Red Sox sideline reporter was officially introduced ...

The term "worst signings" leaves a lot of wiggle room for interpretation, I know. Does it mean player x was a bad signing because he's not a good player, or is he a good player that a team paid too much for? Or was he a player with a good track record on a particular team or in a particular ballpark that may not translate as well to his new location?To start with, I don't see too many of the 2012 season signings with the potential to rank up there with the worst signing of all time, which I (along with many others) suggest was Alex Rodriguez‘s 10-year, $275-million contract, signed when he was heading into his age 32 season.Four years into the deal, he has struggled to stay healthy, averaging just 124 games per season while hitting .284/.375/.521."It’s an impressive slash line," writes Benjamin Kabak of RiverAvenueBlues, "But that is a ...

As spring training starts baseball juices flowing, it's time for a look at the latest members of the "Benedict Arnold Club", as Matthew Kory of Over the Monster calls it.If you're a New York fanatic, there's always a twinge when you see a former favorite wearing the Red Sox uniform: think Alfredo Aceves. Similarly, members of Red Sox Nation cringe at the thought of seeing someone like 2004 World Series hero Johnny Damon don the pinstripes.  Making it worse for Red Sox fans is that the player movement along the Boston-New York corridor has been heavily in the Yankees favor over the years, starting with a guy named Babe Ruth.  Of the defectors in the last 20 years, I would guess Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs sting the most from the Red Sox side. Everyone over 30 will probably remember when Boggs joined the Yankees in 1993. That was bad enough, but seeing ...

Even before the Nationals signed Edwin Jackson, I argued that Washington was an intriguing potential trade partner for the Red Sox, because they had too many major league starters. Pete Kerzel of MASN wrote, "There's no way around it: The Nationals have at least one more starting pitcher than spots in the vastly improved five-man rotation that will break camp from spring training in Viera, Fla., in early April."And Kerzel made that statement before Jackson was added to the mix. At the time, their starters included Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Chien-Ming Wang, Ross Detwiler, John Lannan, Tom Gorzelanny and Craig Stammen, with Yunesky Maya, Matt Purke and others waiting in the wings.Push Jackson into the mix—likely as the number two starter—and another pitcher has to drop off the end of the rotation.Which pitcher is most likely to go, and what would Washington want in return?On February 8 Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post wrote that the ...

I for one was a bit surprised to hear that Heidi Watney's replacement is Jenny Bell, whose most recent assignment with ESPN was in Aspen, working on the upcoming Winter X Games.I am also reminded that she interviewed NFL players last year on their Super Bowl predictions, and hosted the AccuScore segments for ESPN.A month or so ago I presented you with 27 potential replacements for the lovely Heidi, which you can view here. Much to my chagrin, I did not include Jenny Dell as one of the 27.So, to make up for that omission, this slideshow will help you get to know Ms. Dell a little better. It will also describe the uphill battle she faces in the seasons to come.Begin Slideshow

Theo Epstein, Tito Francona, Jonathan Papelbon, Jed Lowrie, Kyle Weiland, Josh Reddick. None of these names will be with the Red Sox on Opening Day 2012.That list will undoubtedly grow over the coming weeks, but one name stands out as perhaps the most difficult to replace of all.Heidi Watney.As NESN's on-field reporter for all Red Sox TV broadcasts, the lovely and sexy Ms. Watney was bright enough and capable enough to overcome the initial "eye candy only" snickers. Yes, she is stunning to look at, but she was also a National Merit Scholar and went to the University of San Diego on an academic scholarship, graduating with honors in 2003.While there, she became Miss San Diego, and was the first runner-up in the 2002 Miss California pageant. Prior to joining NESN, Watney was a weekend sports anchor for KMPH in Fresno. She was also a sports talk radio host for 1430 ESPN Radio KFIG Fresno.At NESN, she hosted The Ultimate Red Sox Show and The Red ...

Here in southern New England, I can sense a growing angst as one after another of the top-name closers signs deals with teams other than the Boston Red Sox. In my opinion, GM Ben Cherington is doing the right thing by resisting the impulse to jump into a bidding war to fill the void left by the departure of Jonathan Papelbon. There's a buyer's market for closers this year, and the recent spate of closer signings does little to change that.  Yes, there are now four fewer closers on the market, but just as importantly, there's four fewer buyers in the market as well. The Philadelphia Phillies (Papelbon), Texas Rangers (Joe Nathan), Kansas City Royals (Jonathan Broxton) and Miami Marlins (Heath Bell) are now out of the picture. And there is still a gaggle of decent relief arms out there. Let's not forget that the Red Sox still have an internal ...

Matt Murton, a right-handed hitting outfielder now playing for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan, is the answer to a great trivia question: Name the other player the Red Sox gave up in the blockbuster 2004 deal involving Nomar Garciaparra.He was drafted 32nd by the Red Sox in 2003, three slots behind Carlos Quentin and ahead of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Adam Jones and Andre Ethier. Murton played just 155 games in the Red Sox organization before the trade, but during that time he exhibited the ability to get on base that has been the hallmark of his career. In 2006, Murton became the Cubs' starting left fielder. In August of that year, Murton went 4-for-4 with four doubles and five RBIs in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, tying the major league mark for doubles in a single game. At the end of the year, his .297 batting average was second on the team ...

I'm not sure why many people get so worked up about losing free agent bullpen arms—even ones as good as Jonathan Papelbon. More so than any other position, filling out the bullpen is a total crapshoot every year anyway. Take a deep breath and look at recent history.  Exhibit A: One team that built up a solid bullpen for very little money was the San Francisco Giants. Perhaps frustrating to Boston fans and management, three of their stellar performers were once on the Red Sox roster. Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez were former Boston relievers allowed to walk when their contracts were up. Guillermo Mota was also a member of the Red Sox organization for a brief period, coming to Boston as the third Marlin in the Josh Beckett/Mike Lowell trade. He was flipped to Cleveland two months later as part of the trade that brought in Coco Crisp and ...