Boston Red Sox

Though the trade talk between the Boston Red Sox and the San Diego Padres surrounding first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has died off, there could be a new rumor floating to the surface.

The Chicago Cubs have had previous interest in Jacoby Ellsbury; there's no question the Red Sox would love to add Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to their lineup; and the Padres have already asked for Clay Buchholz and top prospects Casey Kelley or Ryan Westmoreland.

As we do our annual look at the top 10 Boston sports stories of 2009, there were some that didn't make the final cut but did take up some time in our collective conscious over the past 12 months.

If you haven't figured it out yet, we care about sports here in Boston to a point that is almost scary.

A mix of Red Sox player moves and non-moves, Patriots wide receivers appearing on the national media radar for the right and wrong reasons and more, this list represents the Honorable Mentions for the Top 10 Boston Sports Stories of 2009.

This Column Originally Published at GetOutofMyBallpark.com

Ever since the end of the season, and all of Theo Epstein's "Bridge Year" crap, the Sox have been in a state of flux.

The departure of Jason Bay (unless... ), the attempted trade of Mike Lowell, and the signings of Marco Scutaro, Mike Cameron, and John Lackey have in many ways opened up more questions than answers.

During the course of the last week-to-ten-days, Red Sox Nation has been deluged by a succession of articles detailing Jacoby Ellsbury’s defensive inadequacies in center field.

In the aftermath of the team signing CF Mike Cameron and RHP John Lackey, there has been rampant speculation that the ballclub would ship Ellsbury and RHP Clay Buchholz to the San Diego Padres for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

According to The New York Daily News' Adam Rubin, Jason Bay's agent, Joe Urban, has been MIA for the last few days. Sounds like classic dating trouble. Things were getting interesting, but now she's not answering the phone. "She's just not that into you," may apply.

Meanwhile, WEEI's Rob Bradford reports that the Red Sox are considering another offer to Bay. Sounds like Bay went looking for something better, realized he was throwing away a good thing, and is now trying to get Boston to take him back. 

There's something cooking in New York and no, it's not the Mets.

Back in the days of Sega Genesis and VHS tapes, one of my favorite games was World Series Baseball . I remember it being one of the first sports games I ever played where you could trade players to different teams. Of course, I took the liberty of making the Red Sox look more like an All-Star roster.

Game # 8 – Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees – 2003 ALCS Game 7

With the end of the decade nearing, Sportmeisters Derek and Ryan have decided to present their top ten games of the past decade. Today’s discussion is on the tenth best game from 2000-2009. What follows is a transcript of their discussion.

The Lowell Spinners, Class-A Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, announced their 2010 coaching staff Monday evening, welcoming back 2006 Spinners manager Bruce Crabbe as part of a completely revamped coaching staff for the back-to-back Stedler Division Champions.

Coming off back-to-back Stedler Division Championships and back-to-back playoff appearances, the first in franchise history, the entire Spinners 2009 coaching staff earned promotions.

Now that Mike Lowell's torn thumb ligament has put a pinch on the Rangers' pocketbook, Theo Epstein and the rest of the Red Sox front office face a rapidly diminishing market for the 36-year-old's rapidly diminishing services.  However, despite Lowell's Major-League worst -14.4 UZR/150 (i.e. his defense was atrocious), he remains a viable, affordable DH option for the Kansas City Royals.