Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have their new left fielder and no, his name is not Holliday or Bay:

(Originally posted on 4SportBoston.com )

In two moves shocking to both the fans in Boston and Major League Baseball alike, the Red Sox inked starting pitcher John Lackey to a five-year, $82.5 million deal. This evening, the Sox made a second splash of the day with a two-year, $15.5 million deal.

What direction is this team heading in?

Jason Bay? Nope.

Matt Holliday? Pass.

The Boston Red Sox balked at the sticker price on the two marquee left fielders on the market and went a different route by reportedly signing veteran center fielder Mike Cameron.

The signing—which is currently pending a physical—further solidifies the end of the Jason Bay era in Boston and by all accounts should spell the end of any more Matt Holliday to Boston rumors.

The Boston Red Sox are considered to be one of the more classy and intelligent organizations in the MLB. If the Red Sox were to trade Mike Lowell, it would be by far the biggest mistake Theo Epstein will have made. Yes that's right, worse than the signing of Edgar "Rentanerror" Renteria. 

Mike Lowell has done more than what the Red Sox had initially asked of him. He was a just an addition to the Josh Beckett deal, a guy that was thrown into the trade, to complete the transaction. What Florida really said was, by the way you can have Mike Lowell. 

Phew!

Baseball is recovering from the biggest day of this off-season thus far. The Boston Red Sox were at the middle of a lot of the days news, even if they were not involved with the biggest name.
 

The winter meetings are underway, and multiple important details have already dripped out.  Jason Bay is unlikely to re-sign with Boston.  Because of this setback, the Sox have taken the opportunity and extra money from not signing Bay, and have invested it in John Lackey, a 31-year-old ace.  The deal is about the same as Burnett's.  Five years for about 82.5 million dollars. 

The never-ending game of one-upmanship continues.

The Boston Red Sox are reportedly on the verge of inking the top pitcher on the market, John Lackey, to a five-year, $85 million contract.

Reports out of Boston claim that Lackey took a physical with the Sox on Monday, an indication that an official deal is close.

John Lackey pitched the first game of a double-header between his Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park back in 2007. 

The Angels' ace had looked good, dominant even, all season long. But this just wasn't his day.

After surrendering five runs in the first inning, Lackey walked off the back of the mound and muttered to himself, glaring up at the outfield bleachers and shaking his head as he did: “F*** this place.”

That was then. This is now: John Lackey is the newest addition to the Red Sox' parade of aces. 

The Colorado Rockies chose not to tender a contract to third baseman Garrett Atkins last night, making him a free agent.

Colorado had been trying to trade Atkins since last summer, but found no suitable, or willing, trade partners.