Red Sox still interested in Halladay

And who isn't?

The Red Sox have been known to pull off deals during the Thanksgiving holidays (notably signing Curt Schilling and trading for Josh Beckett), and it has been reported that Theo and company are aggressively pursuing Toronto's prized staff ace, Roy Halladay, and are anxious to get a deal done before the winter meetings begin on December 7.

But, contrary to the initial report that says the Red Sox are trying to get a deal done as fast as humanly possible, ESPN's Red Sox blog states:

But according to a club source, there is "nothing" to the timing and urgency suggested by the News story. Could something happen by the winter meetings? Sure, and obviously the Red Sox -- and any other team with interest in Halladay -- would love to make a deal sooner than later. But realistically, there would seem to be scant incentive for new Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos to jump at the first good offer, not when the Phillies, Angels, Yankees, and others all want to be heard from. The consensus among baseball people is that Anthopoulos gets the deal he wants this winter, and if not, he waits until the trading deadline in July.

So what does this mean? Does it mean anything that the Red Sox may or may not be aggressively pursuing the best available pitcher in the offseason? Perhaps -- but I wouldn't focus my attention on it during the holiday weekend, not with the winter meetings coming up in two weeks.

In other news, the Boston Herald's John Tomase thinks the Sox could potentially be interested in acquiring 1B slugger Miguel Cabrera from Detroit. (For the record, I would be absolutely ecstatic if this happened -- he's 26, in the prime of his career, and can flat out murder the baseball.)

Since the Sox are (reportedly) shopping Mike Lowell, I say they send Lowell to Detroit with a few prospects for Cabrera. The Tigers are looking to dump payroll, and even though they would be taking on Lowell's $12M salary, they would save money by giving up Cabrera's insane contract ($126M over the next 6 years, which the Sox could afford to pay) because they would realistically only have Lowell on the roster for one season.

Only time will tell if the Red Sox do anything this winter, or if they decide to stay where they are and prepare to reload in the 2010 offseason, when other prized players (such as Joe Mauer) could potentially be available.

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Varitek exercises his option to stay in Boston

Did he really have much of a choice? The Red Sox announced yesterday that their captain and (former) starting catcher exercised his $3M player option to remain with the team for the 2010 season, according to a report from ESPN.

This could be the last season of an overall decent career for the Red Sox' venerable backstop, who has seen a sharp decline in his offensive production over the last three seasons (talk about an understatement -- the guy practically fell off the face of the earth), and has struggled mightily in throwing out potential base stealers -- his caught stealing percentage was so bad in fact, that the word potential could be taken out of the phrase altogether. It was an 87% guarantee that the runner would successfully swipe the bag last season (he only threw out 16 of 124 base stealers -- yeah, it was that bad).

The Red Sox picked up the $7.1M option on C/1B/DH Victor Martinez, and refused the $5M option on Varitek, sending a clear message that Tek's days as the starting catcher in Boston were over. But, knowing that he had no other choice, Varitek has accepted his role as a backup (for at least one more year).

Will Varitek sulk in the dugout and demand a trade every chance he gets? Will he show his displeasure for the world to see? I don't think so, but The Globe's Christopher Gasper thinks this situation will end badly. (But, doesn't the media think that way about everything?)

But at the end of the day (a Stephen A. Smith reference for the ESPN fans out there), the days of Tek leading the Sox from behind the plate are over. It's out with the old and in with the new. Will it work out? It's impossible to tell, but I think Martinez will do just fine, and Tek will accept his role as backup with grace and class -- after all, he is the captain.

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Red Sox pick up option on V-Mart, decline Tek and Gonzo

The Red Sox have picked up the $7.1M option to retain C/1B/DH Victor Martinez, but have declined the $6M option for SS Alex Gonzalez and the $5M option for C Jason Varitek.

Varitek has a $3M player option that he has until Friday to exercise, and though it has been rumored he has tendered the $3M player option to return to Boston, it is not official as of this writing. (He's a Boras client, so he will wait until the last possible minute, but if he's smart he will sign it -- because he's not getting more than $3M anywhere else.)

Also, the Sox have worked out a 2-year contract with knuckleballer Tim Wakefield that will pay him $3.5M guaranteed in 2010 and $1.5M guaranteed in 2011. There are incentives in the contract for innings and games started. Wakefield hopes to break Cy Young and Roger Clemens' franchise record for career wins (192), and only needs 18 more wins in Boston to claim the record for himself. (We're pulling for ya, Wake!)

Information on the Wakefield contract, courtesy of The Joy of Sox:

Alex Speier of WEEI.com has the details of Tim Wakefield's contract:

Base salary: $3.5m in 2010; $1.5m in 2011.

Bonuses in 2010: $50,000 each for starts 11-15; $75,000 each for starts 16-25; $100,000 each for starts 26-30. Maximum: $5 million.

Escalator clause for 2011 base salary: Throwing 130 innings would add $500,000. Throwing 160 innings would add $2 million.

Bonuses in 2011 if base salary is $1.5 million: $100,000 each for starts 11-15; $200,000 each for starts 16-25; $250,000 each for starts 26-30. Maximum: $5.25 million.

Bonuses for 2011 if base salary is $2 million: $75,000 each for starts 11-15; $150,000 each for starts 16-20; $200,000 each for starts 21-30. Maximum: $5.125 million.

Bonuses for 2011 if base salary is $3.5 million: $50,000 each for starts 11-15; $75,000 each for starts 16-25; $100,000 each for starts 26-30. Maximum: $5 million.

Wake: "I'm done after two more. That'll put me at 45."

In other news (that I was too lazy to discuss when it happened, because at the time I didn't see it as that important), the Red Sox traded left-handed pitchers Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez (a single-A prospect) to the Marlins for OF Jeremy Hermida a few days ago, and will either use him as a 4th outfielder off the bench or as part of a package deal for another player during the winter meetings.

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And who said money couldn't buy a championship?

Are you happy now Yankee fans? This includes all you bandwagon jumpers out there. You know who you are -- you schmucks who only come out with your Yankees hat on after a championship, who only talk about the Yankees when they win -- are you happy now? You get to pull that hat out of the closet, dust it off, and wear it with pride for the next few weeks, until the new has worn off this title and it's time to go back to your daily routine of pulling for [insert team name here].

Congratulations Steinbrenner -- you win this time. But, with a $200M payroll, why should you expect anything less? But don't worry, Spring Training is just around the corner, and Red Sox Nation is coming for you and your precious little trophy.

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