Winter Meetings, Day 4 by Jared Carrabis
Varitek, Lugo, Byrnes, Smoltz, Teixeira, and more!


Waking up every morning during the Winter Meetings for me is like waking up on a Christmas morning that I didn’t make a Christmas list prior to. You’re excited because you know that something is going to be there for you when you wake up, but you won’t know if that something is going to be something that you actually want or don’t want. Today’s rumor mill coming from Las Vegas was a mix of some presents that I liked, and some I’m going to ask if they kept the receipt.

Let’s kick this blog off with a topic that I was not pleased with and will be going back to the store immediately. It seems that we have conflicting stories on the Varitek free agency front. So it was yesterday that agent Scott Boras “inferred” that the Red Sox had made an offer to his client, Jason Varitek, that was reportedly a two-year deal. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe did some digging of his own and spoke to source that informed him that the only offer Varitek has received from the Red Sox was their offer of salary arbitration to him which he declined. However, Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal writes that he spoke to Theo Epstein. McDonald notes, “He did admit that he made three offers to available free-agents. Jason Varitek was one of them. The other two were likely Teixeira and a pitcher.”

Certainly this sounds confusing and all, but who are you going to believe? Scott Boras…or Theo Epstein? Thought so. Moving on to something that we all saw coming, AJ Burnett has ruled the Red Sox out as a possible destination for 2009 and beyond as the Yankees have emerged as the frontrunners. New York’s offer to Burnett is roughly worth 5-years, $85 million. That type of money is going to be difficult for the Atlanta Braves to top or even match. Looks like Burnett will remain in the AL East.

Speaking of the Braves, longtime Atlanta starting pitcher, John Smoltz is being linked to the Red Sox. The representatives of the right-handed pitcher have had discussions with the Boston Red Sox according to the Boston Herald. If Smoltz decided to leave Atlanta, Boston is reported to be on a short list of potential teams that he would like to play for. However, Smoltz is 41-years-old now and is asking for $10 million for the 2009 season. If the Red Sox reach an agreement with Teixeira then this could be money that they are not willing to spend on a pitcher on the downside of his career.

Now onto my favorite piece of news that I woke up to this morning. According to one of my favorite ESPN baseball analysts, Steve Phillips is reporting that the Red Sox and Diamondbacks are discussing a trade that would send Julio Lugo to Arizona in exchange for Eric Byrnes. Personally, I really want this to happen. It’s another example of a bad contract for a bad contract trade since Lugo has close to zero trade value after missing the latter half of the 2008 season and playing poorly in the first half. Julio Lugo is owed $18 million over the next two seasons while Byrnes is owed $22 million over the next two seasons. If this trade does in fact happen, Lugo will become the second baseman for the D-Backs and Byrnes would have to agree to slip into the role of a fourth outfielder.

Byrnes would get plenty of playing time in Boston giving both Drew and Ellsbury days off against left-handed pitching. I like this trade a lot better than the Dontrelle Willis trade, Byrnes would love it here in Boston. He loves the attention of a baseball town and I think he could benefit from the “Kevin Millar effect” and really thrive off of the passionate fans here in Boston. This would fill Boston’s void having no fourth outfielder and it would also dump Lugo allowing Jed Lowrie to become the starting shortstop on Opening Day. Lugo, great guy, just couldn’t get it done in a city like Boston. A small market team could be a good thing for him. It’s the perfect exchange really if you ask me.

Finally, everyone wants to know the latest with Mark Teixeira. Well, the offers for the free agent first baseman are pouring in, just none of them are from the Red Sox…yet. Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com has given us all hope by saying that the Red Sox are making some serious progress in their efforts to bring Teixeira to Boston. “A rival general manager whose plans could be affected by the Red Sox's addition of Teixeira also indicated that a deal was getting closer.”

The LA Angels have also yet to make an offer to bring their first baseman back for 2009 and beyond. However, the Washington Nationals have offered Teixeira 8-years, $160 million and even the Baltimore Orioles have raked together a deal worth 7-years and anywhere from $140-$150 million. The Yankees are claiming to still be in the race to sign Teixeira but let’s be serious, no you’re not. Sabathia, Burnett and Teixeira? Get real. Expect both the Red Sox and the Angels to lay their offers on the table real soon as Teixeira could agree to terms with a team as early as next week.

A few little notes worth throwing out there: the Red Sox have selected right-handed pitcher Miguel Gonzalez from the Angels as a Rule 5 draft pick. Gonzalez had a 0.99 ERA in the Mexican Winter League after coming off a 2008 season with 0 innings pitched. One last note, the Red Sox sent right-hander Beau Vaughan to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade for reliever Wes Littleton.

That’s all I’ve got today, right now I’m heading over to Fenway Park to see the unveiling of the new Red Sox jerseys. Not a big fan of change so we’ll see if I come home disappointed or not. You never know, change could be a good thing.

-Jared Carrabis

Published on December 11, 2008

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