MyRedSoxToday.com

The Red Sox traded Marco Scutaro earlier this week to the Colorado Rockies for starting pitcher Clayton Mortensen.  Scutaro was to start at shortstop for the Red Sox in 2012, but now he will play 2nd base for the Rockies and likely bat 2nd in the order. Mortensen came over from the St. Louis Cardinals in the Matt Holiday deal a few years back.  He was 2-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 16 appearances for the Rockies in 2011.  He started 6 games so he has some versatility.  Mike Aviles and Nick Punto will likely split time at shortstop for the Red Sox until Jose Iglesias proves that he is ready to handle the load for a full MLB season.  Iglesias is an amazing fielder, but still lacks some discipline at the plate as a 22-year old youngster.

We’ll keep you posted as other moves are made…

The Red Sox and Jaocby Ellsbury agreed to a 1-year, $8.05 million deal for the 2012 MLB season, thereby avoiding arbitration.  Ellsbury had a monster 2011 and deserved the big raise from his “modest” $2.4 million salary.

On the other side of the spectrum, however, the Red Sox and David Ortiz are still $4 million apart.  Ortiz submitted a $16.5 million figure while the Red Sox countered with $12.65.  Ortiz made $12.5 million in 2011 and given his gaudy numbers during the season, it’s pretty shocking that the Red Sox didn’t try to up that number a little more.  Ortiz may want to take a gamble and go to arbitration, hoping that a panel will reward him with the higher salary figure because of his offensive output.

The Red Sox are also still trying to work out deals with Daniel Bard, Alfredo Aceves and Andrew Bailey, each of whom is arbitration-eligible for the 1st time in his career.  The Red Sox will probably work out deals with each of this guys along the way – they haven’t been to a hearing since 2002.

The Big Papi situation is totally different, however.  We’ll keep you posted on that front as soon as anything breaks…

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day from your friends at MyRedSoxToday.com!

Over the weekend, the Red Sox and Ryan Sweeney agreed upon a 1-year, $1.75 million deal for the 2012 MLB season.  Sweeney came over from the A’s in the Josh Reddick for Andrew Bailey deal.  Sweeney will have a chance to compete for some playing time in right field after hitting .265 with 25 RBI’s and 1 HR in 2011.  Sweeney has a career batting average of .283.

The Evil Empire is back – Yankees trade for Michael Pineda and sign Hiroki Kuroda.  Not good for the Red Sox…

The Red Sox have added long-time catcher Jason Varitek to list of non-roster invitees.  The Red Sox have made it clear to Tek that he has an “outside” chance of making the team.

Tek has played his entire 15-year major league career in a Red Sox uniform.  Tek helped the Red Sox win World Series titles in 2004 and 2007, but he hit just .221 in 68 games as Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s back up in 2011.  The Red Sox signed Kelly Shoppach to serve as Salty’s back up in 2012, so it’s very doubtful that the Red Sox will keep Tek on the 25-man roster.

Maybe he’ll stick around as a coach – it would be great to have him in the mix…

The Red Sox could be close to signing veteran starter Hiroki Kuroda to a short-term deal.  Kuroda would fill in the 4-5 slot along side Daniel Bard and after Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester.  Kuroda is durable despite being 36-years old – he has made at least 30 starts in each of the last 2 seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers and in 4 of the last 5 seasons.  In 2011 Kuroda pitched a career-high 202 innings with a  career-best 3.07 ERA.  He also racked up 161 K’s.  In each of his last 4 seasons, Kuroda has compiled a nasty sub-par 3.80 ERA – joining a list of 8 other pitchers to do so – CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, Matt Cain, Cliff Lee, Tim Lincecum, Felix Hernandez and Wandy Rodriguez.  Not too shabby.

We’ll have to see how this all shakes out.  Some insiders have said a deal is imminent, while others have indicated that the Red Sox still have some stiff competition in their attempts to land Kuroda…

Happy New Years from your friends at MyRedSoxToday.com!

Wow – I did not realize that Bailey is as injury prone as his numbers show.  42 games in 2011; 47 games in 2010.  Not good.  His WHIP and ERA have gone up in each season since he broke out on the scene with a stellar 2009 season – 68 games, 6-3 record, 26 saves, 1.84 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 24 walks and 91 K’s in 83+ innings.

I’m not saying he’s not durable, but let’s hope he stays healthy in 2012.  The Sox are going to need him big time, especially if Daniel Bard converts back into a starter…

Ryan Kalish had surgery on a labrum tear in his left shoulder in November and will miss the start of the 2012 MLB season.  Kalish should start hitting during spring training and then should be ready to make regular game appearances in early 2012.  Kalish suffered a back injury in April 2011 while making a spectacular catch for the Triple-A Pawtucket PawSox.  He played a few games in August but then needed season-ending surgery on a bulging disk in his neck in September.  After experiencing continued problems on his shoulder, the Red Sox and Kalish opted to got with the scope this November.

We’ll keep you posted with his rehab and progress as spring training approaches.

The Red Sox have acquired Andrew Bailey from the Oakland A’s in exchange for Josh Reddick, infielder Miles Head and pitcher Raul Alcantra.  The Red Sox also picked up outfielder Ryan Sweeney from the A’s.

We’ll have more on this in the upcoming days, but it looks like the Red Sox have really upgraded the bullpen a little bit here with Bailey and the previous trade for Mark Melancon.