The Red Sox have agreed to a $1.2 million deal with Alfredo Aceves for the 2012 MLB season thereby avoiding an arbitration.  Aceves had asked for $1.6 million while the Red Sox countered with $950,000.  The deal also includes an extra $100,000 in performance incentives if he reaches certain thresholds for starts and appearances or a combination of both.  It is unclear what role Aceves will play with the Red Sox in 2012.

In 2011, Aceves was a pretty valuable pitcher all season long.  In 55 appearances, he went 10-2 with an impressive 2.61 ERA.  He was primarily a reliever but he also made several key spot starts from time to time.

David Ortiz remains the lone un-signed player right now.  He is looking for a 2-year commitment from the Red Sox, but it looks like his case may go to arbitration.  We’ll keep you posted…

How did this happen – a frustrating, annoying 21-17 loss to the New York Giants by our New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI?  UGGGHHH! I am still reeling.

Brady’s intentional grounding safety?

12 men on the field after we forced Cruz’ fumble?

Then not recovering 2 other forced fumbles when the Giants put the ball on the turf?

All the dropped passes?

Getting so out-offensed letting the Giants dominate possession fort he 37 of the Super Bowl’s 60 minutes?

WOW  – I am speechless.

Guess there’s always next year, but the next time we make it to the Super Bowl, I really hope that Eli Manning and the New York Giants are NOT there too!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday – the New York Giants battle the New England Patriots at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy today.  Come on Pats – we need another championship for our GREAT city!

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington has given the impression that it is unlikely that the Red Sox will add a starting pitcher before the start of the 2012 MLB campaign.  The Roy Oswalt rumors keep swirling, but with the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals also making strong plays for the righty, it doesn’t appear that the Red Sox are going to over-pay just to get him.  “I wouldn’t rule out adding a starter, but it’s unlikely at this point”.

It’s probably the right move and there’s always Matt Garza out there.  It would be a little “iffy” making a move like that with Theo and his new team, but if it can help the Red Sox have an edge over the Yankees for the next 3-4 years, you’ve gotta do it.

We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything definitive on Oswalt…

Earlier reports of Roy Oswalt signing with the Cardinals was wrong, and now Oswalt must decide among the Cards, Rangers or Red Sox.  Texas and St. Louis have a slight edge because they are closer to his home in Mississippi.  However, the Cards and Rangers rotations are already “set”, so he might have a better chance of being “guaranteed” a starting spot in the rotation if he signs with the Red Sox.  So far, Oswalt is playing it close to the vest, as are the Red Sox.  We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything…

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington is mum on whether or not the team and DH David Ortiz will be able to sign a deal before the scheduled arbitration hearing.  The Red Sox have offered Big Papi $12.65 million while the big slugger countered with $16.5 million.  Since Ortiz had a solid 2011 season and since the number offered by the Red Sox is only $150,000 more than the $12.5 million he made in 2011 campaign, Ortiz may just gamble that an arbitrator will side with him and award him the 1-year, $16.5 million salary.

I think he’s probably right.  While a $4 million raise seems like a lot, the Red Sox number seems absurd given Ortiz’s continued production.  I have a feeling that the Red Sox will figure out a way to bump up their figure some – say somewhere between $14-15 million.  That will make Ortiz happy and also save the team a little money in the long run…

The Red Sox are also “still at odds” with pitcher Alfredo Aceves.  Aceves asked for $1.6 million but the Red Sox countered with just $900,000.

We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything further on either player…

The Red Sox signed Cody Ross to a 1-year, $3 million deal at the end of last week.  Ross will likely compete with Darnell McDonald and Ryan Sweeney for the starting right fielder spot and will also add depth with Carl Crawford likely to miss opening day because of his recent wrist surgery.

Ross played at least 22 games at every outfield position for the San Francisco Giants in 2011 – .240 batting average, 14 HR’s and 52 RBI’s.  His is 31 years old and is a career .261-hitter.  Ross won the NL Championship Series MVP back in 2010 and helped the Giants win the World Series that season after they picked him up off waivers in August.

Ross is a serviceable outfielder who will provide some depth for the Red Sox during the 2012 MLB season…

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.