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Cafardo’s Latest: Lowe, Lowell, Dye, Saltalamacchia

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Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says when Derek Lowe sat down with his agent, he inquired first about the Boston Red Sox. Says Cafardo,

"This Lowe doesn’t bear much resemblance to the guy who left the Sox after 2004. Back then, his out-of-control personal life seemed to consume him. The Red Sox didn’t want to deal with it and let him become a free agent. Lowe feels leaving was the best thing. ’I think I’m a lot better pitcher now, teammate now, than I was four years ago,’ he said. ’Sometimes you have to learn, and I think getting out of Boston was the best thing for me.’"

Lowe notes the Red Sox fit the mold of what he’s looking for in his next team.

And around the bigs:

  • Roy Oswalt is pushing Ben Sheets to consider the Astros.
  • Split opinions on interest in Mike Lowell, but either way this shouldn’t affect the Red Sox pursuit of Mark Teixeira. Cafardo lists Dodgers, Angels, Indians, and Twins as possible destinations for Lowell.
  • Jermaine Dye is a good fit for Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, and the Mets. The White Sox would want more than Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson in exchange for Dye.
  • Jarrod Saltalamacchia looks good in the Dominican League, hitting .435 with 4 homeruns and 2 doubles in 23 ABs.
  • Willie Bloomquist could be Alex Cora’s replacement at utility in Boston.

Odds And Ends: Tazawa, Hoffman, Halladay

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Links for Saturday…

  • Junichi Tazawa is expected to announce early next week that he will sign with the Red Sox. He turned down offers from the Rangers, Mariners and Braves.
  • The Padres recently offered to talk with Trevor Hoffman, but he hasn’t responded.  Tom Krasovic also has a Sandy Alderson quote that the Padres are "highly unlikely" to offer Hoffman arbitration.
  • Robert MacLeod talked to Blue Jays insiders who believe trading ace Roy Halladay would send "the wrong signal" to fans since the Jays want to compete in 2009.
  • Rob Neyer wonders how C.C. Sabathia’s weight will affect his performance going forward.
  • Joba Chamberlain tops Peter Abraham’s list of the 20 most important people to the Yankees organization.
  • Peter Gammons asks five post-Thanksgiving questions about free agents and trades.  Also within that blog post, Gammons mentions that Kevin Towers went to Sunday’s Chargers game with Brad Ausmus and hopes to sign him.
  • Larry LaRue writes that the Mariners could use a couple good outfielders to go along with Ichiro.
  • Bob Verdi expects a quiet retirement accouncement from Greg Maddux.

Red Sox Acquire Littleton

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4:42pm: A press release from the Red Sox says it’s actually two players to be named later or cash considerations.  Amalie Benjamin notes that Littleton is out of options, so the return may not be impressive.

4:33pm: According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, the Rangers traded righty Wes Littleton to the Red Sox for a player to be named later or cash.  GM Jon Daniels said the player may not be named until close to opening day.

Littleton, 26, has a 3.69 ERA in 102.1 career innings.  He had a nice half-season out of the Rangers’ pen in ’06.

Odds and Ends: Sabathia, Schilling, Castaneda

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Links for Friday…

  • Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News says $100MM contracts for pitchers are risky, given the deals signed by Kevin Brown, Barry Zito, and Mike Hampton.  Those pitchers don’t seem similar to C.C. Sabathia, however.
  • The second part of Curt Schilling’s article about his trade to the Red Sox.
  • The Royals signed several minor league free agents, including righty Federico Castaneda from the Mexican League.
  • SI.com’s Jon Heyman explains why the free agent market is slow.  It doesn’t seem abnormal to me; it makes sense to wait until after December 1st to see if arbitration is offered.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Varitek, Burnett, Teixeira

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Let’s take a look at what is being written around the Blogosphere…

  • River Ave. Blues debates Ben Sheets versus A.J. Burnett and wonders if Sheets will be the better bargain in the end.
  • Detroit Tiger Thoughts shows that Jason Varitek is not a good fit with the Tigers, even in a platoon situation.
  • Fire Brand of the American League lays down several reasons why the Red Sox should avoid signing Teixeira.
  • Where have you gone, Andy Van Slyke? sees no downside to the Pirates’ signing of Indian imports Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh.
  • The ’Burgh Blues feels Eric Hinske is an economical fit for the Bucs.
  • Amazin’ Avenue does not see Raul Ibanez as an upgrade for the Mets, suggesting he may not be any better than Fernando Tatis.
  • The Baseball Opinion breaks down what the acquisition of Tyler Lumsden means for the Royals and Astros.
  • Batter’s Box takes a look a recent J.P. Ricciardi quote and the current state of the economy and wonders if the Jays are going to reduce their payroll.
  • Royals Review lists the ten best free agent signings in Royals history, topped by David Cone. Amazingly, four of the signings occurred in the last five seasons.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.

Odds and Ends: Blue Jays, Dodgers, Dunn

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Happy Thanksgiving!  Here are some links to snack on before the big meal.

Red Sox Rumors: Lugo, Varitek

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According to Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald, the Tigers’ talks for Julio Lugo have stalled and a deal is unlikely.  It seemed simple on the surface: Lugo for Dontrelle Willis or Nate Robertson.

Also, the Red Sox plan to offer arbitration to Type A free agent Jason Varitek.  McAdam says Tek "almost certainly won’t accept the offer."  In a recent poll, about 40% of MLBTR readers surveyed expected the Red Sox to offer arbitration to Varitek.

Odds and Ends: Maddux, Krivsky, Maroth

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Links for Wednesday…

Rosenthal On Boras’ Scheme

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Ken Rosenthal has a theory on Scott Boras’ goals in the free agent game:

  • Mark Teixeira and Jason Varitek to the Red Sox
  • C.C. Sabathia and Manny Ramirez to the Angels
  • Derek Lowe to the Yankees

The crux of the theory seems to be that Boras would want Manny near his Newport Beach headquarters to better babysit him.  Personally I have a hard time seeing any team sign two of the big three free agents, and it’s difficult to picture Manny as an Angel.

Rosenthal doesn’t see the Dodgers as major players, partially based on recent comments made by the McCourts.

Rangers Rumors: Byrd, Valverde, Littleton

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We haven’t discussed the Rangers much lately.  Let’s take a look at the latest from MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (here and here).  Hat tip: The Newberg Report.

  • The interest shown in Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla has been "tentative at best."
  • Rangers GM Jon Daniels wants Clay Buchholz from the Red Sox for one of his catchers, but Sullivan says the Sox made it clear Buchholz is not available under any circumstances.  Sullivan suggests the Sox might be more inclined to trade Justin Masterson or Michael Bowden if they bolster their minor league pitching depth by signing Junichi Tazawa.
  • Sullivan wonders if swapping John Mayberry Jr. for Greg Golson gives the Rangers the outfield depth to trade Marlon Byrd (perhaps because Golson is capable of playing center field).
  • A club official told Sullivan it’s "doubtful" that the Rangers would be interested in Jose Valverde.
  • Wes Littleton has drawn trade interest; he was designated for assignment last week.
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