Still, it hurts a bit. Part of me wanted Pedro to be reasonable about his arm and his future and take a two year deal and stay in Boston, because Boston was where he became famous. That's the part of me that's the fan of course - the part of me that kept faith in the team after times like Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. But of course Pedro is going to follow the money - he's a practical guy who wants to milk the owners for as much as he can get before he retires. I just hope the competitive side of him isn't disappointed pitching for the Mets
Meanwhile, the starting pitcher scramble continues. Hudson hasn't settled for anyone, but the Yankees snagged Pavano. Even before Pedro announced he was signing with the Mets, the Sox picked up David Wells for two years and eight million dollars. For those of you not on the up and up, that means the Sox just signed a pitcher who's 42 and 280 pounds and plan on keeping him until he's 44. Now, to be fair, he had a fairly good year last year, because the Padres apparently made him take better care of himself, but I half wonder if Boomer is going to drop dead of a heart attack in the middle of his second year. With Pedro gone, this guy could be our number two starter. And, since Schilling told WEEI radio that because his surgery/recovery was so off schedule, he may be as much as a month behind on getting his 2005 season started. So Boomer may be going up against the Yankees to start the season. The irony is killing me.
Ok, no more bitterness. Actually, truth be told, my bitterness isn't over the Wells deal, as weird as it is, or Pedro, but because of the rumors circulating on ESPN.com about Manny possibly going to the Mets as well. Apparently the talks were serious, as in, "yes, please, take half of our hitting powerhouse so we have more money available." Stuff like that mixes with all I've heard about Larry Lucchino - how he builds up a championship-caliber team, then breaks the entire team apart and sells it a few years later at profit - and makes me wonder if ole Larry is going to pull the same stunt again, thereby earning him the entirely useless emnity of all of Red Sox Nation, card-carrying* or no. Robin tells me the rumor has been debunked - he thinks it's because the Sox realize they don't want to give their entire team to the Mets, I think it's because the Mets have run out of money to buy.** In any case, probably the only thing that could piss me off more Red Sox-wise than a deal sending Manny somewhere else would be failing to resign Varitek. No news on that, by the way. I'll be back when/if any other rumors (Clement, Renteria, Hudson etc.) are stabilized into deals. GO SOX!!!
* - Can we talk about how stupid this idea is? This is the sort of thing that belongs in Arizona or Anaheim, where they don't know how to be baseball fans. It's insulting.
** - To quote ESPN Rumor Central: "Talks with the Mets progressed at the winter meetings to the point where the clubs were discussing a deal that would send Ramirez, first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz and cash to the Mets in exchange for outfielder Cliff Floyd and more than one of the Mets' prospects.
The deal hit a snag when the Mets asked for more cash. Reportedly, this led to a harsh exchange between Sox GM Theo Epstein and Mets GM Omar Minaya and the trade went from quite possible to unlikely. The Red Sox would have to chip in a substantial amount of cash to make this deal economically palatable for the Mets."
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