Turncoat.

Manny Del, the man with the eyelashes, has signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. *Boo. Hiss.* I suppose that you can't begrudge the man a means to put dinner on the table.

Hell's Bells Ells.

Jacoby Ellsbury was nominated for the Harry Glickman Professional Athlete of the Year award at the Oregon Sports Awards again this year. Presumably, after his performance last season, he might have a chance at winning the thing.

In an interview with the Portland Tribune, he gave the normal platitudes saying that he was disappointed (but not overly) that he didn't win the MVP, pleased that he won comeback player of the year, and glad that he's getting paid $8 million next season. So there's that.

Swiss Cheese.

The Sox had a competent shortstop. They had a guy who could stand there and not look too ridiculous. They now have neither of these players. In fact, they no longer have a shortstop at all. Nick Punto is not a shortstop. Mike Aviles is not a shortstop. Jose Iglesias is not a shortstop.

There seem to be two possible situations going down on Yawkey Way:

1. Ben Cherington is kind of a dope.

His track record this off season would seem to indicate that this is a distinct possibility. He traded all of his shortstop depth for middle relief. He hired Nick Punto for two years. His starting rotation is a good pitcher, a couple of prayers, a hope, and a big blank spot. His outfield is broken, unlikely to repeat, and powerless. His DH can be petulant and is going to be displeased with the arbitration process. It's not a team that inspires a lot of confidence.

2. John Henry can't play with the big boys anymore.

He's not moving into the poorhouse anytime soon but soy beans just ain't what they used to be. And in this age of fiscal frugality, Marco Scutaro's $6 million salary for this season turns out to be too much for Henry's 2012 Boston Red Sox. It's likely that the move proceeds something else but unless the subsequent move results in an average shortstop, he's robbing Peter to pay Paul.

A lot of it could be laid at Theo's door: He handed some terrible contracts and then, rather suspiciously, fled to the hinterlands; leaving Cherington to clean up his mess. But as long as we all understand that Theo is an irresponsible wimp, there's little point to re-hashing that.

This morning, Cherington had holes in his outfield and in his starting rotation. Right now he's got holes in his outfield, his starting rotation, and his infield. Not generally what you would call a good day. At least when Theo was in charge (irresponsible jerkiness, notwithstanding) you could trust that there would at least be someone who had, at some point in their career, played a decent shortstop. I'm not sure that Ben can be trusted to deliver even that.

Twitterrific.

Heads Up: For every new follower that Anthony Ranaudo gets on Twitter before Friday, he will donate $1 to the Jimmy Fund.

Both Sides Now.

David Ortiz is, apparently, an equal opportunity political endorser. Or something. Today he is backing Manilo's opponent, Hipolito Mejia. Maybe.

David says that the first visit wasn't a political visit at all and that he merely accompanied the Sports Minister to a meeting as a courtesy. Don't mistake this visit as a political visit either, though. David doesn't know anything about politics and he's just friends with the President.

So far less interesting than I thought.

Vote for Danilo.

It's not that I don't care. It really isn't. It's just that there really hasn't been anything interesting to write about. At all. Giddily posting that Pedroia went to Las Vegas for New Year's Eve? Super not interesting.

Yesterday, I thought that I had something to write about, was all inspired and everything, but decided it was too heavy a topic and changed my mind. So then I came across this little bit of information today and it was perfect: interesting, fluffy (well, maybe not fluffy but definitely not heavy and melodramatic). Perfect.

The Dominican Republic is holding their presidential election in May of this year (bet you didn't know that) and it turns out that political endorsements by baseball players are no longer just for loud-mouthed, pushy, know-it-all pitchers. (Looking at you, Curt.) David Ortiz has backed Danilo Medina (link in Spanish) for president of the Dominican Republic.

From what I can gather from his campaign website, Medina seems to be running on a platform of helping the poor, eliminating corruption from the government, and improving the education system in the D.R. In the article linked earlier, it also mentions plans for improving health care for the seriously ill, which David and Robinson Cano both agree with. (I don't know. It says that they both said it. Simultaneously, I guess.)

I don't pretend to be the least bit politically savvy. I don't know if Medina is a good choice or not. I assume the other guy, Hipolito Mejia, isn't running a Jonathan Swift inspired campaign. I wouldn't have any clue how to address the issues in the D.R. I just thought that it was interesting.