It's Just a Little Crush.

Manny Delcarmen is absolutely thrilled that the Red Sox have re-signed Jason Varitek. According to Manny Del, Varitek is the backbone of the team and it would have been weird to be there without him. He is willing to admit that Varitek's hitting was not so hot last season (he expects that it will be better going forward) but he'd take him anyway.

And yay for me for getting the video to work!

Extra! Extra!

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I guess we're going with Welcome Back! This is, of course, coming from the guy who started the whole deadline is Saturday, er...no it's Friday, but you know the deal is so distasteful to Varitek that he might just be petulantly considering retirement stuff. According to Massarotti, Varitek has accepted the one year, one mutual option version of the contract offered to him. Heyman has him agreeing to two years.

All Quiet.

The end of January is a baseball wasteland; all eyes have turned to football and to Sunday's grand spectacle. Little happens in the Superbowl's shadow. Underneath it though, the hum of baseball grows louder. And like Mecca, Florida and Arizona are gearing up to call the faithful to prayer. The fire in the hot stove is nearly burned out. All the players worth signing (should) have found a home by now. Two more weeks and there will be (almost) real baseball. And with baseball comes the promise of spring and the summer beyond. And warmth. It would be nice if it was warm for awhile.

Teams should have a good idea of what the next season holds for them. And save for a little tweaking, rosters should be set. A minor league deal here, a minor league deal there, a depth signing; these should be the moves left for a front office to make.

In that vein (you knew there was a point here somewhere, right?), the Mets minor league roster looks to be full of old socks next season; both Bobby Kielty and Kyle Snyder have signed minor league deals with the team. And although he doesn't really count as a former Sox player, Tony Armas' son, Tony Jr., has also signed a minor league contract to pitch for the Mets.

Four-Leaf Clover at the Ready.

If you feel like throwing your hat into the ring, registration for the drawings of the most desirable Red Sox tickets opens today. Opening Day, Yankee games, Green Monster tickets, and tickets for the Right Field Roof Deck will be available to winners of the lottery. Registration for Opening Day and Yankee tickets closes at noon on February 2, Green Monster tickets closes on February 13, and Right Field Roof Deck tickets closes on March 2. You can register for all three drawings today. It's like trying to get into the New York City Marathon but why not try your luck?

Lecture Circuit.

Jon Lester (and Joba Chamberlain) appeared at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT last night. The two answered questions for about an hour and signed a few autographs. Jon Lester isn't the most exciting person in the world but I did enjoy this quote about his World Series ring:

"It’s big, it gets in the way, and it draws a lot of attention. You have to pick and choose where you wear it, but I like wearing it at stuff like this.”

Lester also joined Manny Delcarmen in the abject fear of having to pitch to anyone else beside Jason Varitek.

"I don’t want to think about that. If I had to build a team, he’s the guy that I would pick to start my team around.”

They're going to have to give up their binky at some point.

Fore!

It's a long held tradition for the Red Sox to hold a charity golf tournament during spring training to benefit the Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida. This year's tournament (on February 20) will be the sixteenth time that they've done it. I imagine that it's much appreciated, as last year they raised $665,000 for the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital.

I don't know if Smoltzy's shoulder will allow him to play but this would be right up his alley. (I can call him Smoltzy, right? It seems only a matter of time before Francona, in the tradition of Millsy, Mossy, Pedy, Loogie, Mikey, Wakey, Cashie, Petey, Dougie, Javy, Oki, etc., bestows the nickname upon him.) Last year's tournament also provided us with the tidbit that Javier Lopez was a high school tuba player, which explains his superior musicianship in the band-in a typical high school band the tuba might as well be a member of the percussion family.

Catching Up.

I was flipping through my old CDs today when I came across this song. It reminded me of Jason Varitek's current situation, so I thought I'd share. In case you've been living under a rock: on Sunday the news broke that the Sox had made a contract offer to Varitek, $5 million for 2009 and a mutual option for 2010. The offer came with the caveat that they needed to know by, at first the deadline was unknown, then it was Saturday, and now it seems to be either Thursday or Friday.

As the song says: And the lord of lords, he laid out a feast. He said "listen to me boys, this will be last one of these. So you better get to the table, get to the table on time."