Cody Ross or Tim Thomas: Who Has More People Talking?

Clearly, Tim Thomas does. He opted not to meet the president. People are very upset at his decision. I'm not.

I didn't care when Manny did it, and I don't care that Timmy did it. These are sports figures, folks. They're not foreign dignitaries. They're not royalty, or memebers of Congress, or key political figures of any kind. They do not have to attend the White House ceremony if they feel they do not want to be there. I know sports figures are generally held high on a pedestal and expected to act exactly how we want them to, but they are not contractually obligated to appease our expectations in all facets of their lives. If Timmy has strong political objections to the way this country is being run, he has the freedom to express those objections by opting out of the White House visit. Despite how we personally feel about these players, they owe us nothing except to put all of their effort into every game they play... and they don't really even owe us that. They really owe that to the people who pay their paychecks. That's just how it is. If the Bruins have a problem with him not attending, they will fine or punish him, but I still stand by his decision. That's all.

Now, Cody Ross. So we cleared up $6M from Marco Scutaro to turn around and hand half of it to Cody Ross? Don't we have enough utility players already? I thought that money was going towards making a bid for Oswalt? Apparently, we are just in the process of collecting the throwaways of all the other teams. Weird, I feel like we've tried this before and it didn't quite pan out. Cody Ross seems like a very nice guy, from what I've read thus far, but I'll tell you what he is not. He is not a shortstop. He is not Roy Oswalt. Maybe he is an every day right fielder, but we had Josh Reddick and we let him go. Do you know what he is? He's a more expensive Josh Reddick. I love making claims like this with absolutely no data to back it up.

This is how the season is going... trade Lowrie, sign more expensive version of Lowrie.... trade Reddick, sign more expensive version of Reddick. Pile up a bunch of midrange arms and hope that lightning strikes.... or hope that lightning doesn't actually strike because a bunch of lightning stricken pitchers isn't going to do us any good. I'm only being negative because I'm feeling negative, folks. I guess this is my problem... I don't really know WHAT I want the team to do, so I'm going to be unhappy no matter what moves they make. You know, at least until the season starts and it's all sunshine and baseball once again. And hey, there's pretty much zero chance of Keebs bringing back Lugo, so I've always got that. Happy Tuesday everyone.

As The Crickets Chirp: Darvish Finds Out The Name Of His Secret Admirerer

The Red Sox seem to have posted no bid for Yu Darvish, so there hasn't been much news coming out of my go-to media outlets about his posting process. My guess is that after the fiasco that was Dice-K, Keebler decided that the best bet would be to stay far, far away from that mess. Actually, I think the reason that Keebs has made such minor moves and has kept so quiet is his post-traumatic stress disorder kicked in at the mere mention of a posting process.

"No, Theo, don't do it!" He begged.

"Quiet, Ben. This Dice-K guy is a sure thing."

"Won't you please think of the children?! The children, Theo! They don't even know what a gyroball is! I'm not sure it really exists!"

"Enough out of you. Back in the basement you go."

And there Ben would stay, through the bidding and negotiation. He was only let out of the basement once the damage was done, and even then he was given a pencil and a piece of paper and forced to learn how to spell Matsuzaka. It's bad memories for him. He just couldn't go through that again!

Anyway, the Texas Rangers won the bidding. I guess they saw something in this guy, and if Nolan Ryan thinks he's good enough, then I'm looking forward to seeing him pitch. Against us. When we face the Rangers. Wait, why am I looking forward to this? I give up. It's been a slow week. In case nothing else happens and I don't check in before Sunday, have a very Merry Christmas, you all.

I'm sort of hoping that Santa leaves me a right fielder in my stocking. What are you hoping Santa leaves you?

Happy Thanksgiving, Red Sox Nation

To all the lovely folks that stop by this here ramblin' hole to get an earful of my crazy, ranty opinions, Happy Thanksgiving. I hope by the end of the day, you are all happy and full and surrounded by the people you love. I know I will be. Have a fantastic day, everyone!

And I can't wait to see if Keebs is going to bring anything delicious to the table today! He's an elf. He should at least be able to whip up some desserts. See you guys after the food coma!

Verlander For MVP: Good?

I think I'm supposed to be up in arms over the fact that Pretzels didn't win the AL MVP. You know me. I'm not. Granted, I think I would have been ok with Pretzels winning, but I am not willing to make a moving, heart-warming case over why Verlander just didn't measure up.

I am in the camp of rabid baseball fanatics that believe pitchers shouldn't be eligible for MVP awards. While the rest of the team is on the field day after day, a pitcher works once a week. How can he be most valuable? I don't see it. It is INSANELY important to point out that my philosophy on this particular topic is a disgruntled reaction to the great MVP Disaster of 1999. Look it up. No pitcher since then has even come close to being worthy. Why is Verlander more worthy than Pedro? WHY?! GAHH!

It's fine. Verlander apparently is now made of gold and can do no wrong. He can take home as much hardware as his little heart desires. Too bad the Tigers didn't make the World Series. I'm pretty sure I was rooting for them at some point. I don't remember. That was a really long time ago.

I don't think there's anything else that I need to update you kind people on. Theo stole our perspective manager, but the last laugh will be on him when he starts waving in batters during someone else's at bat. Those poor little Cubs don't know what's in store for them. So many outs at home. So. Many. Outs. No, I'm NOT bitter.

It's not like we still don't have a manager and our GM has accomplished nothing since putting Lackey on the shelf. Can we get some things crossed off that to-do list, Keebs? It's winter. I'm cold. I need the Hot Stove to keep me warm. What the hell are you waiting for?