Now one of them can shut up

As I recommended, Jonathan Papelbon signed a contract in between the $550,000 Bobby Jenks signed for, but not quite the $900,000 Ryan Howard got a year ago. There seems to be no squawking from Paps tonight - hopefully a sign that he's clamming up to focus on getting ready for the repeat.

It's kind of interesting the hierarchy the Sox placed on their pre-arbitration players (especially since Delcarmen's been around longer than any of them):

Papelbon - $775,000 plus $25,000 All-Star bonus
ROY Dustin Pedroia - $457,000
Jon Lester - $421,500
Manny Delcarmen - $421,000
Jacoby Ellsbury $406,000
Clay Buchholz - $396,000

Scary lede:

Look at Chuck LaMar, and what do you see?

The man who traded Bobby Abreu for Kevin Stocker? The man who gave Greg Vaughn $34 million? The man who captained a ship in Tampa Bay that took on water as quickly as he could bail it out?

Also: The Inquirer has a good piece dispelling the notion that strikeouts kill offense. It's nice when a sportswriter doesn't blindly adhere to old school principles and keeps an open mind to sabermetrics. I have a healthy respect for statheads; I just wish I understood them better.

Spring training update: Adam Eaton still stinks. Get healthy soon Kris Benson!