Consider the source

Adrian Beltre, soon to be a former Red Sox, was among the Silver Slugger winners today. No Phillies made the cut.

Buoyed by the award, Beltre's agent, Scott Boras, took to the airwaves to drum up interest for this player-for-hire:

Boras was on MLB Network Radio today and told the hosts that in his career as an agent, he has never seen more interest in a player than Adrian Beltre has this year.

Two questions: Why does anybody still put a microphone in front of this guy? And what does his other marquee free agent, Jayson Werth, who may become a SoxandPhil this offseason, have to say about his agent saying there's more interest in another player?

Ready to rumble

It's finally over.

Yet another overly complicated negotiation between Scott Boras and the Red Sox has ended. Of course, there was some last-minute drama whether the 8:30 a.m. deadline applied to the Red Sox' Eastern time or Boras' Pacific zone.

Nonetheless, Jason Varitek, the final piece to what I hope is another championship puzzle, has decided playing for $5 million - half of what he would have gotten in arbitration - was better than forced retirement.

Remember when he thought he'd command a multi-year, mega-million dollar contract? What folly. And I stand by what I have said all along, that he's pretty much washed up as a hitter. But he's the best option we have right now. We can withstand his weak bat given his defense and intangibles, but Terry Francona must pinch hit for him, which he was reluctant to do last year.

And, Tek, we know you have had to eat some humble pie, but remember: to Red Sox fans you are a legendary part of two (and counting) World Championships. Save any lingering frustration with these negotiations you have and take it out on Pat Burrell and the Rays and Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees.

Enough contract talk, we've got some trophies to reclaim.

Oops, I forgot there is one other prominent SoxandPhil (Ryan Howard) who doesn't have a contract. That should be able to be resolved without the drama of Varitek's. Right?

{Wow, Greg is really starting to sound bitter about being a big loser in 2008. Seems like someone forgot about the five-year championship rule.}

You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out

Last night, hours after reports that the Red Sox might have been close to a deal with Mark Teixeira, owner John Henry said the Sox were outbid:

"We met with Mr. Teixeira and were very much impressed with him," Henry said in an e-mail time-stamped 10:45 p.m. "After hearing about his other offers, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor."

But all that did was start the speculation whether Scott Boras was lying about other offers and whether the Sox were bluffing. Didn't we go through this with Daisuke Matsuzaka two years ago?

And, like Dice-K, the Sox have to sign Teixeira because I worked hard this week to learn how to spell his name.

While the professionals were trying to figure out what all this posturing means, we got our six pack of Phillies (and a Red Sox) tickets. We're going to see the 2008 World Champions take on the 2007 World Champs, Mets, Cardinals, Braves and Marlins twice.

Best promotion of the year: Charlie Manuel bobble figurine: April 28.

Maybe Cole is bored too

From a man who proved this fall he knows how not to choke, Cole Hamels, the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP, stated the obvious about the New York Mets: "For the past two years they've been choke artists."

He appeared on hostile radio, WFAN, to pump a World Series DVD but got goaded into some good-natured Mets-Phillies ribbing with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts. The Mets swung back with Darryl Strawberry - a long-retired cokehead from the 1980s.

Finally, some juice for the SoxandPhils as the winter meetings ended with the biggest news being a manager's extension and a trade of backup catchers.

In some ways, that's a good thing because the Mark DeRosa trade is dead. And the Red Sox continue to disagree with Scott Boras about whether anyone, including the Red Sox, has offered Jason Varitek a contract.

Oh, wait, I missed this huge news while I was out for a bit today. The Red Sox unveiled their latest marketing ploy today: a bunch of new garb for the pink hat crowd. This makes me want to start wearing my Roger Clemens jersey again.

What's in the bag?

The andPhils half of the blog trudged home with a large black bag full of ... of ... of ... I'll tell you on Dec. 26. But Christine didn't bring home any good baseball stories from her shopping expedition, so you're stuck with me still stuck on Christmas.

The season's shopping would have been so much easier if we were aware of this auction of Ted Williams' hunting memorabilia. What sparks the yule better than the head of a buffalo blasted decades ago by the Splendid Splinter? Could you imagine the joy on Christine's face, sitting beside the tree, opening up a rifle once held by the greatest hitter who ever lived? And I'm sure she could have found something for me.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox played Santa Claus today, offering a $6 million contract to Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa. They might have given a one-year offer to Jason Varitek, which I think is a fair balance of last year's awful offensive season and his history with the club, but Scott Boras played Scrooge and said no offer was made.

Boras argues Tek's value is that he's a catcher capable of winning 60 percent of a team's games. That's true, but that can be flipped to say the Red Sox are capable of winning 60 percent of their games despite a catcher with a .672 OPS.

Phillies: A Q&A on MLB.com attempts to explain why Chase Utley waited nearly a month into the offseason to take care of his nagging hip injury. It doesn't clarify anything for me.

Blowhard, fall hard

As Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner continues to tell the world he's going to buy CC Sabathia and any other pitcher with a pulse, and invest in research aimed at bringing Babe Ruth back from the dead for the stretch run, the Phillies, Red Sox and pretty much every other team that's been more successful than the fallen empire quietly goes about their business.

The Inquirer has a story and column package today reminding us that mega-deals like the one CC will get rarely guarantee parades. To quote Bob Ford:

In the end, Eric Bruntlett and Joe Blanton can trump CC Sabathia sometimes, and Matt Stairs and Scott Eyre can mean more than Manny Ramirez. Not always, but occasionally. If you are lucky enough, and patient enough.

In past years, a headline like "Phillies' Amaro in no hurry to spend money" would be the kiss of death for a rookie general manager in Philadelphia. But it's the same approach, which had been questioned if not criticized until last month, of Pat Gillick.

Hank's winter bluster has been greeted by ... by ... by... crickets? Theo Epstein and the crew do their best to keep things quiet when retooling the roster. They have a track record, so let Hank crow, knowing he'll have to eat it again next September.

All right, things aren't so quiet out of Boston this morning. I assume management is responsible for this Manny Ramirez leak during the first weekend of unfettered free agency. Cue damage control from Scott Boras:

The bottom line is he was never suspended and there was never cause for suspension. The fact is the intent to suspend is not a suspension.

That settles that. Lavish money on him and don't worry about his antics. Manny, meet Hank; Hank, meet Manny.

Little appetizer and other morsels

Yesterday it was Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino. Today Dustin Pedroia won a Gold Glove, his first. Actually, he knew yesterday and didn't keep it a secret. I never knew award winners were told a day ahead, and I don't know if he'll get in trouble for spilling the beans.

Thankfully, I think they still wait until hours before the official announcement to tell a player that he won the MVP. That's the main course for Pedroia this year (and the Red Sox, as Christine reminded me that they didn't get the job done this season). Today's fielding award is just a little shrimp cocktail for the littlest big hitter in baseball.

Things don't look so good for Pedroia and the Sox next year. Manny Ramirez won't consider coming back. Did I miss something? Was this even a possibility? Didn't we bend over backward last summer shipping him out of town so he could get the Dodgers' hopes up for the Phillies to knock them down? Whatever. The season ended just over a week ago, and I'm already sick of hearing from Scott Boras.

There's some talk that Manny could replace Pat Burrell in Philadelphia. I don't buy it. To quote Tony Massarotti: "One glitch: Pat Gillick, who just stepped down as Philly's GM but is staying on in an advisory role, is too smart to advocate signing a guy like Manny. (We think.)"

One glitch with that glitch theory: Gillick might be interested in winning a Stanley Cup instead.

I thought this was a slow day when I sat down to write tonight, but things are certainly getting crazy. Next thing you know, we'll be reading that the World Champs are again considering trading the farm, and Shane Victorino, for Matt Holliday. Oops.

{No way, I'm not buying that. This city loves Shane-O, and I think he loves it back. I hope management isn't dumb enough to trade him.}

Election Day

It seemed tempting, but I refrained from writing in Cole Hamels for president. A local merchant posted that note last week on one of the signs outside of his store; Greg was tempted to stop today and ask if anyone voted for Hamels, but he ran out of time on his way to work. He probably ran out of time because I think he stopped at more than one Starbucks for his free coffee. And yes, he did vote, even though it was no longer required to claim a cup of joe.

A few random thoughts and notes tonight as I await election results.

**Les Walrond's short-lived Phillies career is over. He was claimed today by the Blue Jays. (It is so refreshing to say "Blue Jays" without having the cloud of 1993 hanging over my head anymore.) And yesterday, Rudy Seanez filed for free agency.

**As the 2008 team disperses, I'm reminded of something important that I overlooked the other night. As I was reminiscing about players who will soon be part of the Phillies' past, I forgot to mention Chris Coste. I'm afraid that he's not long for this team. Lou Marson is waiting in the wings, and it's only a matter of time before he's in the big leagues for good. I expect that Marson will start in AAA in the spring, but once he's ready, Coste will probably be expendable. Sadly, he probably already feels that way, as Charlie Manuel made it clear in September and October that Carlos Ruiz is his preferred catcher. Well, whatever happens, Coste will always be welcomed in Philadelphia, and I'm glad that he got the chance to play here and be part of the magical 2007 and 2008 teams.

**Last week, after the Phillies won, I checked the Baseball Prospectus page. I wanted to see it officially say that the Phillies had a 100% chance of winning the World Series. But a little part of me still thought that it would say something like the Phillies only had a 99.2% chance of winning. (OK, so maybe it will take a while to shake away all of the negative thoughts.) Anyway, I love looking at those numbers - on Sept. 30, the Phillies were given only a 5% chance of winning it all.

**Following the Phillies lead, the Red Sox signed their GM. Jeez, what has he done to deserve a new contract? It's not like he's won any World Series lately.

**Crazy Scott Boras thinks Jason Varitek is going to get a huge contract, along the lines of Jorge Posada's 4-year $52 million contract. I think Scott Boras is nuts. I'm not the stats person on this blog, but 2008 was a dismal year for him. Yeah, he can still catch, but he was a liability offensively. Carlos Ruiz was no better offensively, but he's seven years younger than Varitek. Not to mention the fact that Ruiz is making just over the league minimum and isn't even due for arbitration until 2010. If baseball really is going to be feeling the economic crunch, I think the Sox should take a pass on resigning their captain.

**Current Sox and former Phil Mike Timlin filed for free agency today. Actually, barely a former Phil. I forgot that he was with the team for only half a season. It seems like it was longer. I guess because I've had to listen to Greg rave about him for the past six years. And complain about him this year.

I'm off to set up camp in front of CNN until Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert come on at 10 p.m. Let's hope this election is decided earlier in the night than some of those marathon playoff games I endured over the past few weeks.

Uh-oh

I wonder which one of these tidbits will prove more disastrous: Manny has new representation or Brad Lidge limps.

Remember the other day when Manny reported on time and curiously didn't make a demand for a contract extension or for his $20 million option year to be picked up? Maybe that was strategy for his new agent Scott Boras. Flash-forward to Game 6 of the 2008 World Series, Sox down 3-2 in the series, 4-3 in the game. Winning run on second and Manny's due up. Boras will halt the game and demand an extension before Manny hits.

OK, a bit far-fetched, but this does look to be the end of Manny - not that we were expecting him to be around much longer.

Of more immediate concern is that Brad Lidge limped off the field after catching his spike while throwing off the mound. Is this really nothing, as the Phils are saying? Or is this going to be like 1997, when the big off-season acquisition (Danny Tartabull) got hurt on opening day? Or is it going to be like last year when the Phils brass insisted Tom Gordon was OK when he was injured in spring training, but were soon sending opening day starter Brett Myers to the bullpen to be the team's closer?

Hat update: Went back to Philly today. Christine's hat didn't fit. (It had cardboard in it so it didn't seem proper to try it on in the store.) I did learn something interesting: Don't attempt to buy tickets at the ballpark on Saturdays in the off-season; the box office is closed. Some guy, who apparently drove some distance to buy tickets, found out the hard way.