Red Sox Roundup: News & Notes
One day after a Red Sox icon says goodbye to the only game he’s ever known, reaction continues to pour in from around the baseball world. Tim Wakefield has hung up his cleats for good this time, saying adieu on a 19-year career, spent mainly with the Boston Red Sox.
But the show must go on and for Red Sox Nation, we’ll take a moment to pay tribute to the knuckleballer who helped win two World Series titles after eight decades of solitude. Ironically, pitchers and catchers report in less than 24 hours and with a roster still far from set we have the latest on the Red Sox and others in this edition of the roundup.
The veteran Wakefield had four contract offers from other clubs, but decided to retire as a Red Sox.
Peter Abraham of the Globe points out that the last home run Wakefield served up was to the Yankees Jorge Posada. Evidently, it was the last home run Posada would ever hit and now both of the famed players are retired. The baseball gods have a funny sense of humor don’t they?
As the Red Sox and their fans say goodbye to one icon, they may have to say farewell to another. Jason Varitek is reportedly leaning towards retirement according to Nick Cafardo of the Globe, via Twitter. Varitek’s agent, Scott Boras, says his client hasn’t made any decisions. The former Sox captain has received interest from other clubs and a spring training invite from the Red Sox. It’s believed that Tek will choose between the invite from Boston or retirement.
The Roy Oswalt sweepstakes have been quiet as of late but the Texas Rangers could be poised to strike a deal with the veteran. The Rangers and A’s are close to a deal that would send Koji Uehara to Oakland, freeing up payroll for Texas. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram believes that the cleared up space will allow Texas to sign Oswalt. Other reports have the Rangers signing left-handed reliever Mike Gonzalez and Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com says that the Rangers chances of signing Oswalt are still slim.
The Sox appear to have backed off on Oswalt as their 64-man roster for spring training has been set and likely won’t change according to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford.
As my fellow colleague Dan Corrado wrote yesterday, the Red Sox could wait until June or July to pull off a deal for a starting pitcher. As a result, don’t expect the Sox to do much in terms of major acquisitions before then.
One quick note on a former Red Sox player. Hideki Okajima has failed his physical and therefore won’t be joining the New York Yankees this season. Okajima was signed to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. But when the reliever’s left shoulder couldn’t pass the physical, the deal became void.
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