Typical Manny.  Check this article out.

Link: Boston Red Sox | projo.com | The Providence Journal.

The smell of hot dogs cooking on the grill while the click/snap of a beer bottle opens up.  The sights and sounds of baseball are in the air down on Florida as the Red Sox pitchers will have their first workout of the year.  This is a exciting time for baseball fans and players to as we have waited a few months to get America’a sport back into action.  If one could believe it the first games begin the end of this month. 

Link: Boston Red Sox | projo.com | The Providence Journal.

Thoughout this off season, I will be writing down teams who I believe based on their off season deals will be making a statement in their division and possibly make a run for the title.

For this blog, I want to focus on the Toronto Blue Jays.  They have been active this off season and their focus is on pitching.  They are looking at two key pitchers in B.J. Ryan and A.J. Bernett.  Both have good stuff and with Ryan as their closer, the Blue Jays will have a solid closer on their roster.  I didn’t see much of the Blue Jays when they were not playing against the Red Sox however, I did here the Miguel Batista wasn’t the greatest closer in the league.  So with this possible signing of B.J. Ryan, their ball pen will become complete.

If this signing does become a reality, the Blue Jays will have a nice 1-2 pitching rotation with Roy Halladay, and A.J. Bernett.  Don’t forget about Ted Lilly who is one of those pitchers in the league that is quite and the media doesn’t mentioned him a lot however, with his stuff you can see him in the 3 spot.  His stuff is not overpowering but it is effective.  When he pitches against the Red Sox, he pretty much owns the club.  Not good if your a Red Sox fan.

If things fall right into place for the Blue Jays, they will be a contender in the East with Boston and New York.  Later this offseason, I will continue this blog about the Blue Jays.

Earlier this evening, I was reading "Red October Blog".  I wanted to express that I enjoyed reading the gentlemen’s blog on his passion for the Angels.  You might say that I have great passion for the Red Sox.  It is difficult to say how one would define a "true fan" of a certain team or league.  People through out the season will tell others that "I’m a Red Sox fan"  however, when a questioned is posed to them about a certain player or stats, the person can’t answer it.  Now, I’m going to the extreme on this by saying that in order for someone to be a "true fan" one must keep up with the stats and players in on the team.  You can be a fan of a team and not have any clue about stats and transactions taken place in the off season.

Because of my location to Fenway Park, I don’t get the chance to see the Red Sox at Fenway Park often.  However, I follow the Pawtucket Red Sox.  Not many people follow Triple AAA baseball teams because they are not major leaguers.  However, if you sit down and listen or watch a Minor league game, they are fun for a baseball fan.  Think about, the players you following are soon to be in the majors, the pressure has not got to them yet because they are not in the spotlight just yet.  They are gaining confidence and working on the important tools one needs to reach the majors.  I’m hoping when the season begins in April, I will get the chance to see more Pawtucket Red Sox games, scoring them and post them on the blog.

Link: Boston Red Sox : News : Boston Red Sox News.

All good things must come to an end as Theo Epstein has chosen to move on and close the chapter of his life with the Boston Red Sox and seek other employments.  This could be a big blow to Red Sox mangement because their off season problems just gotten bigger.  Not only are they looking for players, John Henry and company but seek a new GM for the upcoming campaign.  This may be difficult.  Boston has three months to prepare.

On a personally level, I have no idea why he declined a contract for 4.5 million over the next three years!  Its all about the money!  Look at Brian Cashman, he is getting pretty much the same deal and is happy with that.  Over the next three months, Red Sox nation may read about other things that went on behind closed doors that the fans didn’t know.  Why would you turn down 4.5 million?  It doesn’t make any sense to me!

It has come to my knowledge that rooting for the Red Sox is stressful.  you cannot feel comfortable when the Red Sox are leading going into the last inning of the ball game because something happens on the negative side.  For example, yesterday’s game, against the A’s.  I was driving home from Boston, listening to WEEI’s broadcast of the Red Sox, feeling that they were going to win with a three run lead.  Peace of cake! I said in my head. (BAD MISTAKE) 

So, I’m driving through traffic in Pawtucket and I’m hearing things I should be not hearing, Foulke giving up hit after hit and before you know the score is 4-3 with Eric Byrnes due up.  My eyes start to roll, questioned what is happening to Foulke.  I mean, this is not the same Foukle Red Sox fans saw all of last year.  Anyways, I was getting concerned and I finally did get concerned when Byrnes hit the homerun.  I couldn’t believe.

I arrived home, shut the vehicle off going to the bottom of the ninth.  To make this story short, I missed the walk- off- homerun again.  I guess my point of this entry would be Red Sox fans should watch the Red Sox to the final out of the game because as people would say, the games is not over until the final out is record.