The State of Sports Jan 20th

-Baseball

-Theo Epstien returns to the Sox
I am not in the least shocked by the return of the man who ended the Red Sox 86 year World Series drought, the myth of him wearing a gorilla costume out of Fenway Park, the legend of what continues to be a soap opera with the organization. This afternoon's edition of "The offseason" is sponsored by NESN, to bring you a view inside the world of the Red Sox front office. Starring Larry "Hard Ass" Luccchino, Ex-GM Theo Epstien, Siamiese twins seperated at birth: Ben Cherrington and Jed Hoyer, Manny "Cant' make up my mind today or tomorrow" Ramirez, and David "west coast here I come" Wells. Frequent guest apperances by Dan Shaunnessy, Buster Olney, Peter Gammons, and Pete "The Meat" Sheppard. But always remember, things are not what they appear to be. Events may or may not be happening in real life. You can always ask John Henry what he thinks, after the show.

That is the exaggerated version of what it feels like. I seriously would like to know what is going on here. I could direct you to any number of what the writers are spitting out of the printig press today, but thats redundant. I, however, will direct you to the Extra Bases blog, which kindly has that listing for you. You can also read Dan Shaunessy's ill fated attempt to convince Red Sox Nation that he once again is the only one that really knows whats going on, because there is a big flat no comment from Theo, Larry, and John Henry.

Honestly no one knows what is going to happen. I could say that I predicted quite some time ago that Theo was going to be in the background, and hes been advising Jed and Ben ever since he left on moves to make. While I realize that maybe there was a slight difference of philosophies between Theo and Larry, this whole power struggle thing is ridiculous. In fact, its what makes the soap opera what it is. The very conflict that is being emphasized here is something that Globe writer Chris Snow picks up on.

Snow implies that "There also appeared to exist a divide in philosophies -- Epstein's desire to somewhat retool the club around pitching and defense and younger players even if public scrutiny was harsh, juxtaposed against ownership's perceived resolve to spend on older, established players." This philosophy must be what is perceived to be what Gammons said a while ago. He said that people in the Lucchino camp supported a deal to bring Damon back, instead of going out to find a replacement. The replacement idea was supported by the co-general managers camp.

Maybe thats all it really was. Maybe the Red Sox were waiting until they could figure out some way to rearrange the heirarcy in the front office. I think thats all it really was. Theo maybe wanted one of two things: 1) A temperary leave from the office for a vacation, until things died down and 2) Look to see what his other options were. Oh yeah, and if we need any advice, we have your cell phone number. That's what it was.

So as we look to the week ahead, what will unfold in this new edition of "The Offseason." Will Jed and Ben be moving their office from the great view of inside Fenway to the janitors closet with Theo's return? Will Larry "Hard Ass" Lucchino be showing up to the press conference next week? What implications on Theo's return have with Manny demanding a trade again this week? And will John Henry make up some new position for a complete "re-arrangement" of the front office? This should make for a very interresting week.


-Random Notes:
-The Red Sox signed Willie Harris to a minor league deal, and I think this could be the replacement fourth outfielder, to replace the role that Gabe Kapler had with the team. It is also possible that Kapler could return as the fifth outfielder for the Sox down the stretch. All the Sox need to do now is trade or sign an centerfielder. According to Sporting News writer, Ken Rosenthal, the Sox could trade David Wells to the Padres for Roberts, or the Giants for Steve Finley (whos making 7 million dollars this year). Eric Wilbur reports, that the Sox might trade 3rd base prospect Andy Marte to the Indians for Crisp. Crisp is supposed to make $365,000, but is arbitration eligible. It also might be a multi-player swap, because Marte might be worth a little more than a CF replacement. Wilbur also thinks Cora will be the starter at SS next year.

Pictured- Coco Crisp making a catch

-I think this is one of the best comments ive heard about Division III basketball in quite sometime. After the OT loss to UMass Boston, their head coach says this to me: "I dont care what you say, or how much money people pay for division 1 basketball games, but playing at this kind of level truly is college basketball." I agree with him. I must also mention the Tinsley Center also had a full house, and 1000 screaming fans yelling defense in the last 2 minutes for the Bears, was awesome.

-More on playoff predictions and the Reggie Bush article I keep talking about.