Leftovers

It’s tough kicking back off to work after a long holiday weekend – especially one that involves a prolonged carb-loaded feast (and epic food coma that follows). But let’s sort through some of the news leftovers that cropped up over the Thanksgiving holiday.

We may have silently been wishing for a 2003-like Thanksgiving, courtesy of Theo and co., but that was not to be. There were no blockbusters, no marquee signings – but that doesn’t mean the Sox front office was lolling around in front of the TV, watching the Longhorns kill the Aggies on the football field. On Friday, the Sox did make a trade with the Rangers — not for Salty or Teagarden, but for RHP Wes Littleton. In exchange, the Sox will send the ever-popular “Player To Be Named Later” (or the even more popular “Cash Considerations”). Wes is a sidearmer, which is always fun to watch – although considering he spent most of the season in AAA, and is out of options, we may not get to see him. The Boston reports on the trade conflicted with those out of Texas – here’s what they said:

Here’s the bottom line: If Littleton makes the Red Sox opening day roster, the Rangers could potentially get a second player. Littleton is out of options, so if he doesn’t make the Red Sox roster, the Rangers would probably just get a little bit of cash.

The Dallas Morning-News (which can’t spell “Buchholz”, but does seem to know its stuff when it comes to the Rangers) also had this interesting tidbit:

GM Jon Daniels said the player to be named may not be acquired until close to opening day, so the club isn’t commenting on much regarding the deal. I suppose if the Rangers could put together a deal with Boston that sends one of their catchers (Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden) to Boston for one of the aforementioned pitching prospects, any future considerations regarding Littleton could be dropped, essentially making him a throw-in to a bigger deal. But I don’t expect that.

Meanwhile, the trend continues for former Sox wanting to return to the Fens. Derek Lowe has been batting his eyes in Boston’s direction all offseason, and now hothead Jay Payton wants back in the Boston mix. Derek- you’re welcome back anytime. Jay – not so fast.

It appears it’s only a matter of time before the Sox (finally) announce the worst-kept secret in Boston: that Junichi Tazawa will be pitching in home whites at Fenway. Taz (yep, I’m calling him Taz) is scheduled to arrive in Boston this week, take a physical, finalize the $3 million deal — and then announce the acquisition by the end of the week. Considering he’s fond of wearing Carhartt jackets, as this picture shows, I think Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield will be happy to have him join the crew.

Today marks the last day for teams to offer salary arbitration to their former players who became ranked free agents in order to be eligible for compensation. Which means that the free agent market will be picking up considerably (and just in time for winter meetings). It also means that the Sox must decide by today whether to offer arbitration to Jason Varitek - sewing up two draft picks in compensation if he does not accept, but locking themselves into what will surely be a fairly high contract if he does accept. Players who are offered arbitration have until December 7th to accept or decline.