Sox Rumblings and Grumblings

David Wells, Mr. I-can't-go-out-to-eat-without-being-papparazzi'd-to-death, no longer wants to be traded. Hmmm...now that there's a question of his paycheck (and his $200K bonus per start), he's a dedicated Red Sox pitcher. Can you say flim flam? Flip-flop? Hey David, if you want privacy at a restaurant, give them a call in advance, tell them who you are, and get a private table. When you're famous and the city of Boston pays your salary, part of the deal is putting up with fans (note - fans, not people that want to beat you up or steal your Rolex) who might want to interact with you. Get over it; you've been in the bigs for 19 years.

From a baseball perspective, Bostonist is happy to have Wells as part of the rotation. As any baseball person knows, you can't have enough pitching, especially late in the season and in the playoffs, where David has excelled. This creates a possible rotation of:

Schillling, Beckett, Wells, Wakefield, Papelbon

Not too bad. Clement/Arroyo, if they are both still members of the Sox when they break camp, would be penciled in as swing pitchers. Stay tuned, as it's highly unlikely the Sox will hang on to both with this new Wells revelation.

Someone tell Johnny Damon that he no longer plays for the Red Sox. Why does Johnny feel, almost daily, he has to comment and/or take a shot at the Red Sox? Is this going to go on for the next four years while he is a Yankee? And can he make it any more obvious that his contract signing with New York was simple bitterness and now he's displaying simple regret for his decision by continuing to make statements? Hey Johnny, you're a traitor. You are now a Yankee, which by definition means you are the enemy. Oh, and by the way, the Sox have a younger cheaper version of you who is just as solid offensively and better defensively. Bostonist has moved on, and so should you.

Josh Beckett got shelled yesterday, and for some reason it's big news in Boston. Guess what, sports fans: Pitchers try out new things during Spring Training. They strengthen their arms, master their pitches, and explore situations. That’s why they are called "exhibition games," or in simpler terms, PRACTICE. Let's just wait on throwing Beckett under the bus until he pitches in some real contests that actually mean something. You know, like when the actual catcher is there (Varitek is playing in the WBC) and they actually have a plan to get hitters out.

The Sox say hello to old friend Kevin Millar today, when they take on the Baltimore Orioles in an exhibition tilt. Millar made the rounds saying hello and hugging his old teammates today.

Lastly, the US opens its World Baseball Classic schedule today with a game against Mexico. The game can be seen live on ESPN at 4pm EST.

Photo courtesy Flickr user: aprillyn77. Though we really like the idea of captioning the Globe's photo "Just David being David"