On the Sox side, they’re not going to overpay for a closer. They’re just not. The interesting thing will be the development of Daniel Bard. If he flops and they don’t feel they have any else organizationally to turn to, they’ll be more inclined to pay market price to keep Papelbon (though I personally still doubt they would, fwiw). If Bard (and/or another organizational prospect develops), then there’s no way they’ll pay Papelbon.

Now, I am tantalized with Drew’s potential like Theo, et al, clearly were/are - but no surprise, he gets hurt… like he did before they signed him. Still, the Drew contract (5yr/$70 mil) is still *far* superior to the Julio Lugo FA deal (4yr/$36 mil). At least Drew will occasionally play like a guy “worth” $14 mil/yr… Lugo has never, and IMHO, will never play like a guy even remotely close to worth $9 mil/yr.

Extend that further, as well as the Sox have done with pitcher contracts (Danny points out Wakefield and Lester - but don’t forget they extended Beckett at $10 mil per back in 2006, at a time when he was pitching poorly i.e. he was more likely to take a “lower” deal.. based on his 2007 postseason alone, never mind his 2007 regular season, that’s a steal)… as well as they’ve done with pitchers, they’ve sucked with SSs. Lugo is by far the worst of the lot - but they gave up on Renteria a year after giving him a 4yr/$40 million contract (indeed, they were still paying a portion of that contract through last season, just to get rid of him when they did).

I loved Alex Gonzalez - easily the best defensive SS I’ve ever seen in a Sox uniform, and maybe the best defensive SS the Sox have ever had in their history… and he would chip in offensively from time to time as well. Rather than sign him for 2 or 3 years at roughly $2-3 mil/yr, they went after Lugo. I never, ever undersood it - and never will.

And of course Renteria replaced Cabrera… didn’t understand that one either. Cabrera famously came in the summer of 2004, replacing the beloved Nomah. He clearly thrived in the environment (and not everyone can - see Renteria, Edgar), and I’m not sure was that much lesser an option going forward then Renteria. But like Rich Semiraro with other guy’s girlfriends, Theo continuously fell in love with other team’s shortstops. I don’t get it.

Now Lugo is back - and I’d rather they played Nick Green. Yes, that’s right… Nick… Green… is better than Julio Lugo. I was upset when the Sox dropped Cora and kept Green. I loved Cora in his role, and didn’t expect Green to do as well (or better). Green has done the job since Lugo and Lowrie went down to injury. Now, I don’t think Nick Green is the long-term answer… indeed, I *know* he’s not. But in the short term, until Lowrie’s back, Green is better than Lugo. Trust me.

But I digress…. I’ve really gotta get a Tim Wakefield jersey at some point.

Jon Lester probably left 10-15 M on the table. Same with Youk and Pedroia.

Thanks for the HOF reference… needed a good laugh this morning