for all my baseball nerd bretheren out there... a little game of catch up...

just a few short weeks into the heavy traffic of the off season, the red sox are getting an F from me in the deals department...

the key players to deal with....

j. damon - still not signed or cut loose. still no trades or deals done to secure a "what the hell happens if" plan if he cant get re-signed... no lead off, no centerfield...

k. millar - atleast he understands hes not wanted back. this was good.

b. mueller - awful. sounds like boston never even gave him an offer... and he just signed with the dodgers this week...

j. olerud - appearantly retired. no fan fare. no official statements the man WITHOUT a thousands words is living up to it again. but no aquisitions have been made to replace him.

m. ramierez - he still wants out. still no deals pending.

we also have made 2 deals so far... picking up josh beckett and mikey lowell... and picking up some minor leaguer for letting go of renteria...

all in all... this is bad news. we have more players jumping ship than we have deals coming in. we lost the best farm system product we had, we let go of a gold glove shortstop to make our questionable infield downright disasterous... instead of just finding a first baseman and resigning a third; we now have downgraded at third, failed to sign a secondbaseman, and have huge holes with no promise at short and first. we dealt our back up catcher away, leaving us only 'Tek... we have only 3 outfielders... of which one wants out, and the other isnt signing up right away... and weve added a 4th spot rotation man, but have done nothing with our bullpen. this is not good. NOT GOOD. judging by the cash Toronto put up, we look like were content to slug it out with Baltimore for the second worst team in the division this year. even the yankees, who havent done much either, still look alot better on paper. this is not good.