What to read into all this?

We would not pretend to know whether Scott Boras's latest work is on the reading list these days for the Red Sox Gang of Four, any more than we would venture a guess at the identity of the next Sox general manager, other than to say we're as puzzled as you by Theo Epstein's ongoing visits to his former office.

Epstein has never come across as the kind of guy who would make sandwich runs for the fellas. Nor does he strike us as the type to dispense free advice after turning down $1.5 million a year for the benefit of his wisdom. We can say with considerable certainty, however, that Marlins president David Samson was dealing with Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, not Epstein, when it came time to close the deal Monday for Josh Beckett, the Texas-born righthander who was the very first player drafted in 1999 after John W. Henry bought the Florida franchise.

Not that Lucchino, who was ably assisted by Craig Shipley and the rest of the Gang in the trade preliminaries, is about to take credit for the coup. Maybe when it becomes official Henry will remind one and all who was responsible, although Henry was a little slow on the draw to come clean on the abortive Colorado deal that Lucchino was blamed for squirreling. Monday night, appearing on the Sons of Sam Horn chat board during a Thanksgiving Jimmy Fund fund-raiser, Henry said it was he, not Lucchino, who instructed Epstein to pull the plug on the Larry Bigbie trade.

That is Version No. 3, joining (1) Lucchino turned thumbs-down on the trade, embarrassing Epstein and assistant Josh Byrnes, and (2) Epstein wanted to kill the deal and asked Lucchino to act as if it was his idea. No. 2 was the version that appeared in Dan Shaughnessy's column the day before Epstein departed, reportedly angering the boychik GM, whose credibility was wounded, while Lucchino wound up appearing like someone who betrayed a confidence to advance his own ends.

But we've all turned the page, remember -- though surely even a few of the SOSH brainiacs were a bit confused by Henry's response to a question about Epstein's possible return.

''Theo was clear in his press conference when he opted not to close the door to the future," Henry wrote. ''But life is constant change and for the most part it is exceedingly unpredictable. He is not going to return as our surprise GM in this process."

So, is he or isn't he? Only the doughnut deliveryman knows for sure. In the meantime, Epstein evidently is still allowed the run of his old office, where he quite possibly stumbled across a handsomely bound loose-leaf binder, bearing the imprint of the Scott Boras Corporation, that is making the rounds of those teams with interest in Johnny Damon.

It will never be as popular as ''Idiot," Damon's bestselling book, but quite likely will help make the free agent center fielder lots more money.

Boras, just as he has done for clients such as Alex Rodriguez and Jason Varitek, has put together a notebook thicker than the one you lugged to your World Civilizations class to extol the virtues of Damon.

It's an impressive piece of work, divided into 10 sections. The headings disclose a clear bias toward its subject: ''Best Leadoff Man in Baseball," ''Most Durable Active Player in the Major Leagues Deserving of 7-Plus Year Contract," ''Better Than Future Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson." Yes, as preposterous as that might appear on first glance, that's what it says, and Boras and his crew are prepared to prove their case with statistical breakdowns comparing the two (the choice of numbers, of course, being highly subjective).

To wit: Damon is a better hitter with runners in scoring position than Rickey (.298 to .274), he has better numbers in numerous categories at a comparable point in their careers, he has put up better numbers more consistently, he has spent less time on the DL, etc., etc. (Of course, the Red Sox have Bill James to separate fact from fiction.)

There's an intriguing section showing how Damon's AB-to-RBI ratio with runners in scoring position over the last two seasons (1 every 2.13 ABs) compares favorably with many No. 3 hitters in 2005, for those teams who may prefer to use him as something other than the best leadoff man in baseball.

Another section confidently predicts that Damon will join the 3,000-hit club in 2012, and another dares to place Damon in the company of Hall of Famers if he produces through 2015 the way he has the last four seasons. Visionaries, indeed.

There's some French pastry at the back of the book, like the chapter, ''Franchise Icon," which runs down, among other things, the impact Damon had on the sale of iced lattes at Dunkin' Donuts (a 20 percent jump, the Boras researchers claim, because of the popularity of the Damon/Epstein ad). They even quote a rep from the doughnut chain talking about all the $70 life-sized Damon cutouts that have been pilfered.

The total effect, of course, is intended to bedazzle any owner who dared to believe that Damon was anything less than a bargain, at any price. No one does that better, of course, than Boras, though Epstein may not be around this time to be impressed. Check your Boston Dirt Dogs site this morning; Epstein was supposedly bound for Argentina, to hang out with Pearl Jam. The Gang of Four are on their own . . . as long as Epstein didn't pack his BlackBerry.