Monday is the day for clubs to decide whether to offer salary arbitration to their free agents.

For the Red Sox, the big decision will be whether to offer arbitration to Billy Wagner. It seems likely they will. If Wagner accepts, the Sox will have a premier set-up man. If not, they will get two draft picks as compensation if he signs with another team. That's a win-win.

The Sox also will be paying close attention to Toronto and what the Blue Jays do with Marco Scutaro.

Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail hears that Toronto will offer arbitration to Scutaro. That makes sense, as the Blue Jays will want the draft picks in return.

If Scutaro comes at the cost of their first-round draft pick, will the Sox still want him? He is 34 and coming off a career year. Odds are against a repeat of what he did (.282/.379/.409 ) last season. His OPS was 42 points higher than ever before.

Wagner and Scutaro hope they will not be offered arbitration, as that would depress their value in the eyes of some teams. Most GMs would rather have a cost-effective first-round pick than a 34-year-old shortstop with a career .337 OBP and what at best is an acceptable glove.

You have to wonder if Theo Epstein has some sort of trade in mind to find a shortstop. Either that or it's take a chance Jed Lowrie can stay healthy and Epstein has made it clear he does not want to take that route.

Just weeks after the Red Sox declined a $6 million option on his contract, shortstop Alex Gonzalez officially closed the door on a return to Boston next season by agreeing to a 1-year contract with an option for a second season with the Toronto Blue Jays last night, according to multiple baseball sources.

According to one source, the Red Sox were prepared to offer Gonzalez a 1-year contract in the vicinity of $3 million, but the club wanted to first explore other options on the trade and free-agent markets. Rather than wait for the situation with Boston to resolve itself, Gonzalez opted to sign with the Blue Jays for approximately $2.75 million.

With Gonzalez out of the picture, the Red Sox are expected to be among the primary suitors for free agent shortstop Marco Scutaro, who played with the Blue Jays last season.

Scutaro will likely require a multi-year contract and is a Type A free agent.

Any blockbuster deals will apparently have to wait, but the Red Sox did make one roster move today.

The club acquired versatile infielder Tug Hulett from the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Hulett, 26, hit .111 in 18 at-bats with one RBI in 15 games for the Royals last season.

He appeared in five games at second base (two starts), but also saw time at third base (one game), shortstop (one game), left field (one game) and right field (two games).

The lefthanded hitter, who is the son of former major leaguer Tim Hulett, spent most of last season at the Royals' Triple A Omaha affiliate, where he hit .291 with 11 home runs and 53 RBI in 99 games.

Overall, Hulett owns a .194 batting average with one homer and three RBI in 45 games in the big leagues.

* * *

If you want to know more about Hulett, here is a particularly well-done column from the Seattle Times in 2008 in which he talks about coping with the childhood death of his younger brother and why he plays baseball.

The New York Daily News had it first, the news that the Red Sox are making a push for Roy Halladay.

The price would start with Clay Buchholz and Casey Kelly, which sounds about right in terms of expectations. There probably would be another prospect or two involved.

Toronto has little choice but to trade Halladay, who has no intention of remaining there once his contract runs out. With one year left on his deal, now is the time to move him. Toronto is not a contender and waiting until July only lowers his trade value.

The question the Red Sox (and the Yankees for that matter) must answer is whether the 33-year-old Halladay is worth the price in terms of prospects and the contract extension he likely will demand to waive his no-trade rights.

Both teams have invested effort and financial resources in rebuilding what were inefficient farm systems. To be sure, part of the reason for doing that is to assemble trade chips. But Buchholz and Kelly were first-rounders who cost the Sox $3.8 million to sign. These are pitchers who could form the core of the rotation for 7-10 years.

The best way to combat the Yankees and their $200 million payroll is through player development.

But this is Roy Halladay, a low-maintenance ace with a proven AL East track record. It's a heck of a debate. I think Halladay is worth the price. A rotation of Halladay, Lester, Beckett and Matsuzaka would be better than what the Yankees have right now.

I'll be on The Sports Hub (98.5 FM) around 11:40 a.m. talking about it with Gary Tanguay and Scott Zolak.

Miguel Cabrera had a fantastic season (although not MVP-worthy, with all due respect to my Japanese media colleague) for the Tigers. He had a .942 OPS, hit 34 homers and scored 96 runs. He's also only 26.

There are assorted rumors out there that Cabrera will be made available via trade and — hey — the Red Sox could play him at first base. It's not quite Adrian Gonzalez, but it would be an impressive acquisition.

But at the risk of being derided by my statistically inclined friends, isn't this one of those situations where in three years everybody shakes their head and says, 'Yeah, we should have seen this coming?"

Cabrera is generously listed at 240 pounds by the Tigers. That was probably in 2005. Once an outfielder and then a third baseman, he is now a first baseman and may soon he headed to DH. I'm not a big fan of UZR, but he was at 2.8 last season after a -5.0 in 2008.

He also is owed $126 million over the next six seasons. Certainly, Mr. Cabrera could see the error in his ways, take up yoga and be slender and flexible come 2015. But the odds are against that.

Then there's this: As the Tigers were trying to get into the playoffs in October, Cabrera decided that was a good time to go out and get hammer drunk. Mrs. Cabrera was not pleased when he rolled in just in time for The Today Show and the police were summoned. Taken to the hospital, he was found to have a blood-alcohol level of .26.

According to the police report, Cabrera was released only after it was determined he was not in medical danger. Now that's drunk.

Drinking is no crime, thankfully. But when your team is trying to make the playoffs, it's probably best not to do that. Imagine for a second how that would have played in Boston.

The Tigers are owned by pizza magnate Mike Ilitch and have a pile of money. If Cabrera is being shopped, it's not for budgetary reasons. It's because they decided they would be better off without him. That should give teams plenty of pause.

-------------

Want to read something fun? Check out the daydreaming Chad Finn did over on his blog.

Now here's a sign that baseball season isn't that far away.

The Red Sox announced that tickets for all 2010 spring training home games at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla, will go on sale on Saturday, Dec. 5. The club also released its 33-game spring schedule, which includes 17 games at City of Palms Park.

The Red Sox will open the spring schedule with two traditional college exhibition games on Wednesday, March 3, facing Northeastern at 1:05 p.m. followed by Boston College in the nightcap beginning at 6:05 p.m.

A few other notables regarding the schedule:

• The Red Sox do not play the Yankees, whose spring complex is in Tampa, at all this spring.

• Their Grapefruit League opener is Thursday, March 4 when they host the Mayor’s Cup rival Minnesota Twins at City of Palms Park at 7:05 p.m., the first of seven matchups against the cross-town foe.

• The Red Sox will meet the Orioles five times this spring, including three contests at Baltimore's new home in Sarasota.

• The 30-game Grapefruit League schedule features 10 games with National League opponents, including a St. Patrick’s Day matinee vs. the New York Mets at City of Palms Park.

• The Sox will close out their spring training schedule Friday, April 2, against the Washington Nationals at City of Palms Park. The next day, they will play Washington at Nationals Park in Washington. The start time for that exhibition game will be announced at a later date.

Tickets for this spring's games will remain frozen at the 2009 prices. Tickets for the Northeastern and BC games on March 3 will be half price.

Here are the prices:

Standing Room: $10
Lawn: $12
Bleachers: $15
Reserved Standing Room: $15
Reserved Seats: $23
Box Seats: $26
Right Field Deck: $26
Dugout Box -- Row 2: $36
Dugout Box -- Row 1: $40
Home Plate Box: $46

Tickets will be available beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5 at the City of Palms Park box office, on www.redsox.com, or by calling 888-REDSOX6. Handicap accessible seating is also available by calling 877-REDSOX9. Hearing impaired patrons may call the TTY line at 617-226-6644.

Before the start of the exhibition season, Red Sox will hold workouts at the organization’s Player Development Complex, which is located at 4301 Edison Avenue in Fort Myers.

Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report on Thursday, Feb. 18 and will work out for the first time on Saturday, Feb. 20. Infielders and outfielders report on Monday, Feb. 22 with the first full squad workout on Wednesday, Feb. 24. All workouts are open to the public free of charge.

Here is the complete 2010 spring training schedule:

Pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers: Feb. 18.

First workout: Feb. 20

Other position players report: Feb. 22.

First full-squad workout: Feb. 24.

Spring training opener: March 3 against Northeastern

Spring training finale in Florida: April 2 against Washington

Final exhibition game: April 3 at Washington (Nationals Park).

Full spring training schedule to follow.

In this episode of Globe 10.0, Bob Ryan and Charlie Pierce debate whether or not the Red Sox should part with Clay Buchholz in a potential blockbuster deal this offseason.

"Clay Buchholz is 25," says Ryan. "It's time to show us the real thing. Who is the real Clay Buchholz?"

Would you trade Clay Buchholz? Take our survey below.

An announcement may not come until later this afternoon or tomorrow, but the Red Sox have finalized their coaching staff.

Third base coach DeMarlo Hale will replace Brad Mills (now manager of the Astros) as bench coach. Tim Bogar will move from first base to third base and Triple-A Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson will become the first base coach.

John Farrell (pitching) and Dave Magadan (hitting) will stay in their jobs

Theo Epstein said several weeks ago that the staff changes would be made internally, so none of this comes as a surprise.

UPDATE, 6:05 p.m.: It's all official now. Here's the release from the Sox:

The Boston Red Sox today announced their 2010 Major League coaching staff. DeMarlo Hale has been named bench coach, Tim Bogar will serve as third base coach, Ron Johnson joins the staff as the first base coach and Rob Leary has been appointed Major League coaching staff assistant.

Additionally, Pitching Coach John Farrell, Hitting Coach Dave Magadan and Bullpen Coach Gary Tuck will all return in the same roles they held in 2009.

Executive Vice President/General Manager Theo Epstein and Manager Terry Francona made the announcements.

Hale, 48, has served as Boston’s third base coach for the last four seasons. He was previously the first base and outfield coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002-05 and managed Texas’ Triple-A Oklahoma club during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Hale began his coaching career in the Red Sox organization in 1992 and spent seven seasons as a minor league manager in the Boston system from 1993-99, compiling a 491-471 record. Selected by the Red Sox in the 17th round of the 1983 June Draft, he played five minor league seasons as a first baseman/outfielder in the Boston (1983-86) and Oakland Athletics (1988) organizations.

The 43-year-old Bogar will enter his second year with the Red Sox after joining the club as first base coach prior to the 2009 campaign. He served as the quality assurance coach for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 and previously managed in the Houston Astros (2004-05) and Cleveland Indians (2006-07) minor league systems, leading his clubs to a 289-200 mark and three postseason appearances. A former infielder selected by the New York Mets in the eighth round of the 1987 draft, Bogar played 701 Major League games over nine seasons with the Mets (1993-96), Astros (1997-2000) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2001).

Johnson, 53, will enter his 11th season in the Red Sox organization in 2010, his first on the Major League staff. He was most recently at the helm of Boston’s Triple-A Pawtucket club from 2005-09. A minor league manager for the past 18 seasons, Johnson has posted a 1,261-1,262 career record. He joined the Boston system in 2000 as manager of Single-A Sarasota (2000-01) and also led the Red Sox Double-A affiliates in Trenton (2002) and Portland (2003-04). Johnson began his coaching career in the Kansas City Royals chain, including eight seasons as a minor league manager from 1992-99. A 24th-round selection by Kansas City in 1978, Johnson hit .261 (12-for-46) in 22 Major League games over parts of three seasons with the Royals (1982-83) and Montreal Expos (1984).

Leary, who turns 46 on December 3, will enter his ninth season in the Red Sox organization in 2010. As the club’s Major League coaching staff assistant, his duties will include organizing Spring Training workouts, helping the coaching staff in all pre-game on-field preparations, assisting in the advance scouting effort, as well as completing special in-game assignments as delegated by Manager Terry Francona. Leary joined the Boston system as a roving minor league catching instructor in 2002 and has served as the minor league field coordinator for the last seven seasons. He spent seven years with the Florida Marlins from 1995-2001, during which he held the positions of advance scout, director of field operations, minor league field coordinator and catching instructor. Drafted by the Expos in the 12th round in 1986, Leary played five minor league seasons and served as a player/coach with Single-A Rockford in 1990. He managed Rockford from 1991-92 and also was at the helm of Single-A West Palm Beach in 1993-94.

Turns out it was a pretty good year for hard-throwing relievers in Boston.

Closer Jonathan Papelbon has been selected as the 2009 Red Sox Fireman of the Year by the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, while fellow flamethrowing righthander Daniel Bard was named as its Red Sox Rookie of the Year.

Papelbon tied for fourth in the American League this year with 38 saves. He established a new Red Sox record for career saves with his 133d on July 1 at Baltimore and finished the year with 151. He is the only pitcher ever to win the award four times.

Bard placed sixth among qualifying AL relievers with 11.49 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. He also ranked among AL rookie relievers in strikeouts (4th, 63), games (7th, 49), opponent batting average (8th, .228) and innings (9th, 49.1).

Also, infielder Nick Green, who saw much more time than anticipated at shortstop this season, is the recipient of this year’s Jackie Jensen Award. The award is named after the late Red Sox outfielder and is presented annually to a Major League player who exhibits "spirit and determination."

The awards will be presented at the 71st Boston BBWAA Awards Dinner, which will be held on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010 at the Westin Waterfront Hotel in South Boston. Tickets are still available for the dinner.

Others to be honored at the dinner include Colorado's Jim Tracy, who will receive the Manager of the Year award. Minnesota's Joe Mauer -- who was named the AL MVP today -- will take home the Ted Williams Award as baseball’s leading hitter.

They can be purchased by making checks payable to Boston Chapter BBWAA and mailing to:

Boston Chapter-BBWAA
P.O. Box 7346
Nashua, NH, 03060

For orders postmarked on Nov. 30 or earlier, the price per ticket is $135. For those postmarked later, the price will be $150 each. Proceeds from the event will help the chapter to continue supporting charitable causes.

According to a report by FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal, the Red Sox have made third baseman Mike Lowell available -- and could be willing to pick up as much as half of the tab.

Lowell, who batted .290 with 17 homers and 75 RBIs last season, is due to make $12 million in 2010, the final year of a three-year, $37.5 million deal he signed after the 2007 season.

The 35-year-old lost significant range defensively after undergoing hip surgery after the 2008 season, and according to one measure ranked as the second-worst baserunner in the American League last season, behind only the Angels' Juan Rivera.

Rosenthal notes that Lowell "benefited greatly" from playing at Fenway Park, with a .932 OPS at home compared to .713 on the road.

It will be interesting to see if Lowell responds to the rumors. He was candid about his displeasure last offseason when the Red Sox pursued Mark Teixeira, which likely would have left him the odd man out since Kevin Youkilis would have moved from first base to third.

The Red Sox could follow a similar plan this offseason if they acquire Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez in a trade or sign free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre.

J.D. Drew, who had minor surgery on his left shoulder last Thursday, should be able to take part in spring training without missing any time. The procedure was done to help alleviate the inflammation he was experiencing in the second half of the season.

The 34-year-old Red Sox right fielder spoke with WEEI's Rob Bradford over the weekend: “I got that [cortisone] injection right before the playoffs, which helped a little bit but didn’t help a whole lot,” Drew told Bradford from his Georgia home. “Then I went into the offseason and the last couple of weeks it’s just been wearing me out. Nagging, achy, and every time I reach across to grab something it was really weak. So I flew into Boston Wednesday to get an MRI to see what was going on.”

"When you're doing baseball every day I think your body is loosened up and more accepting to those motions you do," Drew told Bradford. "But when you come home for the offseason and everything starts healing up that's when a lot of time you start noticing scar tissue build-up in that area and that's when I was like, 'Golly man, this is not not normal.' . . . It finally got to a point where a shot wasn't going to fix it."

The Red Sox have an opt-out clause in Drew’s contract, which is related to shoulder injuries. But the clause won't apply because the procedure was done on Drew's left shoulder, and contract allows the team to opt out of the 2010 and/or 2011 seasons if Drew spends 35 days on the disabled with injuries related to a pre-existing right shoulder condition or if he finishes next season on the disabled list and can’t play the outfield in 2011.

Red Sox GM Theo Epstein has spoken recently about his fondness for Drew and what he brings to the team.

"From a straight objective standpoint, what he contributes offensively and what he contributes defensively, and add in baserunning, so it’s the total value of the player, on a rate basis he was outstanding, and there aren’t too many outfielders who compare to what he did," said Epstein in a WEEI radio interview in October.

"There [are] labels that tend to happen," Epstein said. "People who don’t like Drew will call him uncaring or apathetic or aloof. People who like him will say he has ice in his veins. Then these narratives may or may not even be true, so people who don’t like a player like that will say, ‘He doesn’t care. He doesn’t come through in the clutch.’ They just start these broad labels that aren’t necessarily true.

"Can you think of a hitter who has had more big hits, more big home runs for us the in the postseason in the last three seasons than Drew? He has more postseason RBIs the past three years than any player that we have. So this narrative sort of takes a life of its own, and it’s not always true."

Drew batted .279 to go with 24 home runs and 68 RBIs in 137 games for the Red Sox in 2009 -- his third season in Boston. Drew had the highest OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage) among all American League outfielders for the second half of the 2009 season (.999), finishing the season with .914 OPS.

In 2010, Drew will be entering the fourth year of a five year, $70 million contract he signed before the 2007 season.

Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban lefthander said to have a 100-mph fastball, has changed agents.

Chapman has dumped Boston native Edwin Meija and signed with the Hendricks Brothers. Accompanied by Meija, Chapman visited Fenway Park last month. The 21-year-old has drawn interest from a number of teams including the Red Sox, Yankees, Mets and Angels.

Meija's agency put out this statement:

"Athletes Premier International is greatly surprised and deeply disappointed that Aroldis Chapman has decided to change agents. The agency has put forth a lot of time and effort towards helping him achieve his goal of becoming a major league pitcher and he gave us no indication that he was unhappy with our advice or the way he was treated. We will have more to say about this matter at a later date, but in the meantime we wish Aroldis luck in his future endeavors."

Chapman defected from Cuba during the summer and assisted by Meija, established residency in the small European nation of Andorra. That led to his being granted free agency by Major League Baseball.

The Providence Journal is reporting that Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson will be elevated to the major league coaching staff.

The Sox have been seeing a coach to replace Brad Mills, who left to become the manager of the Astros,

Johnson will not be the bench coach, the job Mills had. That job will apparently go to DeMarlo Hale or Tim Bogar.

Meanwhile, now that full-fledged free agency is upon us, be prepared to see assorted blog posts, Tweets and other reports about teams inquiring about players or players expressing interest in teams. To what degree any of this is actual news is up to you. Just keep in mind that a GM isn't doing his job unless he inquires about players.

In addition, a lot of those talks are a smokescreen, or an attempt to drive up the price for another team.

What does seem to be true is that new Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos is willing to move Roy Halladay. Not trading Halladay proved to be a debacle last summer and Anthopoulos seems to realize that it's best to get that job done now instead of waiting for July.

Halladay will require moving significant talent. But a rotation of Halladay, Lester, Beckett and Matsuzaka would be formidable to say the least.

The Red Sox have acquired righthanded pitcher Robert Manuel off waivers from the Seattle Mariners.

Manuel, 26, played his first Major League game this season with the Cincinnati Reds. He pitched 4 1/3 innings over three games, all relief appearances. He began the season with Cincinnati’s Triple-A team in Louisville and was 3-4 with 10 saves and a 2.70 ERA in 46 2/3 innings. He made 36 relief appearances.

Manuel was traded to Seattle on July 29 in exchange for outfielder Wladimir Balentien and finished the season with Triple-A Tacoma, going 1-1 with four saves and a 3.32 ERA in 15 appearances.

He was originally signed by the New York Mets as a non-drafted free agent in 2005.

Here's a fun exercise to kill some time at work today before the weekend: Create a team out of the free agents on the market.

Now that the free agents are able to negotiate with any team out there, theoretically a wretched team like the Royals or Nationals could blow it up and start all over again. So here's your shot to be Theo Epstein for a day.

The rules:

Roster: Pick 25 players. The Extra Bases All-Stars are in the AL, so you need a DH. Let's go with 12 pitchers and 13 position players.

Money: Is no object. We'll go with the Scott Boras theory that every team has plenty of money to spend.

Positons: Stick to what makes sense. No putting Vlad Guerrero at second base. Corner outfielders, for this discussion, are interchangeable. You also need a backup catcher, a backup infielder and a backup outfielder. Your fourth bench guy is your choice.

Pick a closer and include at least one lefty in your pen.

Manager: Has to be somebody not currently managing a MLB team. So Grady Little is available and probably always will be.

The pool of players: Use Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Position players are here.

Pitchers are here.

The prize: What, you want a prize? Tell you what, if I like your team best, I'll send you the next baseball book I get in the mail. You have until Sunday at midnight to post a team. The judging will be based my wholly unscientific selection. None of my relatives are eligible.

Post your team as a comment on this post.

Here is my team:

1B: Nick Johnson
2B: Felipe Lopez
3B: Chone Figgins
SS: Marco Scutaro
C: Bengie Molina
DH: Johnny Damon
CF: Marlon Byrd
LF: Matt Holliday
RF: Jason Bay
SP: John Lackey
SP: Ben Sheets
SP: Andy Pettitte
SP: Rich Harden
SP: Randy Wolf
Closer: Jose Valverde
RP: Brandon Lyon
RP: Mike Gonzalez
RP: Rafael Soriano
RP: Fernando Rodney
RP: LaTroy Hawkins
RP: Darren Oliver
Backup catcher: Rod Barajas
Backup infielder: Melvin Mora
Backup outfielder: Randy Winn
Utility: Mark DeRosa

Manager: Bobby Valentine.

My lineup:
1. Figgins
2. Damon
3. Byrd
4. Holliday
5. Bay
6. Johnson
7. Molina
8. Scutaro
9. Lopez

We're a little too right-handed and could use power, but this team has decent speed and should be at least somewhat respectable defensively. I may let my MIT-educated assistant GMs talk me into Hideki Matsui instead of Damon.

The rotation would be Lackey, Sheets, Pettitte, Harden and Wolf. I'd use Gonzalez and Lyon to set-up Valverde and Oliver would be my second lefty/long man. DeRosa would get a lot of playing time.

Health is a concern with Johnson, Sheets and Harden. But DeRosa can play first base once Johnson has the inevitable injury.

What would be your choices? You have, at last count, 142 or so players to pick from.

Free agency starts at midnight tonight. Teams have negotiating exclusivity with their own free agents until then. If you're expecting the Red Sox to sign Jason Bay or Alex Gonzalez before then, don't hold your breath.

Once a player gets this close to free agency, especially for a first-timer like Bay, they want to see what it's like. Epstein does not know how long that could delay the process of his signing with the Sox or any other team.

Every indication is that the Sox remain the team most likely to sign Bay.

"It’ll last as long as it lasts, until one side does something different. This part of the process is important to him. He’ll see what it’s like and see what’s out there and ultimately make a decision," Theo Epstein said today at Fenway Park. "We’ve maintained dialogue. It’s not up to us. I think all along we’ve maintained it was likely he was going to go see what was out there.

"It’s part of the process. For some players, it’s part of the process. You have to get out there and see. There’s two parties to every negotiation and to every potential signing. Needs change and holes get filled and you move on But as long as you maintain good dialogue and neither party gets caught by surprise, it’s reasonable to extend things. ... He's a priority, certainly."

Epstein said again that he plans to go out and get a shortstop, whether via trade or free agency. Alex Gonzalez remains on their radar. You get the sense that Jed Lowie could start the season in Pawtucket.

"At this point, he [Lowrie] has to prove his health," Epstein said. "He’s not someone we can depend on right now. I think ultimately he will be. But until he proves his health, we can’t let the season hang in the balance. We can’t allow ourselves to have instability at shortstop again if he’s not able to answer the bell health-wise. I think he will get to that point. But we’re not going to rely on good off-season reports."

A player can't prove his health on the bench in the majors.

Also, it looks as though the 40-man roster may be set as that deadline approaches as well. And look for the coaching staff to he finalized early next week.

David Ortiz held a little get-together with the media this morning to discuss his upcoming charity golf event in the Dominican Republic. He has an impressive guest list that includes Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Lowell, newly married Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield and Terry Francona.

It speaks well of Ortiz that players from other teams including Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins, Torii Hunter, Ryan Howard and Vlad Guerrero will be there as well along with Boston legends Bobby Orr and John Havlicek.

For more information, check out the tournament web site.

As for the baseball, Not So Big Papi talked about his offseason workout routine at Fenway. He appeared to have slimmed down some and is eager to start hitting again, which will come in the next two or three weeks. Ortiz did not start swinging a bat until January last season because of that lingering hand injury.

The best stuff came when David was asked about the Sox needing more power in their lineup beyond retaining Jason Bay.

"I said that like a year ago and everybody was looking at me like I was a (expletive) clown. You know? I said we needed another 30-home run hitter. Everybody was talking trash. There you go. Now what?" he said.

"Everybody always will welcome a 30-home run hitter at any time, any day, any situation. You want to compete with those guys across the street? You better bring it. Period.

"We always need help. We need guys capable to produce. Not only us, everybody. That’s what everybody chases in the offseason, guys that can come in and provide power, RBIs.

"This is a team that plays in the (American League) East division. Everything is powerful right here. You saw the world champions in the East. You have Tampa Bay in the East. You have the Blue Jays getting stronger every year in the East. You have Baltimore that you don’t know if they’re going to come and kick your (butt) all year along in the East. You better get ready to play in the East."

So what about trading for Felix Hernandez and Adrian Gonzlez?

"If I can get both of them, I bring them in. Problem solve," he said with a laugh.

If only it were that easy, right?

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman is reporting outfielder Jason Bay has rejected an initial offer from the Red Sox.

Heyman cites anonymous sources saying the first offer was for four years at "close to $60 million."

The Red Sox have an exclusive right to negotiate with Bay until 12:01 a.m. tonight. The full free agency period begins Friday.

"Nothing will happen by day's end, but we'll keep talking,'' Bay's agent Joe Urbon is quoted as saying in the SI article.

There is too much standing around in the postseason. There were extra off days in the middle of series and too many days after the end of the regular season.

The Yankees should not have been able to get away with using only three starters. No team should. The game should be the same one played during the season. Angels manager Mike Scioscia complained about it and it seems Bud Selig was listening.

“We’re going to change it,” Selig told reporters in Chicago today. “I don’t disagree with Mike Scioscia. I think he was right, so we’re going to try and tighten that up. When you plan the playoff schedule, you don’t know how many games the first round would go. So it’s difficult. There were clubs that sat around. Some were necessary, but some were not.”

MLB added extra days off in 2007 at the request of the TV networks.

------------

Well-respected writer, editor and baseball historian Glen Stout wrote this thought-provoking blog post about Tom Yawkey's role in the racial problems the Red Sox once had.

For those whose fandom started in 2004, this will all come as a shock. But for long-standing fans, it's an interesting read. Make your own judgment on Stout's opinion.