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.

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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.

George Kottaras wasn't without a team for long.

The Milwaukee Brewers have claimed the 26-year-old catcher, a day after he was placed on release waivers by the Red Sox.

The lefthanded-hiting Kottaras batted .237 with one homer and 10 RBIs in 45 games with the Red Sox last season. He had just eight plate-appearances after July 31, the day the Red Sox acquired Victor Martinez from the Indians.

He had been with the Red Sox organization since Sept. 5, 2006, when he was acquired from the Padres to complete a trade for lefthander David Wells.

Terry Francona visited with the hosts of WEEI's "Dale and Holley" show this afternoon, taking questions from the hosts as well as calls and texts from listeners. Sounding refreshed and answering with some candor, here are a number of topics the Red Sox manager addressed.

On the candidates to replace Brad "Millsy" Mills as the bench coach:

Francona: "We interviewed last week, and I don't think it's any big secret, Ron Johnson, our Triple A manager, who was very deserving of the interview. And Tom Goodwin, who has been coordinating our baserunning and our outfielders in the minor leagues. [He was] very, very impressive -- not very experienced, but very impressive. Gary DiSarcina's a guy that's certainly in the mix. Rob Leary is a name that's come up, and he needs to be in the mix. Some of that's going to depend on . . . we have [third-base coach] DeMarlo [Hale], we have Bogie [first base coach Tim Bogar], how we move guys around, we're just trying to have the best staff we can, and one decision may affect the next."

On whether it's an advantage for a potential bench coach to know the personnel already:

Francona: "Yeah, I do think that. [Johnson] actually mentioned that of the players on our 40-man roster, he's had I think 22 of them the last couple of years . . . which, sure, that's helpful. What's helpful is that we want to hire from within. I've been here long enough now . . . we need to promote from within when we can . . . and so we're certainly going to try to do that."

On whether coaching may be in Jason Varitek's future:

Francona: "Ooh, I don't think yet. I wouldn't approach him, and I don't think he would like that one. I saw Tek the other day, and I think he's in a good place. I think he's going to do a good job. I've said this a lot of times, he has the C on his jersey for a reason. Victor [Martinez] is going to catch the majority of the games. How much we don't know. I think Tek can be an unbelievable backup catcher. Because his body can't handle catching 140 games anymore, that doesn't mean that if you run him out there less than that, he can [contribute], especially from the right side. When July rolled around [last season], he had 13, 14 home runs."

On whether he expects Jason Bay to re-sign with the Sox:

Francona: "I know I'm not in the minority when I say I hope so. I don't want to make [general manager] Theo [Epstein's] job harder. That doesn't help Theo do his job. . . . You have to be patient, as fans, as the manager, you want things to happen now. You want your team in place now. But that's not going to happen. Things take time. He has earned the right to be a free agent. This is his first time, and he wants to see it through. You know we're going to be a major player. We always are. Do I hope it gets done? Yeah. I bet you Jason Bay hopes it gets done. But he's going to have other options too."

On whether he recruits free agents:

Francona: "We've actually done some of that in the past, just a little bit more under the radar. John Farrell and some guys went down to the see [John] Smoltz, and during the [Mark] Teixeira thing, it happens a lot more than people realize, we just don't necessarily publicize it."

On whether the Red Sox' priority should be adding a pitcher or a power hitter:

Francona: "Every time Theo talks to me, I always say, 'Get a pitcher.' I know we need to score runs. But when you don't pitch, you certainly make life more difficult for the whole team. When you have a well-pitched game, even if you don't hit, you go into the seventh, eighth inning, you've got a chance. When you don't pitch, the game looks sloppy. . . . When you have solid pitching, and past solid into spectacular, that's when your team really has a chance, and not only in the regular season, but that carries over in to the postseason."

On whether he's interested in signing Angels free agent John Lackey:

Francona: "Oh, boy . . I don't know if I'm allowed to say that or not. [Holley assures him that he can.] You don't even know. I'll tell you what: John Lackey is one of the best. Every year, there's a couple guys that seem like they can sway the fortunes of an organization. I think he's that type of pitcher. Now, to get that type of pitcher, you're going to have to make quite a commitment. That's something that makes our organization a little bit uneasy. It doesn't mean a guy can't come in and help you win, but if there's an injury along the way, that can set your organization back quite a bit. So there's a lot to think about besides just the year 2010. You're possibly talking about 2015. That's a lot of years."

On whether he considers Lackey an ace:

Francona: "Yeah, probably. I probably do. He's missed a little bit of time, but when he's out there, I think their team feels like they're going to win. He can match up against Beckett, Lester. He can go head-to-head with the better guys in the league and hold his own. Yeah, I would say so."

On whether he wants shortstop Alex Gonzalez to return:

Francona: "You know what Gonzi did? At a time of the year when we had a lot of moving parts at shortstop, he came in and was really a stabilizing force. When the ball was hit, you're out. And nobody more than myself . . . I appreciated a lot, because we had a lot of moving parts over there. Going forward, to have him back, from our front office's side, if they can get him back at the right price, yeah, we would enjoy that. The thing to remember with Gonzy, what he did the last six weeks of the season was really helpful. When you look at that .310 on-base percentage, for a full year, if that's what you're going to go with, you've got to recoup that somewhere else. So it's just something to think about."

On what he expects from David Ortiz in 2010:

Francona: "What David's going through is what a lot of guys go through. He's getting older, he's a big guy, and he's been injured. And when that happens, your work ethic or your workload has to increase over the offseason, or time starts catching up with you a little bit. That's just the way it is. It's not fair. Wake and I have had this conversation every year since I've been here. If you want to keep playing or pitching, you've got to work harder because you're getting older. That's just the way it is, especially with big-body guys who have been injured, they have to get after it. To David's credit, he's been in the ballpark every day since the season has been over. He looks terrific. And he's going to have to, because again, he's got big shoes to carry, and if he can't, if you have a DH who's not whacking the ball all over the ballpark, it kind of puts you in a tough spot. We're so used to David hitting those 40, 45, 50 home runs. We got used to that. If he's hitting 18, it makes us a different team."

On how much he values the RBI statistic:

Francona: "I understand your point, but I think there are some things that can be skewed. I grew up in an era where, if you hit .300, you were a good player. Well, you know what? That's not the telltale. I was the perfect example. I could hit .300. I never helped our team. I hit all singles, I never walked, I wasn't fast enough to score any runs. It was kind of cosmetic. You know, getting on base is a very important stat. It doesn't mean we have nine guys up there trying to walk. But it means that if they're seeing pitches and working counts, they're going to become more dangerous hitters. If they're on base . . . we talk all the time about keep the line moving.You have to have a good enough team to do that. If you have four or five guys who are taking their walks, and four or five guys that can't hit, that's not going to work. But if you have a balanced team, which we try to do, and you have that approach, it's going to work."

Kudos to Cardinals GM John Mozeliak for his candor. He told the St. Louis Post Dispatch on Tuesday that Matt Holliday is his priority and that Jason Bay, for now, is not on his radar.

The Red Sox lose their exclusive rights to negotiate with Bay on at 12 a.m. on Friday. For some, the arrival of his deadline will be greeted with alarm. But I think it will help speed up the process of returning Bay to left field in Boston.

Bay and agent Joe Urbon could learn fairly quickly that the offer the Red Sox have on the table is the best they're going to get. Bay is certainly one of the premier free agents on the market. But the market will remain depressed for free agents.

Players across the game were rattled last winter when Bobby Abreu was stuck with a one-year, $5 million deal from the Angels after overestimating his value. Bay is younger and better in some regards. But he's not the kind of player teams build their future around.

For teams that place a high value on a player's ability to prevent runs, Bay will be less attractive given his lack of range.

But Bay likes the Sox and the Sox like him. After a few weeks of seeing what is — and is not — out there, he may like them a whole lot more.

Terry Francona put it well today during his paid spot on WEEI:

"You have to be patient. As fans, as the manager, you want things to happen now. We want to have our team in place now. It’s not going to happen. It’s going to take time. He has earned the right to be a free agent. This is his first time, and he wants to see it through. You know we’re going to be a major player. We always are. Do I hope it gets done? Yeah. I bet you Jason Bay hopes it gets done. But he’s going to have other options, too."

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George King of the New York Post reported today that the Red Sox asked the Braves for the medical records of relievers Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano. Both are free agents and pitched well last season.

Congrats to Mike Scioscia of the Angels, the American League manager of the year. Ron Gardenhire was second and Joe Girardi third. I would have voted for Ron Washington of Texas. How that team won 87 games remains a mystery.

Major League Baseball executive vice president Rob Manfred responded strongly to revenue sharing figures thrown out by Scott Boras at last week's general managers' meetings indicating that Boras's numbers "have no basis in reality" and that Boras is living in "fantasy land." Manfred reacted to the uber-agent's suggestion that there are Major League teams who receive up to $80 million from a baseball central fund before they even sell a single ticket.

Manfred responded to Boras's comments in the Sunday Globe.

Here's what Boras said:

"We heard a lot last year about the impending doom of the economics of baseball and they had another record year of revenues, $6 billion again this year and the economy is better. So the real truth of baseball right now is a lot of teams are starting to identify their ownerships from the following perspective -- that they have an ownership that's going to pay off their debt by getting the revenue sharing and money they're getting from central baseball -- $80-$90 million a year and they're going to turn around and draw 1.5-2 million, make 40 or 50 dollars a head. All of a sudden, they're sitting there with $200 million in revenues and they're spending $50, $60, $70 million on players. Those are obviously owners that are going to have to be looked at."

Boras indicated that from 1990, baseball revenues have increased from $1 billion to more than $6 billion:

"We've seen a number of teams that are just sitting back. We have clubs who aren't successful, getting $80 million before they ever sell a ticket. The question is always going to be in the end, what are they doing with that money? For most of them they're paying off their debt to purchase the franchise. So they become owners, debt-free but they have not done a lot to contribute to the success of the game. Those are the things as an industry, certainly the fans have to look at it and realize that kind of revenue is available. The other part of it is I think we've proven time and time again that investment in players produces revenue streams and success points for franchises. Even in an economy where many businesses are struggling in our industry, as I said last year, we've been able to keep revenues at a record level."

Manfred, however, indicated that Boras's revenue sharing numbers were grossly out of whack and that the five largest recipients of revenue sharing are "25-35 percent" lower than the figure Boras referenced. Manfred also said there were only 10 teams with $200 million or more in revenues.

Boras said last night that his numbers came from an August 16 article written by Bill Madden in the New York Daily News, numbers which he said he was able to corroborate.
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In that story, Madden writes:

"Last year, Major League Baseball transferred approximately $400 million in revenue sharing and luxury tax -- a little more than 25 percent of that coming from the Yankees alone. The Indians received slightly more that $20 million and the Pirates -- despite their beautiful, eight-year old taxpayer-funded stadium -- received over $40 million. This is how MLB rewards incompetent ownership. In addition to that, all major league teams received stipends of $35 million from the MLB central fund, which includes revenue from licensing, properties, national TV and advanced media. So going in, the Indians had approximately $55 million in the bank offset by their $81 million payroll - a deficit of about $25 million before they sold one ticket. The Pirates had about $75 million in the bank, offset by their $48 million payroll, which means they had a profit of $35 million before they sold one ticket. And this doesn't even include what these teams additionally reap from their local TV and radio rights and in-house concessions, advertising, signage, parking, etc."

Baseball America today published the list of minor-league free agents. These are players not on the 40-man roster.

These are the free agents who were in the Boston organization last season:

RHPs: Devern Hansack, Dave McKae, Jarod Plummer, Jose Vaquedano, Charlie Zink.
LHP: Derrick Loop.
INFs: Angel Chavez, Travis Denker, Iggy Suarez.
OF: Brad Correll.

These players also became free agents after being outrighted off the 40-man roster:

RHP Enrique Gonzalez, RHP Marcus McBeth, RHP Takashi Saito, LHP Javier Lopez, LHP Billy Traber, SS Nick Green, SS Gil Velazquez, OF Jeff Bailey.

The BA list has a bunch of interesting names including the likes of Casey Fossum, Kris Benson, Adam Eaton, Michael Garciaparra, Matt Kinney, Dallas McPherson and Ryan Freel.

Cody Ransom, who started at third base on Opening Day for the Yankees, is there, too.

Teams have until Friday to set their 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 draft. The Red Sox figure to make a few adjustments. There has been one already as catcher George Kottaras was released.