News, Views, Links and more from the Red Sox Wire.

THE HOUSE THAT DEWEY BUILT (SULLY) JD Drew is Good, Eric Wilbur is not This is just a terrible bit of analysis by Eric Wilbur.

In Drew, the Red Sox are guaranteed to lose some of their core audience, which is already seriously suspicious of many of their recent moves.

Wilbur evidences this claim by pointing out that Drew is just like Trot Nixon (he’s not), Philly fans dislike him (they do) and Bill Plaschke liked to kill him in the LA Times.

Barring freak injuries (like the 2005 HBP), Drew is a guaranteed 550 PA, .900 OPS type who is going to play a great outfield.  So yeah, I suppose he is a little like Trot - the Trot of 2003 that is. READ MORE!

RED SOX REALITY CHECK (RON SEN) The Lugo Attraction The Red Sox seem to have this fascination with Julio Lugo. Until today, I didn't even know he is only one of three Lugos to play in the majors, another being his brother Ruddy. Why the obsession with Lugo? Is he a terrific player, or does he just have pictures of the front office?

In the similarity scores at Baseball Reference, Lugos ten comps include Adam Kennedy, Rafael Furcal, David Eckstein, Eddie Bressoud, Pat Meares, Cristian Guzman, and Rafael Furcal. Not a whole lot of household names there, unless your household is Baseball Prospectus.

Last year in split duty with Tampa and the Dodgers, he had 12 homers, 24 stolen bases, and was .341/.421/.762. His batting numbers with the Dodgers were hideous, .278/.267/.548. His fielding percentage at shortstop was .957 (Alex Gonzalez was .985 I think), with an average range factor. In other words, he was a decent stick, but not so great with the leather. Ordinarily he had a higher fielding percentage and range factor, but the fielding percentage was mostly on turf, not the Fenway pressurized grass. READ MORE!

SURVIVING GRADY What Next? Mueller becomes a shirt: Former Red Sox thirdbaseman and all-around good guy Billy Mueller announced his retirement. The Dodgers will keep him on in a front office role. Good luck, Billy, RSN will always be a fan.

Cy Young Again: Johan Santana was the unanimous winner of the 2006 Cy Young award. It is his second in three seasons. All this production and all this bling for under $10 million per year? Not too shabby.

Meanwhile, back home the clock is ticking for the Sox to sign the Dice Man. Get it done, boys. Also, the Celtics won their second game in a row and go for three tonight against the Knicks. Everyone calling for the heads of Ainge and Rivers are probably in line for playoff tickets. Or Playstation 3's. READ MORE!

BROWNIE POINTS (IAN BROWNE) Billy Ballgame calls it a career Figured I could take a break from all the Matsuzaka mania for a moment and acknowledge one of my all-time favorite Red Sox players -- Bill Mueller, a.k.a. Billy Ballgame as Kevin Millar and Jason Varitek used to call him.

As many of you might have heard right now, Mueller was forced into retirement at the age of 35 on Friday because of  right knee cartilage that, in his words, was "Crumbled. I'll have to live with this the rest of my life."

Mueller finished with the Dodgers, not the Red Sox, playing 32 games last year with the Dodgers for former manager Grady Little and alongside other Sox like Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Lowe. He'll now go to the front office of the Dodgers, serving, as my esteemed colleague Ken Gurnick put it, "the highest paid special assistant to the general manager" in team history. Mueller is still on the books for $4 million next season.

Though he played a mere three years in Boston, this guy is going to go down as  a Red Sox player through and through. READ MORE!


*** BOSTON GLOBE ***
Cora secure in role as reserve (ANDREW SILVER) Although the big news for Red Sox infielder Alex Cora is his new two-year, $4 million deal announced yesterday at Fenway Park, he also was able to offer a Matsuzaka Mania-related anecdote.

Cora had one at-bat against Daisuke Matsuzaka in November 2004, when major leaguers traveled to Japan for an exhibition series against a team of Japanese all-stars. He would rather forget the result.

"A buddy of mine told me I struck out against him. I don't want to remember," Cora said jokingly. READ MORE!

Mueller retires, takes front office job (JOHN NADEL) Former AL batting champion Bill Mueller, limited to 32 games with the Dodgers last season before undergoing what turned out to be career-ending knee surgery, retired Friday and will serve as a special assistant to Los Angeles general manager Ned Colletti. READ MORE!

Japanese TV crews seek a home fit for a pitcher (GLOBE STAFF) Star Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is not yet under contract with the Red Sox, but the notoriously aggressive Japanese media yesterday were already scouting a place he might like to live.

Nippon Television sent a crew to film inside The Belvedere, a tony condominium building at the Prudential Center in the Back Bay where units sell for as much as $3.6 million.

This week, Red Sox management agreed to pay $51 million for the right to negotiate with Matsuzaka, whose signature pitch is the "gyroball." READ MORE!

*** BOSTON HERALD ***
Sox have holes (MICHAEL SILVERMAN) It may feel like everything is turning Japanese with regards to the Red Sox and Daisuke Matsuzaka, but there actually are other matters the team has to deal with... READ MORE!

‘Great deal’ brings Cora back (JEFF HORRIGAN) Alex Cora initially believed his plight had gone from bad to worse when the Cleveland Indians traded him to the Red Sox on July 7, 2005. Unsatisfied with his playing time with the Tribe, the former Los Angeles Dodgers starting shortstop thought... READ MORE!

*** HARTFORD COURANT ***
Sox Re-Sign Cora, Interested In Lugo The Red Sox still aren't set at second base and shortstop for next season, but they have locked up their backup for both positions. READ MORE!