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

BOSTON GLOBE Red Sox owner John Henry, GM Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona flew out to Los Angeles to meet with Daisuke Matsuzaka on Sunday.
"I was surprised to have a dinner with them," Matsuzaka said, according to a translation provided by Japanese reporter Gaku Tashiro. "Meeting the Boston owner, GM, and the manager is the most impressive thing during this trip. I feel close to becoming a major league player." Matsuzaka is returning to Japan today without having visited Boston. That should come later. READ MORE!

FIREBRAND OF THE AL OTHER SHORTSTOP OPTIONS On Saturday, Peter Gammons reported Alex Gonzalez had signed with the Reds for 3 years and 14 million. The defensive wizard has earned a raise after posting an outstanding year with the glove, but Wayne Krivsky might have found himself another Royce Clayton. After a horrendous start, Gonzalez managed to get his average up to a respectable .255, but the OBP of .299 and lack of power worried many teams looking for a shortstop, like Boston. I’m sure they had a one or two year offer on the table, which I supported, but 3/14 is a bit much for a guy with his bat. Now the Red Sox find themselves with, well, not many alternatives.

One is obvious- Mr. Julio Lugo. Evan outlined his strengths on Friday. It shows he’s not the below average defensive player many of us labeled him as, but rather middle of the pack. It did fail to point out that Lugo is still erratic at short, especially with his throwing arm, and he may have to adjust to the position after playing everywhere in LA. His second half in LA was horrific for the most part and led to his benching. I still don’t trust him. Investing four years and 32+ million into a 31-year old question mark who posted a .545 OPS in the second half last season is not my ideal scenario. Does Theo even have a choice? READ MORE!

FRAGILE FREDDY’S NEWS & NOTES - Justin Speier, Angel. Argh. Obviously this is not the news we were rooting for, but the four year deal is a little much. As with Soriano, the problem with this deal is not so much the dollars but the years of the contract. Two, even three years would have made some sense, but four years is just a little much for a guy who is 33 years old and has had arm problems in the past. All that said, this is a blow for the Sox who could have really used him in the bullpen. Soon enough we’ll know what Plan B is.

- J.D. Drew was supposed to be signed, sealed and delivered four days ago. Now, there is talk about four years, $60 million. I was marginally OK with 4/48, I was OK with 2/30, I am most assuredly NOT okay with 4/56 or 4/60. Theo Epstein should drop out of this one if these numbers are for real. READ MORE!

RED SOX TIMES MATSUZAKA MAINLAND Red Sox management, John Henry, Theo Epstein, and Terry Francona, met in L.A. with potential Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka and his agent Scott Boras over the weekend. Matsuzaka took in a Laker game and visited with fellow country mate Kaz Matsui of the Rockies before heading back to Japan. READ MORE!

EMPYREAL ENVIRONS AULD LAND SYNE Gone, Baby, Gone
When rumors of his signing were first leaked, there was confusion as to which “Alex Gonzalez” was in negotiations with the Red Sox. It turned out it wasn’t the Alex S. Gonzalez drafted by the Blue Jays in 1991 but rather it was the undrafted All-Star from the Florida Marlins. READ MORE!

CALL OF THE GREEN MONSTER EPA CALLS COLLECTIVE BAD BREATH OF YANKESS FAN AN “EPIDEMIC” There is a fog that settles over Yankee Stadium just before game time.  It could be the most sunny, blue-skied day ever, and yet the fog is there.  Dark, cold, depressing—like most Yankees fans.  And when you step out onto the field, and breathe in the air around you, an overwhelming, dizzying, nausea hits you like freight train.  Opposing players have grown to expect it, but no one ever really grows accustomed to it.  One could travel to the deepest bowels of the earth (which, many would argue, is Yankee Stadium) and not experience such a foul stench.  Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency has labeled the collective bad breath of Yankees fans to be an epidemic, and have said that action must be taken before there is an environmental crisis. READ MORE!

SURVIVING GRADY AUF WIEDERSEHEN Something tells me we're gonna miss the Great Gonzo.

And on top of it, we miss out on Soriano, who had long been at the top of my personal wish-list.

Happy f--kin' Monday. READ MORE!

RED SOX REALITY CHECK TODAY’S EYEBROW RAISER Frank Catalanotto has been a Red Sox killer, and apparently he has signed with the Texas Rangers for about thirteen million dollars for a three-year deal. He is a 'classic' Moneyball player, with good on-base-percentage (.297/.362/.454/.816), generally mediocre defense, and at this point in his career does not run.

His best season he hit .300, and had 83 runs scored, 13 homers, and 59 RBI. Do you want that for your corner outfield, DH, or first baseman? At second base his range factor (in limited appearances) is poor, 2.97 compared to a league average of 4.33. READ MORE!

RED SOX REALITY CHECK HIGH PRICE OF MEDIOCRITY Some wag once said the problem with free agency wasn't paying the stars but the high price of mediocrity. I'd say there's a bit of both. Alfonso Soriano apparently gets 'Derek Jeter money' and we've yet to hear whether Nomar Garciaparra, who spurned 15 extra large per year for four years will get anything close to that in Dodgerland.

Meanwhile, Alex Gonzalez parlayed his defensive excellence into almost five million dollars a year, which certainly makes signing Alex Cora at two million a year seem like chicken feed. Actually, the commercials are pretty short corn futures, so maybe chicken feed will come down. I'm sure that Mr. Henry would be able to give me a better answer on that. READ MORE!

GYS NETWORK FUN WITH NUMBERS Courtesy of Joe Borowski, who reports "I think of the 30 closers in the league, 99.5 percent of them have better stuff than I do. But my attitude, my heart, my desire, and my knowledge in how to get hitters out gets the job done. "

I'm guessing Joe was not a math major at Rutgers. Joe must have been saying that every closer has better stuff than him. Either that, or he watched Todd Jones this season, he realizes that Armando Benitez still sucks or perhaps he was watching the Tribe during the week they tried the Fausto Carmino experiment, which means he really should have said "I think of the 30 closers in the league, 96.5 percent of them have better stuff than I do." But that probably does not make as good of copy. READ MORE!