Ortiz Says He Wants 2 Year Deal

Well this really shouldn't shock anyone, but Ortiz came out and stated that he is looking for a 2 year deal from the Red Sox...

You know what? I’ve been in this organization for nine years. My numbers ain’t that bad, you know what I’m saying?” said Ortiz. “I don’t think I need to open any more eyes than I have already. If you haven’t seen me, you ain’t.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve got more in the tank, I’ve got more than that. I’m just going to turn 36,” Ortiz said. “What’s the worst thing that’s going to happen to me from now through the next two, three years?”

A year back I wasn't so sure what to do with Ortiz. I thought most likely the best option was to let him ride out his contract and then let him go, but he has been so good that I think he deserves a 2 year deal. He has changed his body shape, and looks a lot skinner. I think this has helped out a ton, and it can only help those terrible knees he has now that there is less weight on them. I am fine with Ortiz getting something like a 2 year $20 million dollar deal, and I hope he gets done ASAP.

Hey Red Sox, Time To Extend Ortiz

I have been the one for awhile that has been saying, "let's just wait with Ortiz. Let him ride out his contract and move on". I was wrong, this guy is still as good as ever, and I don't think it's a fluke.

It seems if you put the talent around him, he is good. Well We have Gonzo forever now, so let's resign Ortiz. I would love to see him sign a 2 year deal. I don't really care about the money (2 years $25 million?). Right now, he is hitting lefties, righties, it just doesn't matter. Ortiz is hitting .317/.388/.609 with 17 homers, and it's time for the Sox to get a deal done.

Finally......................

The Boston Red Sox have agreed to terms with first baseman Adrian Gonzalez on a seven-year contract worth $154 million. I was ignoring this story for a while because I was getting scared that Adrian was going to pull shit and we would lose him during the offseason.

Gonzalez is real good, and deserves this money in this market. 22 million, whatever, I will scoff at that because it's not my money. I honestly think he will put up better numbers than Albert Pujols and he's looking for 30 million a year.

He is a three-time All-Star, Gonzalez is in his eighth season. He has a career average of .282 with 169 home runs. We haven't seen him go off yet, however, neither have the Red Sox as a team. But you can tell he's going to be real good and real good for a while. I still believe he's going to hit around 45-50 homers with 110-120 rbis, even with the slow start. Maybe this will be the spark that turns the Sox around, but probably not because we have John Lackey on our team.

A's Give Cahill 5 Year Deal

"Billy Beane continued an Oakland tradition today, locking up yet another promising young starter. The A's GM agreed to sign Trevor Cahill through his arbitration years and then some with a five-year deal that the team confirmed this afternoon. The contract, which is worth $30.5MM in guaranteed money, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney, buys out Cahill's last pre-arbitration season, his three arbitration years and at least one free agent year (Twitter link). The A's have two options worth $13MM and $13.5MM for 2016 and 2017, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (MLBTradeRumors)."

Love the deal, but you always have to wonder how long the A's will stick with him. It seems like once a pitcher really gets tot he top of his game the A's ship him out. A lot of times it works (Zito), but at some point I would really like to see the A's go for it instead of doing the whole "money ball" thing. They have developed some of the best pitchers in baseball over the years, but yet we have not seen them go all the way.

Also, I think they should lock down Gio Gonzalez long term. That guy has showed that he is the real deal over the last year and it's time he got reward. He might even be the best pitcher on that staff, and has been quoted as saying he has his "fingers crossed" on a deal.

Red Sox Give Buchholz 4 Year Deal

"According to multiple Major League Baseball sources, the Red Sox have agreed to a four-year, $29.945 million extension with pitcher Clay Buchholz that will take effect in 2012. The extension includes two club options, one for $13 million in 2016, another for $13.5 million in 2017. The 26-year-old wouldn't have been eligible for free agency until after the 2014 season; with the deal, he will remain with the Sox through at least 2015, with the options covering the 2016 and 2017 campaigns (WEEI)."

Very similar contract to what Jon Lester got, though I don't think Buchholz is as good. Still, you have a young pitcher that has a lot of talent and those kind of guys don't grow on threes. I am not sure he is will ever be a #2 pitcher, but he is definitely no worse then a solid 3. There are a lot of scouts that say Buchholz was one of the luckiest pitchers last year when he went 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA, although I agree that I doubt we will ever see him put up those kind of numbers I do think he can be a solid 15 game winner with an ERA around 3.50 year in and year out. He has had a tough start to this season, but people need to remember it's early and he had to go against two great lineups in the Rangers and Yankees.

Is Anyone Else Sick Of This Albert Pujols Stuff?

There are only a few things I hate in this world, Ketchup, Strawberry Nutragrain Bars, and now fake deadlines can go into that list. Albert Pujols happened to extend his contract talk deadlines 24 hours and it's going to end today at 12pm. Really Albert? You're telling me if tomorrow St. Louis comes up to you and offers you your 10 year, 300 million dollar deal you wouldn't take it? Shut up. I know this could be a way to keep the media out of it, but everyone is smart enough.

Also Albert, we all know your awesome and all but asking for a 10 year, 300 million dollar deal is just rude. Your a baseball player and your asking for 30 million dollars a year, look at what a teacher, cop and fireman makes. My question is that what happens if he gets 30 million dollars a year, is Bryce Harper or whoever the next young stud that needs an extension get 35 a year. Baseball is ridiculous when it comes to contracts and something eventually needs to be done. But until then, I'll sit back and enjoy Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford.

More Bad News For The Yankees

This has been a terrible offseason for the Yankees. Jeter and the Yankees had a bit of a fallout, Lee went to the Phillies, Pettitte retired, Cashman is blasting moves they make, and Joba looks like he has gone on a bender since the end of last season. Now comes word that CC Sabathia will most likely opt out of his deal after this year.

Almost no one would walk away from $92MM, but CC can, because the Yankees need him that bad. He can basically demand whatever he wants from them, and they will have to cave, because the free agent pitcher for next offseason if looking pretty rough (Buehrle, CJ Wilson, Edwin Jackson, Kuroda, Pineiro). Those guys are decent, but there is no "ace" there. It's a smart move by CC, and he will get an insane contract if he has yet another strong year for them. Now you know why he showed up 25 pound lighter this year.

Pujols Rejects Cardinals' Offer

"Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols received and rejected a contract proposal from St. Louis two weeks ago and there has been no progress in the talks since then, a source told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney (ESPN)."

Not sure how much I believe it, but rumor is Pujols is going to announce that he will not listen to anymore offers from the Cardinals until the season is over. That means he will be a free agent. Pujols is looking for a 10 year deal worth roughly $300 million. There is no word on what the Cardinals offered, but I just don't see anyone giving him that money. There is no question that Pujols is the ebst hitter in the game, but giving him that 10 year deal would mean you'd be paying a 40 year old $30 million dollars at the backend of that contract. Sorry, but that is just insane.

The question now is, if the Cardinals then who? The Yankees are usually the answer, but they have Mark Teixeira locked up long term. The Red Sox should be signing a long term deal sometime around opening day. Those are you're 2 big spenders, so I just don't see Pujols getting a 10 year deal. My guess is that he eventually resigns with the Cardinals, but he'll make them sweat through free agency next offseason.

Perkins Rejects Celtics Offer

Kendrick Perkins told CSNNE.com on Monday that he recently rejected a four-year offer from the Celtics. The center -- a free agent at the end of the season -- denied earlier reports that the contract offer was for $30 million.

"That wasn't it. They offered me four years, but it was closer to like $22 million," Perkins told Comcast. "You talking four years, $30 million! Shoot, that's different. That's a big difference (WEEI)."

I don't blame Perkins for rejecting that offer. $22 million works out to be $5.5 million a year, which is less that Jermaine O'Neal is getting paid. In my eyes Perkins is worth a 4 year deal for about $32 million ($8 million/yr). I wouldn't go much over that with his injury problems (knee, shoulders). It will be real interesting to see if the Celtics are able to bring him back. My guess is that they will.

Donovan McNabb Get Absurd Contract

Washington sure knows how to make their players feel special. First they bench the Qb in the previous game for conditioning or.. whatever purposes then they give him a 5 year, 78 million dollar contract with 40 guaranteed.

I love McNabb, I think he's a hall of famer, I think he's one of the underrated QBs in the league and on top of that he's one of the most professional players ever. I mean you have to be when you deal with all those Philly scumbags. However, I can even admit this is an absurd contract. He's a good QB, but not deserving of a 5 years deal where 40 is guaranteed. He also turns 34 this month. This year he has 9 TDs and 11 Ints, doesn't seem like 40 million dollars too me. The Redskins don't have the talent around him so this could be a work in progress. But with that being said the Redskins better get every play maker possible this offseason.

Bruins Working On Extension For Bergeron

Patrice Bergeron will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. But CSN's Joe Haggerty tweets that there are "indications" the Bruins and Bergeron will begin talking about an extension before the season begins.

Bergeron might not light up the stat sheet but he does all the little thing that get taken for granted. He is great on the penalty kill, he back checks really well, and is an overall good play maker. The Bruins will likely want to extend his deal and lower his cap hit, which as it stands now is $4.75 million, which is too much. This could be one of the ways the Bruins get under the cap before Savard and Sturm return. We don't know when Savard will return, but Sturm will likely be back by December, so the Bruins will have to make a move by then.

Ozzie Guillen On His Way Out

Ozzie picked an odd time to ask for a contract extension. The day the White Sox lost the race to the AL Central to the Twins Ozzie demanded to know if he was going to be the manager next season. The comments apparently didn't sit well with White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf nor general manager Ken Williams, neither of whom felt the need to discuss Guillen's future yesterday. We all know Ken Williams and Ozzie don't get along, so I would really be shocked if Guillen was back next year. It just seems about time the team went in a different direction.

Lots of rumors suggest that Ozzie will be the manager for the Marlins next year. Which I think would be a good fit. Ozzie is fiery guy, and that could work well with a very young team.

Mankins To Cowboys

"Logan Mankins' name has popped up quite a bit here in NFL Rumor Central since he started his holdout in the spring. The latest sequence of events included speculation that he could be traded to the Dallas Cowboys, owing to the fact that the Cowboys could use the help on the offensive line and are not afraid to make big moves (ESPN)."

At this point the most likely scenario is the Patriots will trade Mankins. It seems like the two sides are never going to see eye to eye, and it probably is something more then just money. The Cowboys do make sense since they have problems with their offensive line, but I doubt it will happen, because they just wrapped up a lot of money with Austin Miles, and on top of that they would have to give a pick to the Patriots. I would think the Patriots will end up with a 2nd or 3rd round pick for Mankins, but I really don't see this progressing fast, and this might be one of those situations that lingers throughout the season.

Moss Done Talking

A lot has been made of Randy Moss' comments, especially after their win over the Bengals. It is very true that the timing was poor, and Moss seemed to agree...

"I think that the timing could have been bad, but it was actually my first time speaking to the media this year and I wanted to get it off my chest instead of waiting until Week 12 or Week 13 to where it really could be a distraction to our team and what we're trying to accomplish," Moss said. "It was something I just wanted to do. Maybe it was bad timing, but it's something that I cleared my mind."

Moss and Belichick had a closed door meeting this week, and it seems like it helped.

"I think when it comes to the business side of football, hopefully my coaches and teammates didn't take it in a disrespectful manner and understood where I was coming from. This is the first and last time that you're going to hear me talking about my contract."

Translation: Belichick told him to shut the fuck up and get in line everyone else.

Like I said before it sounds like it worked, and I really doubt Moss is going to be trouble. He is in the last year of his contract and even if the Patriots don't resign him, he is not going to want to fuck up most likely his final pay day in the NFL.

Logan Mankins Holdout Update

ESPN's Adam Schefter joined Dennis & Callahan Friday morning to talk about all the contract issues surrounding the Patriots, and he is not optimistic about the chances of Logan Mankins playing for the Pats this season. "I don't like the way this is going," Schefter said. "I don't like the way it has gone. You never know. Something could happen to change the tenor of the talks and the direction of the negotiation, but right now it's ugly. Right now, I'd say no. I don't think he's playing there. My guess today is, I don't like the way this is going. Tomorrow, something could change (WEEI)."

I agree 100% with what he is saying and it seems like the Patriots are prepared not to have him all season. Obviously, this is a big blow and it will be tough to protect Brady against good pass rushes like the Jets,Vikings, Ravens, ect. What they can do is run the ball more, use play action and 3 step drops. This lowers the importance of the offensive line when compared to how they've been playing the last 3 year, which is a spread offense.

Patriots Finalize Brady Extension

The deal is very similar to the one we reported earlier in the week. The only change is that it is for 4 years instead of 3, which falls in line with every deal he has signed with the Patriots. Brady's four-year deal is worth $72 million, $48.5 million guaranteed, which is $1.5M less then Sam Bradford got, but that says more about the problems in the NFL then it does the Patriots.

I love this deal, because he deserved it, and we can finally stop talking about things that will never actually happen, like Brady not being a Patriot.

Red Sox Offer V-Mart 2 Year Deal

The Red Sox came out of nowhere and offered V-Mart a 2 year deal. We don't know how much it was for, but V-Mart didn't seem at all impressed...

"That's a business part of the game," he told WEEI.com regarding the offer. "They're trying to do one thing, and we'll see what happens. I don't really have to do it. They came with something, and that might just be where the negotiations start. But I don't see myself signing a two-year deal. I'm young enough (31). I work hard and I give it all. I just want to be treated fair."

He is exactly right. He is worth way more then a 2 year deal. I know there are concerns that he can only play catcher for a couple more years, but look at the free agent market there really isn't much out there.

Here is what the Sox might do. Sign V-Mart to a 4-5 year deal, pick up Ortiz option then either trade for Fielder/Gonzalez OR go after someone like Adam Dunn. I do think Beltre is gone, so Youk would move over to 3rd, Dunn/Gonzalez/Fielder at 1st, Ortiz at DH for next season then the Sox can take the next 2-3 years to find a suitable catcher.

Anyways, I just hope this isn't one of those deals where the Sox offer a contract knowing there is no shot at him signing it, just so they can say they tried, because I do have a bad feeling that V-Mart is going to leave too.

Breaking News: Patriots Close To Brady Extension

“Tremendous progress” has been made on a new contract for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and the deal is close to being done, according to sources close to WEEI’s “Dennis & Callahan” show. The Boston Herald is also reporting that the deal could be worth three years, $58 million (WEEI - they also have the audio up))."

I am glad this is getting done now, because I am really already sick of this talk. There was never any chance Brady was leaving here, saying that I am a little surprised if this is indeed the contract. The money seems about right, but I would've expected a longer deal. Then again, length of a deal really doesn't matter in the NFL. Now if only they would spend some money on the other side of the ball.

Randy Moss Starting To Be Randy Moss

“When you have done so much and put so much work in, it kind of feels like I am not wanted,” Moss told CBS sports.com in his first comments since training camp began. “I am taking that in stride and playing my final year out, and whatever the future holds is what it holds. But it is kind of a bad feeling - feeling not wanted. It is not like my production has gone down.”

I don't think there is a chance that Randy Moss re-signs with the Patriots because there is no way he will get the contract he wants. With Moss already grumbling Patriot fans have to hope that this grumbling remains off the field. Moss is a hell of a wide receiver and demands a double team coverage every time he is running a route. He may be just as important to this offense as Tom Brady is. He makes guys like Wes Welker, Brady, and whoever their runningbacks and TE's jobs a lot easier. The way WR's are being traded and cut left and right, they will have an opportunity to replace Moss the next offseason, however, I feel this thing will get ugly.

Mets Witholding K-Rod's Salary

"The New York Mets are withholding injured closer Francisco Rodriguez's salary while he's sidelined, and the team wants to convert his contract to a non-guaranteed deal. The moves could be a prelude to the Mets releasing the star closer without paying most of his 2011 salary (CBS)."

Good for the Mets. They had to do this. This guy is completely out of control, and he doesn't deserve to make a penny from the contract he signed. The Union is obviously go to fight this, but I actually think the Mets have a decent shot at being able to at the very least get some money back. K-Rod got hurt in an off the field problem, and with the fight being involved in an MLB stadium I would think that they would want to send a message. Regardless of the outcome the Mets had to do this.