Some rumors and reports regarding some Boston Professional Sports personnel as of today…
Tony Graffanino will most likely be traded by the Red Sox in the near future. Tony was surprisingly offered arbitration by the Sox despite their deal landing Mark Lorretta in the offseason. He signed a one year deal worth $2.5 million which in the baseball world makes him rather tradeable material. Graffanino started 50 of the 51 games at second base last year after he was acquired from Kansas City in August. Despite his wince-inducing error in the Divisional Series against the White Sox, I really like Tony and thought he was a great ball player. He plays solid defense, works hard, and bats about .300. I was surprised the Red Sox offered arbitration but it shouldn’t be too hard for them to find a suitor in a trade. We would probably target some prospects in the deal which would work out for both teams. They would get an everyday second baseman while we could possibly get some replacements for the prospects we gave up this winter. Tony could also go in a deal with David Wells or Matt Clement seeing as they are pretty much on the block and everyone seems ok with that. If Bronson Arroyo gets traded, however, after taking a pay cut to stay I will be really fumed with the Front Office. They have a good opportunity here to prove that there does exist loyalty in professional baseball and that we are in fact different from people like George Steinbrenner, regardless of what Johnny Damon says. Speaking of which I think he should just keep his trap shut. I cut him a little slack when he left considering the Red Sox didn’t pursue him as determinedly as they could have, but the more I think about it and the more he yaps on, the more annoyed I get and the less I miss him. It would be nice to get some of the trades out of the way so we can just move on with the baseball and stop the annoying anticipation of waiting for personnel changes. To me its more like waiting for your girlfriend to get ready than it is like staring at unopened birthday presents.
Willie McGinist will most likely be released from the Patriots in the near future. He is owed $8 million which would be an exorbitant amount to pay for any one player, even Willie. Most likely the Patriots will either try to reconstruct his contract or cut him and make a counter offer. The hope would be Willie will take a pay decrease to stay a Patriot. His agent isn’t Scott Boras so there actually does exist a chance that Willie would do this. He most likely will get offers from other teams and I would not be surprised if Willie seriously considers reuniting with former Pats’ Defensive Coordinator come Head Coach Romeo Crennel with the Clevelend Browns. Willie would be as upset to leave New England as we would be to see him go. Unfortunately(and as we all know) business is business. Willie has stated he would like to retire a Patriot so it will all probably come down to negotiations between Willie, the Pats Front Office, and his agent. Keep an eye on this for the next week or so.
Adam Vinatieri left a Patriots’ contract offer on the table worth about $2 million a year for three years. Apparently Mr. Clutch would like to test the free agent waters despite him being one of the highest paid kickers in football. He stated that he has an attachment to the fans but is excited to test the free agent waters and possibly have the market determine his value. If he does in fact leave it would be completely on him considering no kicker makes more than $3 million a year and the $1 million difference in what Vinatieri is looking for and what the Pats offered would probably be made up in his local endorsements. I think Adam is just playing the business part of being one of the league’s best kickers and everyone’s hope would be that he would stick around New England, even if that meant taking a slight pay cut.
Until next week…
theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com
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