Sox making a mistake with Beckett

So the Red Sox have said that they won't offer Josh Beckett a 5 year deal. 4 years is as high as they will go. Some things the Sox do make me scratch my head. They'll sign an injury prone guy like JD Drew and give Mike Lowell a contract extension at his age back in 2007. They give a guy like Julio Lugo a 4 year contract that they'r still paying for, yet they're going to quibble over 1 year with a guy like Beckett? It just doesn't make sense to me.

I understand that they are concerned about the rotator cuff issue that he had since he was with the Marlins. However, since being in Boston, Beckett has made 30 starts 3 out of the 4 years he has been here. The exception being when he made 27 starts in 2008.

The Sox had no problems giving John Lackey, who is older than Beckett, a 5 year deal. Beckett has more starts over the last 3 seasons than Lackey does. Lackey has elbow problems. For some reason, the Red Sox gave Lackey a 5 year deal. In the 5th year of that deal, there is a clause that if Lackey has problems with that elbow that cause him to miss significant time, he will only be paid the minimum. Couldn't they offer the same thing to Beckett?

I'm just confused about some of the ways the Red Sox do business. They seem to throw their money around freely and over pay for certain players, but when it comes to players who have really earned the money, they decide to draw the line. They refused to give Johnny Damon a 4th year back at the end of the 2005 season after Damon had 4 extremely good seasons here and helped the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004. Damon went on to have 4 more very good years with the Yankees despite the Red Sox belief that the 4th year would be a problem. They opted to sign Coco Crisp instead. How'd that work out?

Should Josh Beckett decide to walk at the end of this season, the Red Sox will have no one to blame but themselves. Beckett may very well get hurt next year or the year after, but you can say that about any player. I hate to use the word respect when dealing with these issues, because ALL of these players get paid way too much. However, Beckett's track record deserves a little more respect than what the Sox are giving him.

Is Kevin Youkilis on the trading block?

An interesting story on Bleacher Report this morning is quoting a major league source saying that the Red Sox are shopping Kevin Youkilis. He even goes as far to say that the Sox would "love to dump" Youk.

The source goes on to suggest that getting rid of Youkilis would be the first part of a deal that would bring Padres first basemen Adrian Gonzalez to Boston.

Without knowing who this "source" is, I highly doubt the accuracy of this report. Youkilis has a very team friendly contract. He is entering the second year of a four-year deal, Youkilis is scheduled to receive $9.125 million for his services. Trading Youkilis would not be a wise move for the Sox to make.

The more likely scenario has the Sox hanging on to Youkilis and moving him to 3rd base after Adrian Beltre's contract runs out at the end of this season. Remember that the team still has Mike Lowell.

Unless Beltre sets the world on fire this season, it's unlikely that he will be back next year, and it's unlikely that Mike Lowell makes it through this year with the Sox. So the team will need a 3rd baseman next year. Youkilis at 3rd and Gonzalez at 1st would be ideal for this team.

The Sox have plenty of talent in the minors to make a deal for Gonzalez, trading Youkilis is not the answer. What do you think?

Red Sox sign Alan Embree

Alan Embree agreed to a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, returning him to the team he won the 2004 World Series with.

Wearing his familiar No. 43 Red Sox jersey, the left-hander said "It's been a very interesting 48 hours for me."

Embree's 2009 season ended on July 10 when, pitching for the Rockies, he was hit in the right leg by a line drive, breaking his tibia. He had surgery two days later and a titanium rod and three screws were inserted to reinforce the broken bone.

The 40-year-old Embree had been home in Bend, Ore., playing basketball, skiing, coaching his son's team, and throwing.

Embree is not considered a lefty specialist. In his career, he has held righties to a .264 average, lefties to a .239 average.

It's Official. Nathan will miss 2010 season, needs Tommy John surgery

Twins closer Joe Nathan will miss the 2010 season because of an elbow injury that will require Tommy John surgery.

Nathan, who leads the major leagues with 246 saves since 2004, made the decision after playing catch with Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson for 10 minutes on Sunday.

Nathan hopes to have surgery to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow within two weeks. He was injured on March 6 during a 20-pitch outing in a spring training game against the Red Sox.

Nathan said his goal would be to return at the start of the 2011 season.

The 35-year-old right-hander went 2-2 with a 2.10 ERA and a career-best 47 saves last season.