Comings and Goings

This is my 1900th post here at The Mighty Quinn Media Machine, and the Red Sox have been doing some wheeling and dealing over the last few days. But it's been nothing earthshaking to be sure.

Yesterday they sent David Aardsma to Seattle for minor league lefty Fabian Williamson. With Aardsma you never knew what type of pitcher was going to show up. He showed some flashes of brillance, with a high 90s MPH fastball and blew some hitters away, while at other times he couldn't get the ball over the plate and walked the bases loaded. He's just so incredibly inconsistent, and now moves on to another team. (We met his parents and sister at Thom's last year just before a Red Sox-Yankees game. They were very nice.) He also appeared with the BLOHARDS during one of their meetings in 2007. I wish him well in Seattle.

They also sent pitcher David Pauley to Baltimore for reliever Randor Bierd. I'll never forget the game Pauley pitched in Yankee Stadium back in 2006, when he was called up as the starting staff was racked with injuries. Pauley pitched extremely well in game the Red Sox lost, 2-1. (That was the game Melky Cabrera stole a home run away from Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon acted like a five-year-old after he caught it.) Pauley had been designated for assignment after the Red Sox signed John Smoltz.

And the Jason Varitek Saga took another turn, as Tek admitted he wasn't aware of the fact that if another team signed him, they would forfeit a number one draft pick. (That's the reason there's no market at all for him.) It makes Tek's decision to reject arbitration one of the dumber moves in recent times, as he stood to make at least $10 million had he accepted it. Now, he will lose millions for sure no matter what deal he signs. He met alone with John Henry last Friday in Atlanta, but no deal was reached.

And Tek says he doesn't blame Scott (Evil) Boras for this goofup and takes full responsibility. Isn't that an agent's job, to know things like this? Once Tek gets a new deal, he may want to think about a new agent. Boras' track record has been spotty to say the least the last few years, and he basically screwed varitek into the ground, no matter how much blame Tek accepts for all of this.