Forget About Oswalt

The Red Sox added another arm to their mix for the fifth spot in the rotation, when they agreed to a minor league deal with Vicente Padilla.

He pitched in just nine games with the Dodgers before a pinched nerve ended his season. This is also the guy who was released by the Texas Rangers in 2009 for being a "disruptive clubhouse presence."

All this tells me that Roy Oswalt will not be pitching in Boston this season. His price for a fifth starter (despite being willing to sign a one-year deal) is too high, as the Red Sox are concerned about payroll and the luxury tax.

Today is also the day that if any players remain unsigned by noon, the club and players will submit salary requests to MLB and the arbitration hearings would begin on February 1st. The Red Sox have six players in that situation: Alfredo Aceves, Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz, Daniel Bard, Mike Aviles and Andrew Bailey. The Sox have not had an arbitration hearing with a player since 2002, and can still sign all six players to contracts even after today and before the hearings are scheduled to begin.

And the English cousins will be coming to America for a visit, as Liverpool will be playing Roma at Fenway this summer.