Posted by Kirk Minihane

Out tonight (shoulder).

Tough weekend for QBs. Matt Schaub (MCL) and Kyle Orton (ankle) could both be out for a month.

If you need a QB start this weekend, Matt Ryan should be a nice play. He gets the Saints (25th vs. the pass) at home Sunday. He’s actually a solid option next week as the Falcons host Denver (27 vs. the pass).

Derek Anderson is out in Cleveland. Brady Quinn steps in and has a soft matchup vs. the Broncos on Thursday night. Tough to play a guy in his first NFL start, but I think Quinn has a strong game against a terrible defense. 225 yards and a pair of TDs.

Feel free to dump Edgerrin James.

Posted by Alex Speier

DANA POINT, Calif.–G.M. Theo Epstein confirmed that he would be meeting with agent Scott Boras in the next two days during the General Managers’ Meetings in Orange County, roughly a 10-minute drive from the offices of the Boras Corporation. Epstein said that he expects the focus of the conversation to be on Red Sox players-turned-free agents represented by Boras, a group that includes both catcher and Captain Jason Varitek and backup infielder Alex Cora.

Epstein said that the club’s most important concern at this point is to create “a deep and healthy organization,” but he did allow that “our most immediate need is catcher.” Even if the team signs Varitek, the G.M. said, it would not necessarily preclude pursuing a younger catcher of the future, perhaps on the trade market.

“We’ll keep all our options open,” said Epstein.

Boras initially declined to answer a question about Varitek’s performance dip in 2008, before pausing to offer a thought on his way out of the hotel. “Show me an average,” he said, referring to the broad arc of a career, “and it’s not aberrational.”

Boras also revealed that Hall-of-Fame-bound pitcher Greg Maddux is leaning towards retirement.

Posted by Rob Bradford

So which presidential candidate (or other political candidate) did those in the sporting spotlight put their substantial financial weight behind? Thanks to the Web site ‘Open Secrets’ we have some answers (max donation is $2,300):

Gary DiSarcina, Manager, Lowell Spinner: John McCain

Theo Epstein, General Manager, Boston Red Sox: Barack Obama

Larry Lucchino, President, Boston Red Sox: John Kerry

Tom Werner, Chairman, Boston Red Sox: Joe Biden, Jeanne Shaheen

Curt Schilling, pitcher, former Boston Red Sox: John McCain

Alex Rodriguez, third baseman, New York Yankees: Rudy Giuliani

Hal Steinbrenner, Executive Vice President, New York Yankees: John McCain

George Steinbrenner, owner, New York Yankees: Rudy Giuliani

Robert Kraft, owner, New England Patriots: Democratic National Comm.

Gene Orza, Chief Operating Officer, MLB Players Association: Barack Obama

Darryl Hamilton, Executive, Major League Baseball: Barack Obama

Bud Selig, Commissioner, Major League Baseball: Democratic National Comm.

Danny Ainge, Executive Director of Basketball Operations, Boston Celtics: Mitt Romney

Rich Gotham, President, Boston Celtics: Mitt Romney

Wyc Grousbeck, Owner, Boston Celtics: Mitt Romney, Barack Obama

Jeremy Jacobs, Owner, Boston Bruins: John Edwards

Posted by Alex Speier

DANA POINT, Calif.–Red Sox G.M. Theo Epstein said that he had an extensive conversation with reliever Mike Timlin towards the end of the 2008 campaign. At that time, Timlin was leaning towards returning for another season in 2009, though the pitcher and Epstein reached “a mutual understanding that Boston probably wouldn’t be the best fit for him going forward, that there would be other places with greater opportunities.”

“But what a career that guy had in Boston,” Epstein said. “He was really the staple down there for us–very reliable, very effective, a big part of two World Series teams. We should not let the offseason go by without tipping our cap to him.”

Posted by Alex Speier

DANA POINT, Calif. — Speaking at the General Manager’s Meetings, San Diego GM Kevin Towers reported that pitcher Jake Peavy is open to a trade to five National League teams, and two American League teams, neither one being the Red Sox. The NL teams are the Braves, Astros, Cubs, Dodgers, and Cardinals, while the AL teams are the Yankees and Angels.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with the Red Sox, who are a great organization,” said Towers. “Why certain places are on his list, I couldn’t answer why (the Sox) are off and New York is on.”

Towers acknowledged the possibility that the 2007 Cy Young winner could have a change of heart about the teams to whom he would be willing to go in a trade. All the same, Towers is not inclined to pursue deals with those clubs that Peavy might not approve.

“I’ve been very clear with (Peavy’s agent) Barry (Axelrod), I don’t want to waste people’s time,” said Towers. “I don’t want to spend time talking to clubs (in) the places he has no interest in going to.”

Towers said that Peavy’s preference remains to play in the National League, but that if a deal couldn’t be worked out with any of those teams, then he would be open to considering the two A.L. teams. Towers was under the impression that Peavy would not seek to renegotiate his contract if traded to the Angels (the pitcher owns a house near Anaheim Stadium), but that he would likely seek additional compensation beyond the four years and $60 million (with an option for a fifth year that would push the value of the deal to $78 million) to move to the Yankees.

Posted by Alex Speier

DANA POINT, Calif. — Speaking at the General Manager’s Meetings at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort, Red Sox GM Theo Epstein confirmed he has signed a new deal with the Sox to continue in his current position, although he wouldn’t disclose terms or years.

“That’s done. It was taken care of a while back,” he said. “Hopefully, (the duration is) long enough but not too long.”

Epstein, who has now spent six seasons as the Red Sox G.M. and has overseen two World Series winners and five playoff squads, praised the organization in clarifying his reasons for re-upping with the club.

“When you sit back and think about one day being a general manager, this is exactly the sort of organization you’d want to work for,” said Epstein. “We have great fans, great ownership resources and, just as important, a tremendous foundation carved by our scouting and player development departments which, if we don’t screw it up, should lead to some long-term success. That’s why we’re all in this game: to work with good people and to try to win the World Series as many times as you can.”

Posted by Alex Speier

DANA POINT, Calif. — Greetings from the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort lobby, where I will be spending the better part of this week chasing the ignition of the hot stove burners. I could easily complain about the exhaustion following the early-morning flight, but after encountering Red Sox Vice President of Player Personnel Ben Cherington–who ran the New York City Marathon in just over four hours on Sunday and then immediately jumped on a plane to attend these meetings.

Dodgers GM Ned Colletti just held court on a few toics, among them:

-He has neither met with agent Scott Boras nor made an offer to Boras client Manny Ramirez.
-It would be “difficult, but not impossible” to sign both Ramirez and free-agent pitcher CC Sabathia.
-The Dodgers want resolution on the Ramirez contract situation relatively soon so that the rest of their offseason is not held hostage to his contract demands.
-The Dodgers offseason priorities include addressing the left side of the infield, bullpen and starting pitching. Informed that he had not mentioned a power-hitting left-fielder, Colletti chuckled.
“We’re always looking for a power hitter. That should go without saying,” Colletti said. “In fact, it just did.”
-There has not been any indication to date of whether Nomar Garciaparra or Jeff Kent plan on playing or retiring.

We’ll have plenty more in the coming hours and days.

Posted by Ian Meropol

Posted by Paul Flannery

The Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson rumors had been out there for a couple of days, but it was still a bit of a shock to see it actually happen. The Nuggets get Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheikh Samb (whose name defies spell-check) and the Pistons now have The Answer some seven years after almost getting him from the Sixers. The hold-up in that deal was Matt Geiger’s refusal to give up his trade-kicker, which earned him some honorary MVP votes from the Philly media when the Sixers made it to the NBA Finals that year. (And now you know.)

At any rate, the trade is unique in that it ends two eras, one successful the other not so much, and changes the NBA landscape considerably. After the jump, what it all means. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Joe Haggerty

Mike Tyson thought he saw King Hippo and Soda Popinski playing for the B's on Saturday night...

A light practice for the B’s this morning with only a handful of guys twirling around on the ice (Blake Wheeler, Chuck Kobasew, David Krejci, Michael Ryder, Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez) and everybody else getting in a quick work out and then bolting into a crisp November afternoon in New England.

A bit more of a media presence at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington this morning with several local news stations getting some reaction after Saturday night’s compelling, in-your-face win over the Dallas Stars. Every player to a man agreed