Posted by Jessica Camerato

If there was any doubt of the Boston Celtics motivation to defend their title, Rajon Rondo has found another source of inspiration. For Rondo it’s not about what he’d win but rather who he’d get to meet. He explains on his Election Day YardBarker.com blog entry:

Rondo wants to get back here in '09

“I just got back in the locker room. We just got the W in Houston, and I had to blog. OBAMA IS THE PRESIDENT! I can’t even explain how I feel right now. All I have to say is that we have to repeat, because we have to go back to the White House to meet Obama. I’m glad to see that everyone got out and voted today. I made sure I voted last week before we left for this road trip because I knew how important this election was going to be. Every vote counted! Thanks to everyone that got out and voted today. God Bless America. We did it.”

Posted by Alex Speier

Amidst reports the Braves have made a substantial offer to Junichi Tazawa–a pitcher who bypassed the draft in Japan in hopes of playing Major League Baseball–Boston G.M. Theo Epstein remained tight-lipped about his team’s interest in the 22-year-old right-hander.

“He’s an employee of another company. We’re not going to comment on it. We respect the company that he’s with, and we’re not going to comment on it,” said Epstein. “It doesn’t make sense for us to comment on anything with regards to international scouting.”

Epstein declined to say whether the team would pursue the pitcher as a free agent, instead demurring by suggesting that he remains an employee of Eneos Oil. Though Epstein would not address Tazawa specifically, he did suggest that the presence of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima on the Sox, along with the work of Vice President/International Scouting Craig Shipley and Pacific Rim scouting coordinator Jon Deeble, had put the Sox in a strong position to acquire talent from Japan.

“(The presence of Matsuzaka and Okajima) seems to have helped,” said Epstein. “The relationships that Craig Shipley and Jon Deeble have built over there are probably the most important factors.”

–The Sox will meet with Scott Boras tomorrow to discuss Jason Varitek as well as Alex Cora and any other players in whom the Sox have interest.

–The Sox exchanged general ideas with other teams about trade possibilities, but with nothing substantive to report. Both the Sox and Padres shot down a rumor that the teams were contemplating a trade of Boston centerfielder Coco Crisp for Padres shortstop Khalil Greene. “Totally inaccurate,” said San Diego G.M. Kevin Towers.

–The Sox have not decided what to do to replace first-base coach Luis Alicea, whom the team did not ask to return for the 2009 season. “We’re still in the relatively early stages of that,” said Epstein.

–Mike Lowell is expected to make a full recovery from his right hip surgery. “He’s had a surgery that has a really good track record for multiple sports,” said Epstein, who cited a football lineman who returned in roughly three months. “He’s already feeling great. He’s already a little ahead of schedule. The reports couldn’t be any better. We’ll see. It’s a real surgery, but the expectation of all the doctors and experts is that he’ll be 100 percent.”

–Advance scout Todd Claus, who had managed the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs in 2006, has left to take a job at Jacksonville University to be closer to home. The Sox have not decided whether they will continue to rotate two advance scouts (Dana Levangie and Claus had alternated advance scouting series for the past two years), or whether Levangie will do most of the heavy lifting going forward.

–The Sox 40-man roster currently sits at 34 members. The team needs to replace roles on the major-league team (including finding a new starting catcher and re-signing or replacing part-timers Alex Cora, Mark Kotsay and Sean Casey), but Epstein characterized the team as being in good shape when it comes time to set the 40-man prior to the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings.

–While Epstein did not give a specific payroll figure for the 2008 Sox, he did say that the Sox fell under the luxury tax threshold this year, the first time that has happened since the 2003 season.

–Shortstop Julio Lugo is likely to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic. Epstein said that he would have been available had the Sox reached the World Series. Though Lugo had what his G.M. characterized as “a disappointing year,” and “has something to prove,” Epstein noted that he produced a .355 OBP. “That’s hard to find in a middle infielder,” he suggested. (Lugo ranked sixth among major-league shortstops with at least 300 plate appearances — here’s the list.)

Posted by Alex Speier

DANA POINT, Calif. — Both the Red Sox and Padres are denying a report earlier today in the Tacoma News-Tribune saying that the Sox are offering Coco Crisp for shortstop Khalil Greene. “Totally inaccurate,” said San Diego general manager Kevin Towers from the General Managers Meetings.

Posted by Alex Speier

DANA POINT, Calif.–Reporters at the G.M. meetings tend to congregate in a lobby rotunda of the St. Regis Monarch Beach, largely because all traffic tends to pass through it. At the same time, the area has its drawbacks, foremost among them the fact that the rotunda acts as something of an echo chamber.

Agent Scott Boras at first started speaking there, but was clearly spooked by the echoing acoustics.

“It’s bad enough having to listen to myself,” he said.

Boras relocated to a less reverberating setting where he would not have to hear himself, but many, many reporters could gain insight into the possibilities for a number of his free-agent clients. Among them:

–He compared Jason Varitek physically to Bob Boone and Carlton Fisk, catchers who played into their 40s.

“These players played everyday until they were 42, and continued to play at a very high level,” said Boras.

Boras noted that Varitek’s value is defined not by his offense, but instead by his contributions to the pitching staff and a winning team, and noted that the Sox had a winning percentage of better than 60 percent in games started by Varitek this year, compared to a sub-.500 record with another backstop.

“(Red Sox owner) John Henry said it best,” said Boras. “He said, ‘Whatever has been said about Jason Varitek, not enough can be said.”

Boras also bristled when asked whether Varitek’s reduced offensive productivity (.220 average, .313 OBP, .359 slugging) might affect his value.

“When you talk about Jason’s down year, I basically take issue with the terminology,” said Boras, repeating his insistence that a catcher’s worth is defined by his defense and record. “I know from the past negotiation with Boston, his offense was a very small value in the marketplace.”

Boras also acknowledged that Varitek, whose wife filed for divorce this summer, dealt with some “personal issues off the field that certainly had some impact” on his performance. But the agent remained optimistic about his client’s potential turnaround, recalling that Boone hit .202 as a 36-year-old but rebounded to hit .295 as a 40-year-old.

While the four-year, $52 million deal conferred upon Yankees catcher Jorge Posada prior to the 2008 season was used as one point of comparison–at least from the standpoint of age (Posada was 35 when he re-signed with the Yankees) and winning percentage–Boras suggested that Varitek is unique.

“His marketplace is unto himself because of the value he supplies,” said Boras.

Boras said that he would meet soon with Red Sox G.M. Theo Epstein to discuss his client.

–Boras characterized a vigorous industry-wide interest in the services of Mark Teixeira, and suggested that the power-hitting, Gold Glove first baseman would likely have to restrict conversations to fewer teams than have demonstrated interest. “(Interest) is as widespread as it can be. There’s probably too many teams involved,” said Boras. “We’re not going to be negotiating with as many teams as have interest, that’s for sure…I don’t want to put a number on it.

“For a variety of reasons, he’s just attracted a lot of interest from a lot of teams. Teams that you wouldn’t think were interested were willing to move players, open up positions, to have him be a part of their franchise.”

Boras would not clarify whether the Red Sox–who have Kevin Youkilis at first base, but could make room for a player like Teixeira by shifting Youkilis to third–was among them.

Boras said that a player like Teixeira–young and productive both at the plate and in the field–reaches free agency roughly five or so times a decade, citing Alex Rodriguez as one such example.

–Boras compared outfielder Manny Ramirez to Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds as a benchmark of the sort of contract duration he seeks. With both of those multi-MVP winners, Boras secured contracts that would last through age 42. “(Ramirez) does more for you than production. He creates millions of dollars of revenue,” Boras noted, suggesting that Ramirez is a franchise player who creates ticket sales and revenue, and who also helped the Indians to their first two World Series appearances since 1954, and then helped the Sox win their first two World Series since 1918.

More on the Boras session in a bit…

Posted by Alex Speier

Speaking to reporters at the General Manager’s Meetings in Dana Point, Calif., agent Scott Boras said the Jason Varitek deserved a contract comprable to Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who signed a four-year, $52.4 million deal last offseason. Boras cited the catchers’ similar age at the time of their free agency, along with the fact that the Red Sox have a 60 percent winning percentage when Varitek has started over the last five years. Boras also surmised that the Sox’ captain’s personal issues played a hand in his struggles over the 2008 season.

Posted by Alex Speier

Craig Landis serves as the player agent for Cubs pitchers Ryan Dempster and Bobby Howry. He also represents former Red Sox Jay Payton. Payton, of course, forced his way out of Boston in 2005, manufacturing a dugout altercation with manager Terry Francona to protest his part-time role in the Sox outfield.

“I don’t think Jay will be returning to Boston,” Landis mused.

Posted by Joe Haggerty

Seriously...what do I have to do to get on the ballot?

Tim Thomas clearly is the Rodney Dangerfield of NHL goalies.

NHL Eastern Conference All-Star last year? Check.

Leading the entire NHL with a .944 save percentage? Check. 

Second in the NHL behind the excellent Ryan Miller with a 1.82 goals against average thus far this season? Check. 

Thomas had a breakout season last year where he actually picked up the win during the NHL All-Star game and helped lead an overachieving Bruins team to a Stanley Cup playoff berth, but that didn’t seem to be enough to qualify Thomas as one of the 10 Eastern Conference goaltenders good enough for the All-Star ballot. It seems that there isn’t anything the athletic, do-or-die Thomas can do to rise any higher than the already admittedly-excellent inspirational story of a  journeyman turned regular netminder in the NHL.

Thomas won 28 games, finished fourth in the NHL with a .921 save percentage last season and piled up three shutouts while firmly establishing himself between the Black and Gold’s pipes, but that’s obviously done nothing for his rep around the loathe-to-change NHL.

“”He’s certainly found his groove. He’s been extremely good for us, especially in the last week. So we’ve been riding him,” said Claude Julien of Thomas before learning about the NHL All-Star Ballot snub. “We’ve said from Day 1 that if somebody was going to start playing extremely well, we would take advantage of it. We also have Manny, who I thought has played well also. But Timmy’s caught fire.

“We think he played extremely well that last week where he’s given us some opportunities to win some pretty important games. That’s Tim battling as usual,” added Julien.

Here’s the full release from the NHL:

The NHL released the 104-player ballot for XM/NHL All-Star
Fan Balloting presented by 2K Sports today, with Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno
Chara and Marc Savard representing the Bruins. Voting opens Nov. 12.

Bergeron has posted 3-5=8 totals, a +5 rating and has won 58.7 percent
of his faceoffs (eighth in the league) in the Bruins 12 games this
season, while Savard has recorded five goals, 10 assists and a +6
rating.  Savard’s 15 points rank tied for third in the NHL as of
Tuesday, November 4.  A Norris Trophy finalist last year, Chara has
three assists on the season while averaging a team high 26:41 of ice
time per game.

Chara, Savard, and goaltender Tim Thomas appeared in last year’s
all-star festivities.  Thomas was the winning goaltender in the All Star
game, Savard tallied the winning goal and Chara won the Hardest Shot
competition with a 103.1 MPH blast during the SuperSkills event.

In a first for all major professional sports leagues, the NHL will
provide real-time All-Star fan balloting results online at NHL.com. From
Nov. 12 through Jan. 2, NHL fans will be able to vote as often as they
like to select the starting lineups for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in
Montreal. Fans around the world can vote online via interactive English
and French ballots at Vote.NHL.com. Those in the U.S. and Canada also
will be able to cast their votes via text message using any wireless
carrier. During the voting period, real-time results will be available
exclusively on Vote.NHL.com/results. This marks the third consecutive
year the All-Star Balloting process is entirely digital.

Fans can vote for up to six Eastern Conference players and six Western
Conference players: three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender.
For the first time, fans will be permitted to select as few as one
player — a balloted player or write-in — per online ballot at
Vote.NHL.com or via text message. The three forwards, two defensemen and
one goaltender from each Conference receiving the most votes will
comprise the starting lineups. Each of the 30 NHL clubs has at least two
representatives on the ballot.

The NHL will promote XM NHL All-Star Fan Balloting presented by 2K
Sports across its TV, print, online and wireless advertising platforms.
Promotional support will be provided by the NHL Network, NHL Radio and
broadcast partners VERSUS (U.S.), CBC (Canada) and RDS (Canada).
Promotional materials for the campaign, in both English and French, will
launch on Wednesday, Nov. 12, the first day of balloting.

The 2009 NHL All-Star Weekend in Montreal will celebrate the Montreal
Canadiens’ Centennial season with live national broadcasts of the
Honda/NHL SuperSkills event on Saturday, Jan. 24 and the NHL All-Star
Game on Sunday, Jan. 25, on VERSUS in the United States and CBC and RDS
in Canada.

The Bruins return to action on Thursday, November 6 when they host the
Toronto Maple Leafs at 7:00 p.m. ET.

2008-09 XM / NHL All-Star Fan Ballot

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Goaltenders
Martin Biron, Philadelphia Flyers, Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils,
Rick DiPietro, New York Islanders, Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh
Penguins, Kari Lehtonen, Atlanta Thrashers, Henrik Lundqvist, New York
Rangers, Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres, Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens,
Vesa Toskala, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tomas Vokoun, Florida Panthers

Defensemen
Jay Bouwmeester, Florida Panthers, Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins, Sergei
Gonchar, Pittsburgh Penguins, Mike Green, Washington Capitals, Tomas
Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs, Mike Komisarek, Montreal Canadiens, Andrei
Markov, Montreal Canadiens, Teppo Numminen, Buffalo Sabres, Chris
Phillips, Ottawa Senators, Wade Redden, New York Rangers, Kimmo Timonen,
Philadelphia Flyers, Ryan Whitney, Pittsburgh Penguins

Forwards
Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators, Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins,
Daniel Briere, Philadelphia Flyers, Rod Brind’Amour, Carolina
Hurricanes, Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chris Drury, New York
Rangers, Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils, Simon Gagne, Philadelphia
Flyers, Scott Gomez, New York Rangers, Dany Heatley, Ottawa Senators,
Trent Hunter, New York Islanders, Saku Koivu, Montreal Canadiens, Ilya
Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers, Alex Kovalev, Montreal Canadiens, Vincent
Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning, Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins,
Markus Naslund, New York Rangers, Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils, Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers,
Brian Rolston, New Jersey Devils, Derek Roy, Buffalo Sabres, Martin St.
Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning, Marc Savard, Boston Bruins, Alexander Semin,
Washington Capitals, Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators, Eric Staal, Carolina
Hurricanes, Alex Tanguay, Montreal Canadiens, Thomas Vanek, Buffalo
Sabres, Ray Whitney, Carolina Hurricanes

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Goaltenders
Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild, Ilya Bryzgalov, Phoenix Coyotes, J.S.
Giguere, Anaheim Ducks, Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames, Pascal
Leclaire, Columbus Blue Jackets, Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks,
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks, Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings, Marty
Turco, Dallas Stars

Defensemen
Rob Blake, San Jose Sharks, Dan Boyle, San Jose Sharks, Brent Burns,
Minnesota Wild, Brian Campbell, Chicago Blackhawks, Nicklas Lidstrom,
Detroit Red Wings, Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks, Dion Phaneuf,
Calgary Flames, Chris Pronger, Anaheim Ducks, Brian Rafalski, Detroit
Red Wings, Robyn Regehr, Calgary Flames, Sheldon Souray, Edmonton
Oilers, Shea Weber, Nashville Predators

Forwards
Jason Arnott, Nashville Predators, Brad Boyes, St. Louis Blues, Dustin
Brown, Los Angeles Kings, Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings, Shane Doan,
Phoenix Coyotes, Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Wild, Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim
Ducks, Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche, Ales Hemsky, Edmonton Oilers,
Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton Oilers, Marian Hossa, Detroit Red Wings, Jarome
Iginla, Calgary Flames, Olli Jokinen, Phoenix Coyotes, Patrick Kane,
Chicago Blackhawks, Paul Kariya, St. Louis Blues, Mikko Koivu, Minnesota
Wild, Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings, Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks,
Mike Modano, Dallas Stars, Brenden Morrow, Dallas Stars, Rick Nash,
Columbus Blue Jackets, Mike Ribeiro, Dallas Stars, Brad Richards, Dallas
Stars, Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche, Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks,
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks, Paul Stastny, Colorado Avalanche, Joe
Thornton, San Jose Sharks, Keith Tkachuk, St. Louis Blues, Jonathan
Toews, Chicago Blackhawks, Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings

Posted by Joe Haggerty

Sobotka will get plenty of minutes in Providence this weekend

Matt Hunwick and Vladimir Sobotka have both been piling up the DNP-CD’s for Bruins coach Claude Julien as this year’s version of the Black and Gold begins to take shape, and the B’s made a move this afternoon in clear recognition of that.

Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli announced today that the club has assigned forward Vladimir Sobotka to the Providence Bruins (AHL). Since being recalled to Boston on October 14, Sobotka has appeared in five games with the Bruins during the 2008-2009 season and has been a healthy scratch in the last four.

The move seems a likely precursor to a return by skilled, scrappy winger Chuck Kobasew to the Bruins lineup on Thursday after missing nearly a month with a fractured right ankle. Kobasew went down during the Oct. 9 season opener when he took a slapshot off the right ankle, but has been skating with the team over a week in anticipation of a return.

Prior to being recalled, Sobotka posted 2-2=4 totals to go along with seven penalty minutes in two games with Providence. He also posted a “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” in an Oct. 12 game against Springfield, notching an overtime goal, an assist, and a fight. Sobotka split the 2007-2008 season between Boston and Providence. 

With Boston, he saw action in 48 regular season games and contributed one goal and six assists and added two goals in six postseason games.  With Providence last year, he had 10-10-20 totals in 18 regular season games and added four assists over six postseason games.

Sobotka was originally drafted by the Bruins in the 4th round, 106th overall, in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. The Boston Bruins return to action on Thursday, November 6 when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7:00 p.m. ET.  The P-Bruins play three games in three nights beginning Friday, November 7 when they host the Chicago Wolves, travel to Albany to face the River Rats on Saturday, November 8 and return home to play the Philadelphia Phantoms on Sunday, November 9.

“He’s going to go down to play a few games, and I think we need to give those guys an opportunity to keep developing,” said B’s coach Claude Julien. “Playing three games in three nights [in Providence] is going to help [Sobotka].”

The move to drop Sobotka’s $750,000 salary cap hit leaves the Bruins roughly $1.5 million under the salary cap.