Hitting the Links - Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins
Red Sox
- David Ortiz has officially ruled out playing in the All-Star Game as he continues to recover from a partially torn tendon sheath in his left wrist. The Large Father still plans to be in attendance to show love to the fans whose votes have kept him in the lead for the designated hitter spot, however.
- The Red Sox recently received a mail threat directed at several of the team's black and Latin players, including two team members who were referred to by name. As a result, the team will have additional security on hand during their 3-game series with the Rays. No word on whether James Shields, Johnny Gomes, Carl Crawford or any of the other gutless thugs that pig-piled Coco Crisp had anything to do with the penning of said letter.
- Coco Crisp had his 7-game suspension for his part in the altercation with the Rays several weeks ago reduced to 5 games. He'll still miss all 3 of games of the current Rays series, allaying any chance that Bud Selig may have had to deal with a repeat incident... maybe.
- Several media members believe that Rockies reliever Brian Fuentes may be on the Sox' radar. Due to the poor performances of Hideki Okajima and Mike Timlin (who should rejoin the big club in the next few days), and the inconsistency of Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen, Fuentes could be this year's version of Eric Gagne for the Sox (hopefully he performs a bit better, though).
- Curt Schilling hasn't ruled out a return to baseball after his recuperation from rather extensive shoulder / biceps surgery. In all likelihood he'd be seeking employment somewhere other than Boston, but given how long-winded "Curt from Medfield" can be, I'm sure he'll be able to talk someone into giving him a 1-year deal.
- Apparently, there was an incident recently between the lovable, easy-going Manny Ramirez and Red Sox travel secretary Jack McCormick. McCormick's one of the most well-respected figures in the front office and Manny's... well, he's Manny. We'll weigh in on this issue in much more detail tomorrow, but for now, our feeling is that this goes far beyond all the talk of "Manny being Manny" and calls into question the character and integrity of a man who's willing to toss a significantly older man (at least in relation to Manny) to the floor because he didn't get his way.
- Willie Andrews was arrested again, this time for allegedly pointing a gun at his girlfriend's head during an argument. Nice, Willie. As the Pats pride themselves on the exceptional quality of character of their players and personnel, you can bet that Andrews will be cut loose sooner rather than later.
- Chad Jackson has worked "extensively" with starters this summer and could possibly overtake Jabar Gaffney as the Patriots' third starting receiver if the promise he's shown early on is for real. Due to all the attention that Randy Moss and Wes Welker are sure to command this coming season, you could probably split Vince Wilfork out opposite Moss - with Welker staying in the slot - and have him end up with respectable numbers, but either way, it's nice to see Jackson flashing some of that potential we all heard about when the Pats took him in the second round (36th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft.
- Speaking of Moss, the receiver's Moss Motorsports will make its Craftsman Truck Series debut on July 19th and fittingly, the truck will be sporting the number 81. Real original, Randall Gene.
- This bit of news happened a while ago, but we wanted to mention that former Patriots OLB Roosevelt Colvin signed with the Houston Texans back on June 16th. The Pats likely would have loved to have had him back in some capacity, but he just made too much money for it to make sense for the team. Colvin will make $8.529 million over 3 years with Houston.
- With free agency beginning tomorrow, the Celts could soon have two key members joining the free agent market - as has been speculated for days, James Posey will opt out of the remaining year on his contract today, while the team is currently trying to decide whether or not to make a qualifying offer to Tony Allen. Both are said to be high priorities for the Celtics this offseason.
- Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins turned down offers to scrimmage with Team USA this summer. Within this same piece, we learn that Perk may need further surgery on his injured left shoulder.
- Dennis Wideman filed for arbitration. Once the arbitrators arrive at an award figure, the Bruins still have the option of neglecting to sign the player at that amount, resulting in the player becoming a free agent. Within this same piece, we learn that Glen Metropolit plans to test free agency before making a decision on the Bruins' current offer.
- The Bruins sent forward Matt Hendricks to the Colorado Avalanche for 2002 second rounder Johnny Boychuk. The defenseman appeared in 4 games last season and tallied 3 shots on goal.
- The Bruins agreed to a 2-year deal worth an average of $850,000 per year with Petteri Nokelainen. He had 7 goals and 3 assists in 57 games last season.
- On the eve of free agency, speculation is rampant as to who the Bruins will be targeting - a commenter on the Boston.com chat boards recently claimed to have seen a TSN television report in which analyst Bob McKenzie announced that he fully expects Marian Hossa to sign with the Bruins on July 1st. We'll see whether this report has any truth to it in the coming days, but is there any doubt that a top line of Bergeron-Savard-Hossa would be one of the best in the league?
Posted by Boston Sports Buzz at 6/30/2008 8:24 PM and is filed under Bruins,Red Sox,Celtics,Patriots 
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