The Red Sox have signed two new players in the last few days. Brad Penny, a well-known and talented right handed pitcher from the LA Dodgers, was signed to a one-year deal worth $5 million, with an extra $3 million to be paid if he pitches more than 160 innings in the season. He just came off a rough batting year with LA. But before that, he had a great season, so perhaps a change of venue is just what he needs. The BoSox have also signed catcher Josh Bard for $1.6 million. Bard is known as a decent catcher and he is going to do great work for the team. They also need some extra support behind the plate, so that should be a positive, no question!

Like most of the baseball teams right now, the Boston Red Sox don’t have a lot of news to report. The big trades are already done and the Sox just need to wait for spring training. However, they have a pretty nice article about their entertaining run last year on their website. Click here to read the article.

Teixeira has been lost. The Red Sox did decide against continuing to bid on Teixeira. The Yankees had more money and they used it to great use this time. They will give this guy millions and millions to play for them, plus a $5 million signing bonus over the first few years. Man, the Red Sox lost this one. But then again, they will be working hard at something else, I’m sure. It’s not like the Red Sox are in as much trouble as the Yanks have been lately, but it’s still annoying that the Yankees can just win bidding wars like this. Grr. Next time!

The Red Sox, at first seemed overly obsequious in their efforts to get Texas outfielder Mark Teixeira on their team. Anything they could do to ingratiate him they were ready to do. However, the Sox management has recently reported that they will be backing off from the seemingly inevitable deal with Tex. After they failed to reach any agreement with his agent Scott Boras, the Red Sox have decided to leave him up for grabs.

The Red Sox unveiled a new logo to be shown on their road jerseys this coming season. It’s not that big a difference from the earlier version. It has the usual hanging socks, but without the words Boston or Red Sox on it. It’s just the stand alone hanging socks. The original hanging socks were introduced in 1931, but they decided they didn’t need to clarify it with words anymore. It also doesn’t have the typical circle around the logo like it used to. There’s not a lot to say about it, but it’s good to know. So when you watch your Sox play in other cities, then you’ll know what the difference is in their jerseys.

Mark Teixeira may be going a few hours into the future. The former Anaheim Angel now free agent is suspected to be receiving a hefty offer from the Boston Red Sox camp very shortly. Teixeira is a completely well rounded player who has no holes in his game. In fact, he excels at every aspect. For this reason, the Sox are going to be extremely aggressive with their contract offering. While they usually don’t dole out big figured contracts, Sox GM Theo Epstein seems to be willing to make an exception for a player of Teixeira’s caliber. Read here for more information.

There really isn’t any news about the Boston Red Sox at the moment. We hope that the team is working on some good deals. Star player A-Rod will be representing the Dominican Republic at the World Baseball Classic. But there isn’t much else going on.  So just take this time to think about nice warm days in a baseball stadium or warm evenings playing baseball with your friends. It is a good antidote to the cold weather this time of year in Boston.

Tazawa is in. This past Thursday, Tazawa was officially introduced/welcome to the Red Sox organization at a press conference at Fenway Park. Though he was being courted by many programs in Japan and the MLB, Tazawa chose the Red Sox because of their storied history, fellow Japanese players, and Japanese translators. In addition to that, he feels a certain loyalty to the Red Sox since they were the first team to scout him. He is now signed to a 3 year contract with Boston.

Eri Yoshida, a Japanese teenager, thinks the Red Sox’s Tim Wakefield is amazing. In fact, he is her role model for pitching. This, however, is not just some Japanese teenager, but instead Japan’s first female major leaguer. She has modeled her pitching style on that of Wakefield, who throws an impressive knuckleball get batters out. She pitches the same way and seems to get really good results over there too. Now she has a spot on the rotation of a major league team in Kobe, Japan. This is a strong signal that a kind of glass ceiling has been broken now and we may see more Eri Yoshidas coming up in the next few years!