Projo Sox Blog

NEW YORK (AP) -- Marcus Thames agreed Monday to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees, who also finalized a $1.1 million, one-year deal with Randy Winn to give themselves more left field options.

Thames, who turns 33 next month, began his major league career with the Yankees in 2002 and homered on his first big league pitch that June 10 off Arizona's Randy Johnson. Thames was traded to Texas in June 2003 for Ruben Sierra, then let go by the Rangers after the season.

He spent the last six seasons with Detroit and hit .252 with 13 homers and 36 RBIs last year, down from 25 homers and 56 RBIs the previous season. He would get a $900,000, one-year contract if added to the 40-man roster and have the chance to earn an additional $900,0000 in performance bonuses.

The right-handed-hitting Thames could find himself alongside center fielder Curtis Granderson, his former Tigers teammate, and complement the switch-hitting Winn, who hit .292 from the left side last year and .158 from the right. Thames batted .257 against lefties and .248 vs. righties.

Speedy Brett Gardner also is in the mix for outfield playing time.

Winn's $900,000 in performance bonuses are based on plate appearances against left-handed pitchers only. He would get $100,000 each for 50, 75 and 100, and $150,000 apiece for 125, 150, 175 and 200.

Winn's deal, reached Jan. 27 subject to a physical, pretty much eliminated any chance Johnny Damon had of returning to the World Series champions.

Winn hit .262 overall with two homers and 51 RBIs for San Francisco last season. The 35-year-old was an All-Star in 2002, when he batted .298 with 14 homers and 75 RBIs for Tampa Bay.

Curt Schilling wrote on his blog, 38pitches.com, this morning that it should be a no-brainer for the Boston Red Sox to give ace Josh Beckett a contract extension. Schilling writes that the only worry would be Beckett's health but it becomes a no-brainer when it comes to Beckett's dedication. Schilling goes on to write: "There is not a sliver of a chance that you get anything less than his total focus, concentration and effort for every day he's under contract, no matter who that is with."

With spring training less than two weeks away, the Red Sox have announced the 20 non-roster players who will receive spring training invitations in 2010.

The non-roster invitees supplement the group of players who are on the 40-man roster. Most of these players will not break camp with the major league club; they are a combination of minor-league veterans and prospects that the club feels could use the opportunity to train with the major leaguers.

The non-roster invitees are pitchers Randor Bierd, Fernando Cabrera, Kris Johnson, Casey Kelly, Adam Mills, Edwin Moreno, Joe Nelson, Brian Shouse, Jorge Sosa and Kyle Weiland; catchers Luis Exposito and Gustavo Molina; infielders Lars Anderson, Yamaico Navarro, Angel Sanchez and Gil Velazquez; and outfielders Zach Daeges, Ryan Kalish, Che-Hsuan Lin and Darnell McDonald.

Kelly is normally ranked as one of the two best players in the Sox minor league system; Anderson held that rank before a dismal 2009 saw him unseated. Kalish, Lin, Navarro, Weiland, and Exposito are also prospects on the rise. Bierd, Cabrera, McDonald, Molina, Moreno, Nelson, Sanchez, Shouse, Sosa, and Velazquez have all seen the majors before, and are largely seen as depth players. Johnson and Daeges are former prospects in need of bounce-back springs. Mills is a Triple-A pitcher with smarts and talent, but perhaps not as much potential as the top prospects.

Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report Feb. 18. The rest of the squad will follow by Feb. 23.

LAGUNA NIGEL, Calif. (AP) -- The ball Alex Rodriguez hit for his 500th home run has sold at auction for $103,579.

SCP Auctions said Thursday the buyer decided to remain anonymous.

The ball, hit off Kansas City pitcher Kyle Davies, was recovered by a college student at the old Yankee Stadium on Aug. 4, 2007.

SCP also sold the balls Barry Bonds hit for his 755 and 756th home runs.

Kevin Millar, who signed a minor-league contract with the Chicago Cubs on Friday, says he will bring more to the Cubs than just his performance on the field.

"Everybody is looking at stats ... I get it," Millar said Friday on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "But my point is when you're making a team and trying to bring in a bunch of different personalities I think everybody's got a certain amount of intangibles that they bring.

To read the entire story click here.

Red Sox minority owner Jeff Vinik has agreed to purchase the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL.

Vinik, 50, lives in Boston and is the founder of Vinik Asset Management. He bought the Lightning from OK Hockey, LLC.

"Buying the Lightning and joining the Tampa Bay community is a dream come true," said Vinik. "I've been an avid hockey fan my whole life and I pledge to our fans that I will work my hardest to build the Lightning into a world class organization both on and off the ice."

Vinik is best known around Red Sox Nation for the foul ball his son, Danny (pictured to the right), caught during the 2007 ALDS.

Vinik and his family were sitting a few rows behind the Red Sox on-deck circle when Manny Ramirez hit a lazy pop up in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Danny Vinik, then 17, reached up and outbattled Angels catcher Jeff Mathis for the ball. The play kept Ramirez's at-bat alive and eventually leading to Boston's tying run.

--JOE McDONALD

The New York Yankees 2009 World Series trophy will be on display at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., on Saturday, Feb. 13 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fans can view and take photographs of the trophy, which will be on display in the Spring Gateway located in The Shops.

WEEI.com's Rob Bradford writes that, according to a post on Twitter from NPB Tracker, Japanese newspaper Sports Hochi is reporting that the Red Sox are one of four teams to offer left-handed pitcher Hisanori Takahashi a minor league contract.

The Fox network's baseball schedule includes two Red Sox games against National League teams in prime time at 7 o'clock on Saturday night -- May 22 at Philadelphia and June 26 at San Francisco.

Click here to read more.

By Bill Shaikin
Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES -- The "Ramirez Provision" is no more.

The Los Angeles Dodgers -- and all other major league teams -- cannot mandate that a player donate to club charities as part of his contract, the commissioner's office and players' union have agreed.

Michael Weiner, the executive director of the players' union, said the agreement does not restrict players from making donations but ensures the choice is theirs.

"The goal here never has been to interfere with players making charitable contributions, which guys have a long history of doing," Weiner said Wednesday.

As part of the $45-million contract he signed last March, Manny Ramirez agreed to donate $1 million to the Dodgers' charitable foundation. Owner Frank McCourt said he would implement the "Ramirez Provision," asking players to make a donation at an amount of their choosing as part of all future Dodgers contracts.

The union filed a grievance soon thereafter, alleging the Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and 20 other teams had improperly mandated donations to club charities in the contracts of at least 109 players.

Under the settlement agreement, which resolves the grievance, clubs can demand such donations from players signing as free agents or signing long-term contracts that buy out one or more years of free agency, according to a management official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been officially announced.

Those players have the option to sign elsewhere. Players not yet eligible for free agency cannot be compelled to donate, the management official said, much as a company cannot compel its employees to contribute to a United Way fund drive.

Weiner said the agreement is not intended to override existing contracts. Officials still are finalizing details for donations from the 10 players that signed such contracts after the grievance was filed.

"For the most part, all existing contracts will be honored," Weiner said.

Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch said he was not aware of the ruling but expected the club would comment at a later date.