Back To Back, 'Belli To 'Belli

Tim Wakefield's "personal" catcher will be back for another season in 2008, and I'm happy about it. Yes, he can catch the unpredictable Wakefield knuckleball as well as anyone, but we all have to hope he can raise his batting average to a more respectable number. This is from the Boston Herald...

"According to sources, Mirabelli has agreed in principle a one-year deal from the team that will pay him in the range of a guaranteed $550,000 to serve as backup to Jason Varitek. The guaranteed portion of the deal is down from the $750,000 Mirabelli earned last season, but incentives allow the catcher to reach an approximate $1 million ceiling that he had last year."

Peter here. Our catcher situation (for now...think Varitek and new contract) is secure, but the Red Sox have done nothing yet to bolster the bullpen with another arm or two. And the skipper still needs a contract deal. And, of course, the Santana talks seem to have been on hold for a long time. In fact, there is more trade talk coming from the Mets' camp than anywhere else, so who knows what will happen. Johan is building a new house in the Fort Myers, Florida area, the city where both the Twinkies and the Red Sox have their spring training facilities. But with the size of his coming contract, he can afford to build another home virtually anywhere on the globe. Oh, what a feeling that must be!

That's all I have time for on this cold and rainy Friday morning, but I will be back later today if there is any news I can hunt down. Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend, my friends, and be safe out there. You can click on this post's title for the entire Herald article.