Baldelli Announced To RSN At A Red Sox News Conference...Smoltz Will Have His Soon

Good Friday morning. The end of the week is upon us, thankfully. On Thursday, the Boston Red Sox held a news conference to introduce their newest player, Rocco Baldelli. He will be the fourth outfielder for the club, and that's an important spot to fill. He'll wear Nomar's number five, marking the first time anyone will wear that digit on their uniform since Nomar vamoosed willingly. For those of you who might be unhappy that the club did that, get over it. It's only a number. In fact, Boston should hand out number 21 to a future player (thanks Jere). They will someday. Roger has no chance of the Red Sox putting that number up in the rafters with the hallowed ones. EVER. No chance at all.

Back to the news conference...here's what Theo Epstein had to say about the Baldelli signing...

"This is a very exciting day for the organization," GM Theo Epstein said. "We’ve admired Rocco from afar for a long time now as a player and as a person and we think he is a great fit for this organization going forward. Couldn’t be happier to announce the signing here today."

And here are a couple quotes from Rocco on the signing and on the number he will don...

"My family and friends are as crazy as any other Red Sox fans out there," Baldelli said. "I know the loyalty that these people here have for this team and it’s really an honor for me to be a part of it."

And about number five...

"It was brought to my attention that obviously this has always been a special number in this town and I recognize that as much as anybody ..." Baldelli said. "I accept it and I think it’s great and I am very happy about it."

And now on to John Smoltz. Smoltz issued a statement through his agent and said he had little choice except to talk with other teams after hearing what the Braves planned to offer. Here it is, in part...

‘‘I was going to withhold comment until the announcement of my signing with a new team, but I now feel the need to clear up any misconceptions and inaccuracies about the contract negotiations between myself and the Atlanta Braves,’’ he said. ‘‘There were large discrepancies between the offer from the Braves and offers from other teams. I have always loved the city of Atlanta, and it will always be my home," Smoltz said in his statement. "I will cherish my 21 years with Bobby Cox and all my Braves' teammates. I continue to wish the Atlanta Braves nothing but success in the future."

Peter here. Baldelli will make a base salary of $500, 000 with incentives which could baloon that figure to $2.25 million. I hope he gets it all. The Smoltz money details have not been made official, but some wire services report a base salary of approximately $5 million with performance incentives that could double it. Bon chance, John.

That's a wrap for now. You can click on the title of this post to go to the Boston Globe Red Sox homepage. There are a lot of great articles there. As always, BE WELL. Shalom. Aloha. Ciao.