While most people are dreaming of an off chance that Dontrelle Willis could recreate himself in a Boston Red Sox uniform, there is recent precedent that might point towards not rushing Julio Lugo out of town quite so quickly. Tell me if this story sounds even remotely familiar? An under-performing veteran coming off an injury plagued season, having never fulfilled his promise present at his debut as a member of the Boston Red Sox, has ...

From the likes of Wade Miller and Kyle Snyder to Bartolo Colon the Red Sox have often found value, or potential value in signing a veteran pitcher looking to right the ship after injury or at the end of their line to a one year deal and have them fill spots at the back of the rotation. That type of insurance policy combined with an influx of youth at the tail end of your rotation ...

Boston Red Sox podcast on MVN Radio, Episode #28 where the hot stove keeps us warm and we tool on Evan Grant in honor of the AL MVP.Episode #27Hosts: Paul Testa, Tim DaloisioGuests: None

As Thanksgiving approaches with the winter meetings not too far behind, Mark Teixeira is getting closer and closer to figuring out what ballpark he will call home next year.There has not been a ton of chatter surrounding Teixeira, but everyone knows the two big players for 'Tex' are the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees. There are, however, a couple other teams in the mix. Here's a ranking of who is most likely to ...

11:09am: The deal is official, according to a Royals press release. 10:23am: SI.com's Jon Heyman confirms the deal. 10:02am: Red Sox exec Ben Cherington was on XM's MLB Home Plate radio station recently. He says "the report is premature." 9:43am: MLB.com's Jim Molony received a "no comment" from the Red Sox on McRae's report. Royals exec Mike Arbuckle said Crisp is still under Red Sox control, while Kansas City Star writer Joe Posnanski says there's ...

I don't know; the whole thing sounds a little sketchy to me. But let's take it from the top: Eri Yoshida, a 16-year-old schoolgirl, has been drafted by the Kobe 9 Cruise, a new independent Japanese professional league based in Tokyo. It will be the first time that a chick of the female persuasion will play professional ball with the men in Japan. Also, the unfortunate arrangement of nouns and verbs on this site also ...

EU-tilhengerne blir stadig færre og oppslutningen om et norsk EU-medlemskap er nå lavere enn noensinne, viser to nye målinger.

MicrosoftのポータルLive.comが、今夜（米国時間11/12）大変身を遂げる。もうそれは、少々のオマケ機能をくっつけた単なる検索エンジンではない。なんとそれは今や、リッパなSNSだ。Web上のあちこちからいろんな活動情報やコンテンツを引っ張り寄せるのだ。それと同時にMicrosoftは、Windows Live Photos、Windows Live Peopleなどのサービスもロンチする。詳しくは、Home.Live.comを見てみて。 同サイトが今回やったことの多くは、まさしく、Yahooがこの1年間言いつづけてきたことだ…つまり、既存のソーシャルな接続を活用すること（Yahooはメールを使い、MicrosoftはMessengerを使っている）。そして、それらにプラスアルファを加えること。 ユーザは、MySpaceのメッセンジャー上のお友だちに自動的に接続される。それは、世界中で圧倒的にいちばん人気の高いメッセージングサービスだ（Comscoreによると、Microsoft Messengerの全世界のユーザ数は2億6800万、これに対してYahooは1億1600万、Google Talkは600万）。 ユーザはプロフィールの構築を求められ、ブログの上で作ったコンテンツ（あるいはいろんなRSSフィードやFlickr、LinkedIn、Pandora、Photobucket、iLike、Twitter、Wordpressなどの上のコンテンツ）も持ち込める。ユーザがこれらのサイトの上で何か新しいことをしたら、その情報がLive.comにも入ってきて友だちが見ることができる（FriendFeedやPlaxoなどが今やっていることとほとんど同じ）。Microsoftによれば、最終的には50以上のパートナーサイトがサポートされる。ユーザが写真を加えたり、何かの批評を書いたり、Live.com上のプロフィールを更新すると、そのコンテンツもやはり活動ストリームに入れられる。 Microsoftの希望はもちろん、多くの人にLive.comに長時間滞在してもらうことだ。少なくとも、Messengerを使うユーザはここをメインサイトにしてほしい、とMicrosoftは願っている。なぜなら、彼らはいろんなコンタクトをここで作るのだから。つまり、Yahooと同じく、Microsoftも自分の強みを中心に置く。Microsoftの強みとは、インスタントメッセージングだ。 Microsoftの『ソフトウェアプラスサービス(software plus services)』という新方針が、明らかに今回のLive.comの変身に浸透している。また、Officeの変身にも浸透するだろう。Live.comのユーザが今後はいろんなオンラインサービス…メール、カレンダー、写真、オンラインストレージ、などなど…に、そしてメールクライアントやインスタントメッセージング、Movie Maker、Photo Gallery、Toolbarなども含むダウンロード型サービスにもアクセスできるのだ。それにLive.comは今や、それ自身がビッグなSNSでもある。 その全体的な結果は、なかなか出来の良いパーソナルプロダクティビティツール集（個人のお仕事用のツール集合）だと言える。自分がMacオンリーのユーザであることが、ちょっとうらめしく思えてきた。 概要を知るためのビデオと試用ガイドを下で見ていただこう： Windows Live Reviewers Guide - Get more Information Technology CrunchBase Information Microsoft Information provided by CrunchBase [原文へ] （翻訳：hiwa）

According to Jack Magruder of the East Valley Tribune, D'Backs catcher Miguel Montero is a popular name in trade discussions. He may be traded to address the team's second base vacancy. Mark Loretta and Adam Kennedy, who are in the $4MM or less range, were deemed too expensive. Montero, 25, hit .255/.330/.435 in 207 plate appearances this year. He's under team control through 2012. Magruder suggests the Red Sox, Tigers, Reds, Astros, and Brewers as ...

Urban areas have recently been struck by dangerous gangs of badass “knitting” graffiti artists. Their antisocial tendency of illegally covering landmarks with colorful knitted fabric has authorities scrambling to protect communities from this vandalism. See more knitting graffiti art here. Contribute: Add an image, link, video or comment » The Best Links: Urban Knitting: The World’s Most Inoffensive Graffiti KnittaPlease.com An Interview With the Artists

Think you have a lot of pets? Try this one for size: About 800 small dogs, including Chihuahuas, terriers and Pomeranians, were seized from a triple-wide mobile home whose occupants were overwhelmed trying to care for the animals, authorities said Wednesday. Pima County sheriff’s deputies and animal welfare officials who removed the dogs also found 82 caged parrots in the home in a rural area northwest of Tucson. Link - via popurls That surely beats ...

A few notes on the Red Sox... From Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe Scott Boras met with Theo Epstein about Jason Varitek. Boras is still seeking a deal similar to the one signed by Jorge Posada (four years/$52.4MM). Epstein continues to look at other catchers including Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Taylor Teagarden. Cafardo also notes that the Red Sox could go after a veteran through the trade market like Bengie Molina. Other teams have expressed ...