They had been sitting on the bargain rack, being offered in as-is condition. No refunds.

So the Red Sox took out their fat wallet and pulled out only a few bills. Look what they got:

Brady Penny, John Smoltz, Takashi Saito, and Rocco Baldelli.

Two starters, a veteran reliever and a reliable right-handed bat off the bench.

Jerry Crasnick, formerly of the Press Herald and now with ESPN, called it a "buy-low strategy".

His column first ran last week. Check it out.

Speaking of Baldelli, he is a class act. He showed that again when he took out an ad in the St. Petersburg Times to thank the Tampa Bay Rays fans for their support.

Now comes the question: Will Jason Varitek be taking out an ad in the Boston papers to thank fans and say goodbye?

Very little news or speculation on Varitek in the past few days. That silence may be the sound of a deal being hammered out.

E-mail this entry to a friend