*may include some non-facial hair

While we wait anxiously for baseball season to start, recover from last night’s buzzer loss to the Lakers, and wonder about Matt Cassel now that he’s been tagged, I’ve decided to lighten the mood and take a look at some of the best hair around Beantown. These are in no particular order, because I had a hard time judging soul patch against stash against scruff.

So, without Further Ado, here are some hair-raising examples.

Tom Brady may have the world’s most famous stubble, but he has been known to rock a bit more of a beard, which we suspect is in support of his mountainous o-line. The stubble is, however, much more attractive, and on Brady’s already handsome face, makes him look rugged and manly. The beard…not so much. While we appreciate the bonding, we think Tom should stick to the stubble.

Then we have everyone’s favorite slot machine, Wes Welker. He, like Pedroia, likes to shake things up, but his most famous (or infamous) cut is the mustache. Now, we secretly called it the “porn star ‘stache”, but when he rocks it with a beard, its much less creepy. All in all, we’re in favor of the light scruff, its less creepy, or clean-shaven, which is also good.

And finally…

Youk. Kevin Youkilis has been clean-shaven, but lately, he’s been rocking the goatee. We much prefer the goatee. We have a theory that its an intimidation technique, and goes well with the intense, scary, persona he has when he plays (we also think that Youk doesn’t shower to help with that persona, or at least, lets people think he doesn’t). Its the most famous goatee on the Red Sox roster, and gives us all hope that Youk will always play with intensity, grit, and consistency. Funny how a little bit of hair can say so much. Maybe the goatee is why Joba Chamberlain is out to get him?

That’s all the hair I have today. If I missed anyone or you think someone should not be on this list, let me know, maybe I’ll add them in.

We’ll be doing the “Best Of” for the next few weeks. Anything to get us through until opening day. Next up: “Best Fans”, we’ll look at Damon’s Disciples, the Bleacher Creatures, and the Royal Rooters, to name just a few.

Finally, the Varitek saga, which has kept us all hitting “refresh” on google news/Boston Globe/ESPN, whatever, is over. Reports are that Jason Varitek has agreed to the one year , $5 million dollar contract with the club/player options for the second year. All I have to say is hal-le-freaking-lu-jah!

Of course, now that the Captain is back, what am I ever going to obsess about? I mean, spring training doesn’t officially start until Feb 14th, which is two weeks from now. And yes, there is that little game called the Superbowl on
Sunday, and I can obsess about the
Cassel questions and the NFL off-season.

Note to Patriots, if you are even listening: half the Baltimore defense are unrestricted free agents this year. Grab as many as you can get your hands on. Please. As for the Cassel/Brady drama…maybe that will be enough to keep me occupied now that the Tek saga is done, and the Sox unlikely to make any more off-season moves. But of course, since its the Patriots, the amount of information we’ll be able to get on the Brady/Cassel situation (how is Tom’s knee, are the Pats keeping Cassel, are they going to tag him…etc) will be slim to none.
Thanks for the closed-mouth attitude, Bill. Most days, I don’t mind that, but when you want to know something, the Patriots can be down-right annoying.

Back to baseball. Red Sox Nation rejoice, we have a catcher. I know Tek was like an automatic out last season, but its not like there’s anyone out there who can step in and take his place. Now we’ll just ease Tek out of the position, introduce a new catcher, get the staff acclaimated to the new guy, so that we can phase Tek out in 2010. And you never know, he could have a brilliant season in 2009 and bounce back a little. Call me crazy, but it could happen.

According to a Boston Globe article found here, the Red Sox have formally offered Jason Varitek a deal. While the specifics are unclear, it is likely that it is less than the previously offered $10 million arbitration deal, it may be for two years or contain an option for a second year contingent on at-bats or something.

If you ask me, its about time.

While there is no word on any deadline for Tek and the Prince of Darkness (Boras) to accept this deal, pitchers and catchers report on February 12th, a few short weeks from now.

Of the Red Sox active roster, the average age of the pitching staff is 28. Take out the highest and lowest two ages to avoid any one larger or smaller number significantly affecting the stats, and the age you get is 26.7.

That’s a young staff, and with such a young staff, we need, and everyone say it with me, a VETERAN catcher. I really think Schilling said it best. The Sox need Tek so they can wean our lovely young pitching staff off the Captain and acclimate them to the “catcher of the future”.

This may take some time. In the big leagues, Bowden, Buchholz, Masterson, Lester, Delcarmen, and Paps have never had a different catcher. It has always been Varitek. You are talking about a potential ace, several potential starters, and a firecracker of a closer who have developed a really close relationship with the Captain. Schilling also went on to say that Varitek “knows some of us better than we know ourselves.”

Strong words. Now, we know the Sox have a standing offer on the table for Tek, and we know it is not the $10-$12 million he would have gotten earlier, however, I have to believe that for his pride’s sake alone (a Captain needs a bit of pride to be a good leader!) they’re going to offer $2-$5 million over a year or two. I’d say two with an option for a third year, because though he doesn’t need to be starting, you could have the “catcher of the future” training under one of the greatest catchers of all time.

Now what several people have suggested (and while I believe its none of our business, I think it might be true) is that Tek is waiting for his divorce to be finalized before agreeing to any deal. It makes logical sense from a financial stand-point.

You know what else makes logical sense? A collective firing of the Prince of Darkness (Boras) by all the Free Agents his greed has royally screwed over this off season. Or the baseball owners pool their money and have him “taken care of”.

Regardless, I think Tek will be back in the backstop come spring training, with some new young guy watching his every move, trying to learn. And who knows, maybe he’ll have a comeback year. Call me crazy, but it could happen.

Theo Epstein has now gone six years without actually going to the arbitration hearing.

Papelbon signed a one year, 6.25 million dollar deal to keep him out of arbitration in his first year of eligibility, and they may not be finished. This was the biggest deal ever for a relief pitcher in his first year of eligibility.

Of course, after locking up Youkilis and Pedroia with multi-year deals, one can bet the Sox, with their available funds, would likely try and lock up their eccentric closer as well.

Javier Lopez signed a $1.35 million deal, which is a $500,000 raise from last year.

Also according to reports, the meeting that Jason Varitek had with the Red Sox without the Prince of Darkness (aka Boras), it was to clear the air with the team because they had been ignoring Boras’s calls. He also stated that he had no idea that teams would forfeit a draft pick when he decided against the Red Sox earlier offer. How true this is, I don’t know, but it is possible that our beloved Captain, baseball smart as he may be, may not know all the ins and outs of trade deadlines and arbitration deals. From his comments, Tek sounds sincerely apologetic and a little ashamed.

For my part, I’m going to believe him, and maybe that is why he decided not to take the $10 million, which I never understood why he didn’t. It made no sense to not take that deal, and now I am starting to understand his reasoning behind not taking it. If he didn’t know about the draft pick, and PoD (Boras) wasn’t about to tell him, then he was going along, blissfully ignorant that taking him from the Red Sox would come at such a high cost for another team.