Gordon Edes Chat Notes. The Boston Globe writer held a live chat Wednesday at Sons of Sam Horn after answering questions submitted beforehand (transcript). Some of his comments:

"Grady insists that there was a consensus in the dugout prior to his [Pedro's] going to the mound in the eighth. ... I am told on very good authority that Dave Wallace's input was to remind Grady to have Embree ready for Matsui if the eighth inning got that far. And Jason Varitek insisted that he expected Pedro to take the hill in the eighth. ... I spoke with one person who was [in the clubhouse] immediately after the game who said it was the most devastated clubhouse he had ever seen. Grady cleared the clubhouse of all but his players and coaches and talked to them for a few minutes ... When we got in there, the place was still dead silent, with Tim Wakefield crying in one corner and Pedro slumped at his seat, dead eyes staring blankly ahead of him. It was tough. ...

"You got to figure they'll look at Millwood and Ponson ... explore trade possibilities for Javier Vazquez, and maybe take another run at Freddy Garcia. But I think they also have great interest in some of the Dodgers' young pitching, especially Edwin Jackson. ... I'd be shocked if Walker is retained. ... [Luis] Castillo would seem to be a likely object of their affections, though one Sox player with NL experience told me he thought Castillo was too soft for this market. ... If the Sox can't get the second baseman they want, they'd move Mueller to second and go after a third baseman. John Henry loves Mike Lowell ...

"They're prepared to let Pedro walk after next season. They'll make him an offer, but it will be short in years and dough, and he'll move on. They will make every effort to sign Garciaparra ... Varitek to me is the heart of this club; they'll keep him through next season ... They'll make an offer to Lowe, but for short years, and risk losing him at the end of next season. Nixon is the puzzle, for me. He had a great year, his trade value may never be higher, and they may think it's easier to replace a corner OF. ... From what I've heard about Dierker, he was even more casual about pregame preparation than Grady. ... Joe Madden intrigues me [as possible manager], Scioscia's bench coach, minor league manager, stats savvy, personable. Personally, I'd get a kick out of bringing in Whitey [Herzog] for a year, with Hoffman as a bench coach, groomed to be his successor. My No. 1 choice, probably would be Leyland, but i think he's too happy coaching his kid."