Maybe We Can Avoid "Will Sox Score Runs?" Silliness This Winter

When the Red Sox did not retain Jason Bay (.921 OPS, 134 OPS+) last winter, the Boston media freaked out, insisting that the 2010 club would make the 1962 Mets look like the 1939 Yankees. On January 29, 2010, the Herald's Ron Borges stood up and announced that the Boston front office had apparently discovered that "scoring runs is no longer essential to winning games".

Victor Martinez (.844, 122 OPS+) in is Detroit and Adrian Beltre (.919 OPS, 141 OPS+) will likely also not be wearing a Red Sox uniform next spring. But this time, perhaps, the media will not completely embarrass itself. One particular clown can always be counted on to display his ignorance -- unfortunately, he blatantly contradicts himself a few times within several paragraphs (not that he or his editors are overly concerned about consistency or logic) -- but John Tomase of the Herald offers a "realty check":

Somehow, some way, the Red Sox will score runs in 2011. Lots of them. It's what they do.

The Red Sox claimed outfielder Jordan Parraz, 26, off waivers from the Royals. Parraz hit .266/.350/.410/.760 for Omaha (AAA), while playing nearly all of his games in right field. He has not played in the majors.

The Red Sox were outbid by the Twins in a posting for Japanese shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka, a 26-year-old switch-hitter who hit .346 with a .423 OBP for Chiba Lotte last year.