12eight

After protracted negotiations that the media turned into a tense siege, Theo Epstein has signed his name to a new three-year deal worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $4-4.5 million total.  I don't think these negotiations ever got as bad as they were portrayed; these were, after all, two lawyers and two businessmen known for their savvy in negotiation.  I would have been surprised if these talks hadn't been a bit hairy, given that; add the Lucchino-Epstein mentor/mentee relationship into the mix and the competition gets even more intense.  Hell, I still remember the first day I ever beat my father in a footrace.  I freaked out, and there wasn't even a multi-million dollar paycheck at the finish line.

So, offseason priority 1 is out of the way.  Now, we move to offseason priorities 2-8, which are, in this order:

2) Find a center fielder;
2a) Find a leadoff hitter;
3) Figure out who will play first (Ortiz? Nixon? Konerko? Youkilis? A trade?);
3a) Figure out who plays third (only applicable if Youkilis isn't the answer to #3, and if the Sox choose to let go of Bill Mueller);
4) Find a bullpen;
5) Pick a 2B; Cora's under contract, and Graffanino isn't but could be for very little money.  Pedroia is waiting; will he get a shot at the job in ST?
6) Trade David Wells (current rumor is Wells to SD for Brian Lawrence and Akinori Otsuka, to which my response is 'yes please')
7) Decide on a course for Papelbon, who arrived a half-year earlier than he was likely scheduled to - does he start '06 in the pen with a cheap FA starter (or Lawrence, as above), or do they give Paps the 5th spot out of the gate?  Will there be a Spring Training battle?
8) Be very very careful who you protect and who you don't on the 40-man - Boston finally has a bunch of desirable prospects, and I'd rather not lose any of them to Tampa Bay for $50,000.  Unless that money is coming to me personally.  Which it isn't.

There's other stuff, but I said 8 and I'm sticking to it even though I completely pulled that number out of my ass and there are two extra things there anyway.  Now if you'll excuse me, I must be vewwy vewwy quiet.  I'm hunting apartments.