In what has become something of an annual exercise, the Boston Red Sox are shopping third baseman Mike Lowell, according to a number of major league sources. I have not talked to a club that has been told that the Sox would be willing to eat half of Lowell's $12 million salary in 2010, as was initially reported by Foxsports.com, but I was told by one club that the Sox probably would have to swallow at least that much because of the uncertainty over whether Lowell will fully recover from his hip surgery, and because there are a number of free-agent third basemen available, including Adrian Beltre, Joe Crede, Chone Figgins, Mark DeRosa, Troy Glaus, Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada, assuming Tejada agrees to an overdue switch to third.

The Red Sox are also checking the medical records of free-agent relievers Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez, a major-league source confirmed. Requesting medicals, of course, is a routine step in the free-agent process, but signals Boston's interest in the two relievers, mainstays of the Atlanta Braves' bullpen last season and the best two relievers available as free agents, according to ESPN's Keith Law.

Both have had health issues in the past, Gonzalez undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in 2007 and Soriano a non-Tommy John procedure on his elbow in '08, but both were fine last season, with the left-handed Gonzalez striking out 90 in 74 1/3 innings while Soriano whiffed 102 in 75 2/3 innings. Gonzalez ranked third in the NL in appearances with 80, three more than Soriano. Both are power, fastball-slider pitchers, and both are expected to be pursued as well by the New York Yankees, among others. It probably will take three-year deals to sign either of them.

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Jason Bay has no plans to take a grand tour of the teams that have interest in him. He's played in both leagues, so he's very familiar with all of the teams in play, and it's far more likely that the owners and/or GMs of the clubs interested will visit him on his turf (his offseason home is in Kirkland, Wash., outside of Seattle).

Don't expect Bay to be signing any time soon. This is likely to be a long process, one that logic dictates will be impacted by Matt Holliday, the other prime corner outfielder on the market. And with Holliday represented by Scott Boras, you know he won't be in any rush to sign.

I really think the Angels are going to be big players for Bay; they have the need, he would be a perfect fit in that clubhouse, and I can envision Tony Reagins and Arte Moreno proceeding much as they did with Mark Teixeira, laying out their best offer around the winter meetings and asking for a decision.

And despite Brian Sabean's comments this week downplaying the Giants' interest, don't dismiss San Francisco as being a potential player. West Coast team, obvious need, etc.

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Puffed up at winning another World Series, the owner of the New York Yankees scoffed at the suggestion that his team was too strong and that "some of their players should be handed over to the Boston Red Sox, for instance.''

"There is no charity in baseball,'' he said dismissively.

The year was 1933. The owner was Jacob Ruppert. The second-to-worst thing about baseball in the '30s, Bill James wrote, was the domination by the New York teams (the worst thing was segregation).

No charity then, less charity now, as Mark Teixeira haughtily reminded everyone earlier this month after the Yankees won Series title No. 27, saying: "To the rich go the spoils,'' which is what happens when you only half-remember something you once heard in American history class, the spoils actually going to the victor, but hey, in these days of 10½ percent unemployment, Tex may actually be closer to the truth.

But we all get it: The enduring lesson of the 2009 baseball season is that if you have an extra $423 million lying around, chances are pretty good that you'll be the last one standing in November. Yankee fans, of course, don't want to hear any of this, especially from the fans of a team whose owner can fly to Paris to buy an ice cream cone for his girl on a whim.

But enough about the Bombers. This is, after all, ESPNBoston.com, a venture designed to satisfy the biggest appetites for all things sporting in these parts. And this is what has brought me back to the neighborhood, after a year away playing a more national field for another Web site.

New England is my home, baseball remains my game, and after being away, I am even more persuaded that there is no better place to talk, write, blog, tweet, text, chat and care about baseball than right here, for this audience. Many of you already know me, from my 12 years of covering the Red Sox for the Boston Globe and from posing as Heidi Watney's favorite uncle on NESN. I hope to renew acquaintances with you, while introducing myself to many more of you through what we intend to be the go-to site for all things Red Sox. For openers, we have Peter Gammons on our side, which is like spotting us Pedro Martinez.

Peter is the grandmaster who will grace us when he has news to break or something to say, which will always be worth hearing. And, of course, ESPN already has a terrific stable of people who write and talk baseball with the best of them, including Buster Olney, Tim Kurkjian, Jayson Stark, Jerry Crasnick, Jim Caple, the Baseball Tonight crew and another New Englander of some renown, Howard Bryant, who writes big books and thinks deep thoughts and has a way of throwing life 12-to-6 curveballs.

Me? I get to do Red Sox baseball here on a daily basis for you, which you should know from the outset will be a two-way conversation from the get-go. I will fill you in on what I see and hear, and invite you to tell me what you're thinking and feeling. We aspire to be an equal-opportunity hangout for Sox fans of all persuasions: pink hats and stats geeks, the folks who don't mind a little history with their coffee, the kids who can't wait to see whether Casey Kelly arrives as a pitcher or a shortstop, and my neighbor Pete (and Deb), who have reminded me just about every day since I left that I'd never be happier than when I got back.

So here I am, you Sons of Sam Horners and RemDawg lovers and Bangor Hot Stovers, and anyone who can find Lunenburg, my hometown, on a map (That includes you, Dick Quinn, the Williams man who invited me to a re-enactment of the Williams-Amherst baseball game, on the 150th anniversary of the first college game every played). The mailbag kicks off soon (send your questions now), the chats start Monday. I can't wait to hear from those Sox fans Down Under, in Shanghai and Ojai, mis amigos Dominicanos and the Daughters of the American Revolution. Pull up a chair, drop a line.

Theo Epstein certainly hasn't been waiting around for me to get started. With free agency kicking off Friday, the hot stove season is already in full swing. Let's talk Sox, a conversation without end.

It's great to be back,
Gordon

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Count David Ortiz among those hoping the Red Sox have another heavy hitter on next year's lineup card.

Ortiz, meeting with the media at Fenway Park on Thursday to plug his Second Annual David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic Dec. 3-6 to benefit the David Ortiz Children's Fund, didn't mince words in his "I told you so" remarks to reporters, reiterating his stance from last offseason: The Red Sox need another power hitter.

"I say that like a year ago and everybody looked at me like I was a [expletive] clown. I say, 'We need another 30 home-run-hitting guy.' 'What, you crazy!' Everybody talking trash. Now what?" Ortiz said, according to a report on WEEI.com.

He said that even if the Red Sox re-signed left fielder Jason Bay, he would like to see them acquire another hitter in order to keep up in the stacked AL East.

"We always need help,'' he said, according to WEEI.com. "We always need guys capable to produce. That's what everybody chase in the offseason, a guy who can come in and supply powers, RBIs. This is a team that's playing in this division. Everything is powerful right here. You've got the world champions in the East. You've got Tampa Bay in the East. You've got the Blue Jays getting stronger every year in the East. You've got Baltimore who you don't if they're going to come kick your [butt] all year round in the East. So you better get ready to play in the East."

On the state of the Red Sox, and the expectations for next season, Ortiz said: "This year is going to be the one year where [there] is going to be a lot of expectations around here. I hear a lot of people talking about [how] this ballclub needs to get younger, this ballclub needs to do this, this ballclub needs to do that. As long I know the Red Sox, the Red Sox have had veteran players around. You never have a team out there under the [average] age of 30, that I remember. I'm not saying having young players around is a bad thing, but veteran players know how to deal with pressure and things like that."

Ortiz, 34, who is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract, said he plans on going back to the batting cages and starting his offseason training program earlier than last year.

"I'm a big guy. I'm a guy who no way can sit down and watch TV and eat," he said. "I hate to come the following year and people start to say I'm overweight, not in shape, and too old. You have to take responsibility in whatever you do, and especially at your job. I know that I don't want to be going through that. I just maintain myself, working out, doing things, burning calories, trying to stay in good habits so when you come to the hard work the following year it's easy."

And on his past and future role with the Sox, he said, "I've always been a force here. I've always been the guy that this ballclub counts on. I know that for a fact. I'm going to prepare myself and come back and try to do it again."

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Dreaming of seeing Roy Halladay or John Lackey in a Red Sox uniform next season? Manager Terry Francona might be, too.

Francona had an extended stay on WEEI's "Dale & Holley" show Wednesday and said one of his offseason hopes is to bolster the pitching staff.

"Every time [general manager] Theo [Epstein] talks to me, I always say get a pitcher. I know we need to score runs. When you don't pitch, you certainly make life a lot more difficult for the whole team. When you have a well-pitched game, even when you go into the seventh or eighth inning, you have a chance. When you have solid pitching, and sometimes past solid into spectacular, that's when your team really has a chance, not only in the regular season but it carries over into the postseason."

Francona also sounded like a fan of Lackey, a free agent.

"John Lackey is one of the best. Every year, there's a couple guys that seem like they can sway the fortunes of an organization. He's that type of pitcher. Now, to get that type of pitcher, you're going to have to make quite a commitment. That's something that makes our organization a little bit uneasy. It doesn't mean a guy can't come in and help you win. If there's an injury along the way, that can set your organization back quite a bit. There's a lot to think about besides just the year 2010."

Other items of note (from a transcript of the interview on WEEI.com):

On the status of the coaching staff: "We interviewed last week Ron Johnson, our Triple-A manager, who was very deserving of the interview, and Tom Goodwin, who has been coordinating our outfield and baserunning in our minor leagues, who was very, very impressive. Not very experienced, but very impressive. Gary DiSarcina is certainly in the mix. Rob Leary is a guy whose name came up and needs to be in the mix.

"Some of that is going to depend on -- we have DeMarlo [Hale], we have [Tim Bogar] -- we're just trying to have the best staff we can, and one decision might affect the next.

"We really wanted to hire from within. I've been here long enough now. We need to promote from within when we can. There are a lot of good candidates outside of the organization. Their names came up. I think it's important for us to promote from within, and we're certainly going to do that."

On Jason Varitek: "I saw Tek the other day. I think he's in a good place. I think he's going to do a good job. I've said this a lot of times: He has that 'C' on his chest for a reason. Victor [Martinez] is going to catch the majority of games. How much, we don't know.

"I think Tek can be an unbelievable backup catcher. Because his body can't handle catching 140 games anymore, that doesn't mean, if you run him out there less than that, especially from the right side -- by the time July rolled around this year, he had 13, 14 home runs."

On whether Varitek's clubhouse role will change: "I don't think so, and I think a lot of that is because of Jason. If he didn't accept that, then it could have been a problem. I don't see that happening. I saw him the other day. He was about as fired up as I've seen him.

On the possible re-signing of Jason Bay: "I know I'm not in the minority when I say I hope so. I don't want to make Theo's job harder than it is. If I'm out there politicking for a guy, that doesn't help Theo do his job."

On David Ortiz: "What David's going through is what a lot of guys go through. He's getting older, he's a big guy, and he's been injured. When that happens, your work ethic or your workload has to increase over the offseason or time starts catching up a little bit. … That's just the way it is, especially with big-body guys who have been injured.

"To David's credit, he's been in the ballpark every day since the season's been over. He looks terrific. He's going to have to because he's got big shoes to wear. If he can't, if you have a DH who's not whacking the ball all over the ballpark, it kind of puts you in a tough spot. We're so used to David hitting 40, 45, 50 home runs. We got used to that. If he's hitting 18, it makes us a different team."

On Jed Lowrie: "I just spoke to Jed yesterday. He's up in Canada. He's doing some therapy on that wrist. The wrist is troublesome. He already had a surgery. We love him as a player. We would love to be able to plug him in at shortstop every day. He's a switch-hitter. He could probably hit a ton of doubles and an occasional home run.

"He's pretty reliable. The one thing that hasn't been reliable is his health. It puts us in a little bit of a tricky spot. Quite honestly, it's difficult. We don't know quite what to do. We can't put all of the shortstop position in his hands because we don't know if he's healthy enough to do it. But if he is healthy enough, he's good enough to do it. We're in a little bit of a predicament."

On his health and how long he wants to manage: "Physically, this is probably the best I've done after a year. That's probably because we got done prematurely, which is bad, but I'm actually doing pretty well.

"As far as doing it, I don't know. It takes a lot out of me. It's not just managing. Managing here, although I love it and I'm kind of addicted to it, it's difficult. I can't see myself doing this for 30 years. Saying that, I haven't lost my excitement or my wanting to do it. When there comes a day when I don't have that, regardless of what my contract says, I won't do it."

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The Red Sox have released backup catcher George Kottaras, and hours later he was picked up by the Milwaukee Brewers, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Red Sox manager said the team released Kottaras during a radio interview on WEEI in Boston.

The 26-year-old was acquired by the Sox from the Padres in exchange for David Wells in 2006.

With Jason Varitek returning as a backup to starting catcher Victor Martinez for next season, the release of Kottaras was little surprise. He caught mostly when knuckleballer Tim Wakefield pitched, and finished the season hitting .237 with a .308 OBP, .387 slugging mark, one home run, and 10 RBIs.

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While the 2012 All-Star Game would have been a nice touch for the 100th season of baseball at Fenway Park, having the Midsummer Classic in Kansas City makes a lot more sense, says ESPN.com baseball writer Rob Neyer.

Here's Neyer's take. »

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The Red Sox will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park in 2012, but the All-Star Game apparently will not be part of the festivities.

A report on Monday from Comcast Sports Net New England, citing a baseball source, said the Midsummer Classic will be held in Kansas City at the newly renovated Kauffman Stadium. The Kansas City Star reported the same thing in July.

Major League Baseball has not made an official announcement.

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It hasn't been a great six weeks to be a Red Sox fan.

First, the team was bounced from the playoffs with a three-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels. Then the hated Yankees won the World Series.

And on Monday the team announced a price increase for what already are among the most expensive tickets in baseball.

According to a team press release, about half the seats at Fenway Park will cost $2 more next season, including those in the infield grandstand, right-field box seats and lower bleachers. The largest increase will be $5, which will apply to field and loge box seats, and tickets for seats and standing room on the Green Monster.

Among the seats that will not see a price increase are the outfield grandstand and upper bleachers.

"After careful review and deliberation, we decided to implement a modest average increase, 3.8 percent, that represents the second lowest average percentage price increase over the past 15 seasons with the exception of last season when we implemented a price freeze across the board for all categories," said Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino.

"We are fortunate that Red Sox Nation invests in this team year after year, and we will remain true to our fundamental pledge to field a team worthy of the fans' support."

Lucchino's statement also said the team has invested "well over $100 million" to preserve and enhance Fenway Park, so that it can host Red Sox baseball "for the next 40 to 50 years."

The team release also points out that in 2010, 63 percent of the tickets at Fenway will cost $52 or less.

The Red Sox have played before 550 consecutive sellouts at Fenway, the longest streak in major league history, despite having the highest average ticket price in baseball from 1996 to 2008 (the Yankees took over the top spot when they opened their new stadium this season), according to Team Marketing Report. The Sox set an attendance record (3,062,699) in 2009.

Prices for Red Sox spring training games at Fort Myers, Fla., will be unchanged, the team said.

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Outfielder Jason Bay has been selected to the 2009 American League Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger team.

The Silver Slugger Awards are presented annually to the top offensive players at each position in both the American and National leagues by vote of managers and coaches.

Bay, a free agent who played the last season and a half with the Red Sox, receives the honor for the first time after setting career highs with 36 home runs and 119 RBIs in 151 games. He batted .267 with a .384 on-base percentage and .537 slugging percentage.

Also named to the team were first baseman Mark Teixeira (Yankees), second baseman Aaron Hill (Blue Jays), third baseman Evan Longoria (Rays), shortstop Derek Jeter (Yankees), outfielders Torii Hunter (Angels) and Ichiro Suzuki (Mariners), catcher Joe Mauer (Twins), and DH Adam Lind (Blue Jays).

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