We are all aware of the struggles Theo Epstein has had filling the shortstop position, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better in the short term. Jose Iglesias looks to be a big part in the long term plan, but he isn’t expected to be ready until 2011 at the earliest. Iglesias dazzled in the Arizona Fall League and according to one scout lived up to the massive hype that was surrounding his coming to the States:

“The Red Sox could probably start him at Double-A next season if they wanted to,” said one scout who watched him play. “He hit better than I thought he would, a real pesky, No. 2-type hitter, and the thing I really liked is that the kid was often the first one on the field, the first one in and out of the dugout, and smiling all the time, like he really loves the game. And defensively, the package is all there — the arm, the hands, the range.”

Despite the positive outlook for the future of the position, the Red Sox are still going to need someone to fill the gap for 2010. Management has stated they want Jed Lowrie to begin the year in AAA and prove that he can handle playing every day, Nick Green has proven that he is not a starting shortstop, and Alex Gonzalez recently signed a two year deal with the Blue Jays. This leaves the position in the hands of Mr. Outside hire. Outside of Marco Scutaro, there is slim pickings on the free agent market, and despite many peoples best intentions, Hanley Ramirez is not going to be traded.

Last season, Marco Scutaro had a career year posting .282 average, .379 obp, and .788 ops while playing solid defense. According to many defensive metrics, he played the position better than Alex Gonzalez, whose defense was severely overrated during his second tenure with the Red Sox. Scutaro will be 34 at the beginning of next season which makes me nervous despite the numbers he has recently put up. I would have no problem with him playing shortstop for a year or two, the kicker is whether or not the Sox will have to give up a draft pick for him.

Scutaro is a type A free agent, meaning if the Blue Jays offer him arbitration, the Red Sox would have to give up their first round pick to the Blue Jays. If that is the case, I don’t want to see him in a Sox uniform. There have been mixed reports whether or not the Blue Jays are going to offer him arbitration, but all signs are pointing towards yes. Based on the Red Sox track record in the draft, I would rather keep the pick than give it up for a year or two of Scutaro, who in my opinion, is questionable whether or not he can put up the same numbers he did last season.

Long story short, if we need to give up a first round pick for Scutaro, then I am not interested, but if the Blue Jays do not offer him arbitration then what’s the harm in bringing him in for a year or two?

- Chris

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis directs his team during NCAA college football practice on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

After five seasons with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, head coach Charlie Weis was fired Monday afternoon. This was a move that has been anticipated since the end of last season as the team has struggled mightily the past couple of seasons under his control. The Irish went 6-6 on the year, but they did start off the season with a record of 6-2 before ending the season on a four game losing streak. That could easily do it for the former Patriots offensive coordinator. He brought his team to back-to-back bowl games in his first two seasons, but the next three seasons saw a combined record of 16-21, and for the historic football program, that was not good enough.

The two bowl games that Notre Dame made it to were against Ohio State in 2005 (34-20 loss) and in 2006 against LSU (41-14 loss). Weis went into Notre Dame as an alumni himself and had very high hopes of rejuvenating a very promising program that had struggled in recent years. Unfortunately for Weis, he went 35-27 in his five-year tenure with the team for a winning percentage of .565. His winning percentage is lower than his predecessors Tyronne Willingham’s and Bob Davie’s .583.

In my eyes, Weis was never a good fit for the Fighting Irish and that was apparent after his first two seasons. I am surprised that he even lasted a fifth year. After going 3-9 in 2007 and then 6-6 in 2008, he should’ve been fired after the ‘08 season. This past season was probably a test to see how he would do after two good years and then two poor years, too bad he followed it up with a similar 6-6 record.

Notre Dame was very successful on the offensive side of the ball this past season but they let up way too many points on the opposing end. In Saturday’s game against Stanford, the Irish lost 45-38. Earlier in the year they let up 40 points to Washington State, 37 to Washington and 38 to Michigan. It’s too bad Weis wasn’t a defensive coordinator for the Pats, otherwise he might have found more success in South Bend.

While the defense struggled, quarterback Jimmy Clausen had a stellar year with 3,722 yards with 28 touchdowns and only four interceptions. His No.1 target Golden Tate finished with 93 receptions for 1,496 yards and 15 touchdowns. Michael Floyd also finished with 44 receptions for 795 yards and nine touchdowns.

What’s next for the Fighting Irish? Can you say Romeo Crennel? Just kidding, but it would be funny. They need a defensive-minded coach and I am sure they will go out and get one this offseason.

By Greg Petersen

New York Daily News: “Now it also looks as if Hanley Ramirez won’t ever see that new stadium in a Marlins uniform as the Red Sox, who let incumbent Alex Gonzalez go, are reportedly engaged in talks with Florida about reacquiring the All-Star shortstop.”

Listen, as much as I would love to see Hanley Ramirez back in Boston, it just is not happening. There are so many reasons that I have listed before and no matter what anyone says, it is not going to happen. Period. So lets not get our hopes up after some idiot from Miami posts some crazy ideas on Twitter. Plus, if Hanley were to come back to Boston then we wouldn’t have a gaping hole at shortstop, and what would Theo be without a gaping hole at shortstop?

- Chris

Chris Bosh certainly will think twice before getting on the tracks while a train is coming through next time around.

BOSTON - NOVEMBER 27: Kevin Garnett #5 of the Boston Celtics drives to the basket against Andrea Bargnani #7 of the Toronto Raptors on November 27, 2009 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2009 NBAE (Photo by Steve Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)

Currently the Boston Celtics sit atop the Atlantic Division with a record of 12-4 but a lot of those wins came in very close games and to not very good teams. Well the Toronto Raptors are now 7-10 on the year after the C’s handed them a 116-103 loss last night at the TD Garden. It was actually the first game the Raptors played against a division rival, too bad it was the Celtics, otherwise they might have had a chance to start off with a win. The win, on the other hand, was the Celtics’ third in a row and hopefully they can return to their winning ways that they started off the season with.

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Is anyone else getting real sick of this team? Sure it was cute in the beginning, new head coach, rookie quarter back, have a lot of swagger, run their mouth, play week two like it’s the Super Bowl, everyone knew they weren’t going anywhere even when they beat the Patriots so we just kind of humored them. But now it is almost Thanksgiving and time for the real teams to play. At this point of the season, if you suck like the Jets, you just need to shut the fuck up. There is no longer anything for you to talk about, you are done. Just play out the schedule and try again next year. I understand it is embarrassing to get annihilated  by a third string tackle, but when you are on a losing team you take it. Just be lucky it wasn’t Sebastian Vollmer crushing you cause then you might have needed a stretcher to get up.

- Chris

Despite the general public’s want and need to bash on the Bruins, forgotten team has now pulled off a 5-2-3 record over their last ten games. The men in gold started the season slow and weren’t helped out by the injuries to Mark Savard and Milan Lucic. They have been quietly putting together a good run should be getting ready to play their best hockey now that Lucic and Savard are back.

Hopefully this means people will stop talking about the Phil Kessel trade. Ever since he left town there have been Bruins haters all over town shitting on the ownership and management for sending away our only pure scorer. The slow start to the season did nothing but fuel the hater’s fire and actually make them think they were right. Whenever there was a game in which the offense played poorly, it didn’t take long to find someone saying Phil Kessel would have won the game for them. Well here is the thing, he wouldn’t have. Yes, it would have been helpful to have a sniper on the ice but when you lose such huge pieces of the team in Savard and Lucic for any period of time there are going to be struggles. Combine that with David Kreci coming down with the swine flu for a week and that’s three of your most important players. Obviously it isn’t going to be easy during that stretch.

But the Bruins survived, and luckily their struggles came early on. Savard and Lucic should be back to full strength soon and we will really see what this team can bring to the table. One player that has really impressed in Savard’s absence was Patrice Bergeron. Getting a chance to play on the first like he has really stepped up to the challenge leading the team with 18 points (7 goals 11 assists). It has taken him a long time, but it seems like he has finally gotten over that rough stretch of concussions he suffered.

The Bruins next play tonight at Minnesotta at 8pm.

- Chris

We are introducing a new feature here on the Pulse in the form of a weekly podcast covering the week that was. This will be recorded along with The Booze from BoozeWorthy.com with selected guests each week. This was a first attempt, so it’s obviously sloppy, but we will get better. It can’t be any worse than ‘EEI and they have millions of listeners every day.

Here is the link, enjoy.

- Chris

Obviously there is no real way to know if these rumors are fact or fiction, what I choose is my opinion and my opinion only. Feel free to debate in the comments section if you got beef. Without further adieu, lets break it down.

- Sunday, the Boston Herald wrote that the Red Sox were eying four Scott Boras clients as potential free agent pick ups, Matt Holliday, Adrian Beltre, Mike Gonzalez, and Rick Ankiel. It is painful enough dealing with Boras for one client, imagine having to negotiate for four, sounds like a shitty winter to me.

Matt Holliday – Fact – there is sincere interest in Matt Holliday. The Red Sox, and myself, believe that Holliday is the more complete player. He is better defensively and brings a better batting average to the table. However, he is also likely going to demand a contract much larger than what the Red Sox deem to be a fair market price.

Adrian Beltre – Fact – Beltre would bring a gold glove to third base, a position that was a liability to the Red Sox after Mike Lowell’s hip surgery. His bat has been inconsistent, but being only a type B free agent, I think the Sox would be willing to bring him on simply for the improved defense he would bring.

Mike Gonzalez – Fiction – I have to believe Gonzalez is going to be closing somewhere next year. If the Red Sox paid him enough he would likely have no problem setting up, but there is no way they give someone closer money to be a setup man.

Rick Ankiel – Fiction – Ankiel would bring another lefty handed bat with big power potential, basically another Hermida. If they bring in Bay or Holliday then they wouldn’t need Ankiel as a fourth outfielder because Hermida would fill that roll. If they don’t bring in Bay or Holliday then they will likely look at a Josh Willingham type of player to platoon with Hermida. Ankiel would not fill that position as he is also left handed.

- Earlier today, FoxSports.com reported that the Red Sox were once again shopping Mike Lowell and that the team would be willing to pick up half of his $12 million owed in order to get a deal done.

Fact – At this point Mike Lowell’s has become a liability in the field and still has question marks surrounding his hip going into 2010. I think ideally Theo would like to move him and bring in either Adrian Beltre or Chone Figgins to take his place. Imagine Figgins and Ellsbury just terrorizing opposing teams on the base paths, that would be fun to watch.

Stay tuned for more Red Sox hot stove talk. The winter meetings are right around the corner, and that is when things really start to get interesting.

- Chris

At first I was shocked, then I remembered, it’s OchoCinco. Could we see this somehow incorporated into a touchdown celebration?