Last night, the Boston branch of the Baseball Writers Association of America held their annual awards dinner last night.  At the dinner, Dustin Pedroia picked up his AL MVP Award:

Also, at the awards dinner, Rocco Baldelli picked up the Tony Conigliaro award, along with his BRAND NEW Red Sox jersey.

The Red Sox signed Baldelli, formerly of the AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays, to a 1-year contract.  He will see the majority of his work as the 4th outfielder.  He could see considerable time in either CF or RF depending on Jacoby Ellsbury’s progress and J.D. Drew’s injury status.

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon (AL Manager of the Year) and Tampa Bay reliever Dan Wheeler (New England [born] Player of the Year) were also honored.  Reportedly, the Red Sox tried to sign those two at the dinner, but were rebuffed.

It was also confirmed that the Red Sox have indeed offered a 1-year contract to former Atlanta Brave Cy Young Award winner John Smoltz.  Reportedly, the base contract is for around $5 million with incentives based on time on the active roster that could double the value.  John Smoltz is coming off an injury, but hopefully there is still some juice left in the arm.

I was actually hoping that Smoltz and Tom Glavine would both retire.  No.  Not because I do not think they can not or should not pitch in the major anymore.  It is because along with Greg Maddux, who just announced his retirement last month, it would be quite a sight to see an induction ceremony of Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz 5 years from now in Cooperstown.

How many times do 3 pitchers of this caliber actually pitch for 1 team for a LONG time?  Very rarely.  How many times have 3 pitchers of this caliber that were teammates been inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame together?  NEVER!  That would be quite historic.

I’ve been a Braves fan (they’re my NL team although not as much now), ever since our family first got cable as teen.  I actually hated the Braves at first, because their games (and they were terrible), would always interrupt my 2 hours of NWA / WCW wrestling on Saturday nights.  However, after watching them play, I grew attached and then enjoyed my wrestling / baseball double feature on Saturdays.

Anyway, now that I returned from detour down memory lane, it will be very strange to see Smoltz in a Red Sox uniform after spending his entire Major League career in a Brave uniform.  Hopefully, he will ended up healthy and could be a surprising big contributor down the stretch.  Looks like he will also fill the mantle left void by Curt Schilling, as the elder pitching statesmen for this team.

Finally, it looks like Mark Kotsay may return to the team.  While normally an outfielder for most of his career, I envision that Kotsay will fill the Sean Casey role on the 2009 club.  Mostly, he’ll be the back-up for Youkilis and Lowell (at 1b only, Youk will move over to 3b when Lowell needs a rest), but could see time in the OF depending on the health of Drew and Baldelli.  I like Kotsay, he has always be a solid player, but wonder if he will be happy in this role.

Since the Sox recently signed Brad Penny and Josh Bard, it’s nice to see the Hot Stove getting a tad bit warmer.

Go Sox!!!