DAY 3 ~ WINTER MEETINGS 'IN BRIEF'

Here are some notes from Day 3 of the Baseball Winter Meetings:

~ Agent Scott Boras held court today on some of his Red Sox clients. According to Boras, Stephen Drew has several multi-year contracts on the table. The problem is Drew's offers are contingent on the teams in question making another move, to clear payroll space first. "Obviously, there are a variety of teams that want a shortstop of his defensive acumen and capability", Boras said. The Red Sox made Drew a 'qualifying offer', so any team that signs him would give up it's highest unprotected draft pick. This could be a factor in Drew's market. "I don't think that the qualifying offer system helps major league players in the slightest," Boras said. "I think something really needs to be reviewed. The one thing you want to make sure, fans want to make sure, is that every year you have the opportunity to make the major league team better and still grow in the minor leagues. There should be no barrier." Ben Cherington has already said the Red Sox are interested in bringing Drew back, so they could be waiting for his market to play out. Boras also believes his two other clients on the Red Sox, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts will have places in the Red Sox lineup. "Clearly, Bradley played very well in September. He hit about .270 and his defense was great. Bogaerts really established himself in the major leagues. When you've got a young man that age playing in that environment, it's a pretty remarkable achievement. I think Xander Bogaerts is going to be one of the top five players in baseball."

~Speaking of  Scott Boras, he met with the Red Sox concerning Stephen Drew yesterday. The Red sox have said they are open to Drew returning, on their terms. "We like Stephen and the job he did", Cherington said. Beacuse of that we've kept the door open. We're going to continue to listen and talk and see where it ends up. If a deal makes sense for us, we would do it today for any player. I don't think there's and need to wait on anything. I think we have a sense of what's important to him and I think he has a sense of what's important to us. We'll see where it goes." The Red Sox can afford to be patient with Xander Bogaerts ready at shortstop. "We think we have a pretty good solution at shortstop", Cherington added.

~The Red Sox came to terms with Mike Napoli on December 6th. The official announcement should come by the end of this week.

~ Red Sox 'spring training' games at Jet Blue Park will begin at 1:05 pm not 1:35 pm as in previous years. The coaches and players wanted the change.

~The Rule 5 Draft of unprotected veteran minor leaguers will take place this morning. Ben Cherington will not be staying for the draft as the Red Sox do not have a pick in the major league phase.

~The Red Sox looked into Johan Santana, who is making a comeback. They decided not to pursue a contract.

~Ben Cherington said the Red Sox could sign Shunsuke Watanabe from Japan. The 37 year old is a submarine-style righthander. He would be signed to a minor-league contract. David Ortiz once hit a 525 foot home run off Watanabe.

~The Red Sox are expected to name Kevin Boles as the new manager of the Triple A Pawtucket Red Sox. Boles has spent the last three seasons managing Double A Portland and has spent six years managing in the minors for the Red Sox. His dad is former Florida Marlins manager John Boles.