Smilin' Ken Rosenthal's new column talks about a lot of issues, but the one of most relevance to us Astros fans has to do with Josh Beckett. And it's not even a rumor as much as it barely qualifies as speculation.
Beckett will be a free agent following the 2010 season, and will make $12mil next year. But then he's a free agent. Rosenthal:
He loves Boston, but is a native Texan who would be a free agent at 30. It's easy to imagine his appeal to the Astros and Rangers. It's also easy to imagine the risk-averse Red Sox balking at deal of longer than three or four years.
Read into this: "A smart organization like the Red Sox might not want to give a pitcher in his 30s with a history of injuries more than three or four years. But the Astros and Rangers might!"
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
