The Red Sox exercised their $7.7 million option on Victor Martinez and declined options on Jason Varitek and Alex Gonzalez on Monday. Boston also agreed to a $5 million, two-year contract with 43-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, replacing a perpetual $4 million annual club option. The moves on the options were expected after Boston obtained Martinez from the Cleveland Indians on July 31 and he…
Clay Buchholz has one week to think about his next start. Or, even better, not to think about it. Manager Terry Francona said Buchholz was still in line to follow Jon Lester and Josh Beckett in the rotation for the first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Angels, even after the Red Sox right-hander lasted just three innings in a 12-7 victory over Cleveland on Sunday.
Joba Chamberlain pitched as if his place in the New York Yankees' postseason rotation was at stake. Winless in eight starts since beating Boston on Aug. 6, Chamberlain responded with his first victory in 1 1/2 months and led the Yankees over the Red Sox 9-5 Friday night. Earlier this week in Anaheim, Calif., manager Joe Girardi and Yankees coaches met with the 23-year-old right-hander.
Curt Schilling, the former major league pitcher who won the allegiance of Bostonians by leading the Red Sox to the 2004 World Series, said Wednesday that he has "some interest" in running for the seat held for nearly 50 years by Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Schilling, a registered independent and longtime Republican supporter, wrote on his blog that while his family and video game…