Scott Boras

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff DALLAS — Scott Boras just met with reporters at the Winter Meetings. Here are a few of his thoughts in regards to Red Sox players: On Jason Varitek's desire to return to the Red Sox: "Ben [Cherington] and I have had a conversation about that and we're in the process of working on that. I think that he has an interest in playing for Boston and I think they have an interest in looking into that subject.

Scott Boras thinks that because the superpowers in baseball are going to save money on the luxury tax and can't spend it in the draft because of restrictions in the new Basic Agreement, trade-deadline activity will decrease in time. And this is despite the fact that the new playoff format - adding one more wild card to each league - would in theory have more teams trying to make deals to vie for that final berth. Extreme or plausible theory? While the Red Sox will likely be over the $178 million luxury tax threshold this season, the goal is to be beneath the $189 million...

MILWAUKEE - Scott Boras, who is a season-ticket holder of the Los Angeles Dodgers praised the season Matt Kemp had even though he doesn't represent him. How will the 8-year, $160 million deal impact Jacoby Ellsbury? "I think all deals for premium players impact each other," Boras said. "When you produce offense, provide speed, power, Gold Glove defense, it's so rare. It's a lot rarer than it was 10 years ago. So it's a pretty special group of players. " Boras was asked if he would discuss a future contract with the Red Sox on Ellsbury and Boras indicated that he had a brief...

Scott Boras thinks that because the superpowers in baseball are going to save money on the luxury tax and can't spend it in the draft because of restrictions in the new Basic Agreement, trade-deadline activity will decrease in time. And this is despite the fact that the new playoff format - adding one more wild card to each league - would in theory have more teams trying to make deals to vie for that final berth. Extreme or plausible theory? While the Red Sox will likely be over the $178 million luxury tax threshold this season, the goal is to be beneath the $189 million...

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff The latest pitching rumors: * Danny Knobler of CBS suggests that Roy Oswalt may not be crazy about the Red Sox. * ESPN's Jim Bowden reported on Twitter that the Red Sox have made an offer to Edwin Jackson. For a guy who has been traded six times, the 28-year-old Jackson has pretty good numbers (a fWAR of 11.2 the last three seasons) and is a decent bet to produce a good season. But he's also a Scott Boras client. Boras compared Jackson with Yu Darvish a few weeks ago, so the price could be high.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Prince Fielder is close to a nine-year (yes, nine) deal with the Detroit Tigers. The American League is getting ridiculous. First Albert Pujols and now Fielder. More to come. UPDATE, 3:01 p.m.: Jon Heyman of CBS is reporting the deal is done and it's for nine years and $214 million. Scott Boras knew what he was doing all along. That's an average of $23.7 million a year. Pujols got 10 years and $254 million.

The hours are dwindling to a precious few, and Daisuke Matsuzaka remains unsigned. If midnight Thursday comes and he remains so, we can then indulge in one of modern America's favorite rituals: The Blame Game. There's nothing new about The Blame Game. It goes back at least as far as the late '40s, when the parlor game du jour was "Who Lost China?" Nowadays, it seems to be a required procedure in the world of sport. The Matsuzaka situation is particularly savory, because it includes a villain sent directly from Central Casting.

By Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff And then there was ... Oswalt. Edwin Jackson has agreed to a one-year deal with the Washington Nationals believed to be in the $10 million range, which was about twice as much as the Red Sox wanted to spend. Scott Boras told me moments ago he had a few offers for Jackson, some multi-year, one two-year and some one-year deals. He chose Washington which could be a contender in the NL East. Boras has a signed a few players to one-year deals recently including Ryan Madson with the Reds and Kyle Lohse with the Cardinals.

NEW YORK - Major League Baseball had this message for Alex Rodriguez and agent Scott Boras: Shame on you. Boras announced during Game 4 of the World Series Sunday night that Rodriguez was opting out of the final three seasons of his contract with the Yankees. The timing left baseball officials livid, and Boras apologized yesterday evening, just after Rodriguez filed with the Players Association and became a free agent for the first time since 2000. "We were very disappointed that Scott Boras would try to upstage our premier baseball event of the season with his...

MILWAUKEE - Scott Boras said he would have to check his schedule but he seems to think he does have a time slot reserved for the Red Sox, to discuss, among others - free-agent closer Ryan Madson - recently snubbed by the Phillies in favor of Jonathan Papelbon. He was asked about Carlos Beltran, who turns out ot be a former client now represented by Dan Lozano. "Its hard to get those (positional) players to free-agency and the ones who get there there's a real demand for them," Boras said.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff FORT MYERS, Fla. —Jason Varitek had his emotions in check until he looked up and saw so many of his teammates lined up behind the chairs where his parents sat. There were Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, two of the four pitchers he guided to no-hitters. Tim Wakefield, his teammate for 15 years who had announced his own retirement only two weeks prior, was there. So was Josh Beckett, the stubborn Texan who insisted Varitek had to catch him. A dozen or so others stood among them, all paying tribute.

By Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff And then there was ... Oswalt. Edwin Jackson has agreed to a one-year deal with the Washington Nationals believed to be in the $10 million range, which was about twice as much as the Red Sox wanted to spend. Scott Boras told me moments ago he had a few offers for Jackson, some multi-year, one two-year and some one-year deals. He chose Washington which could be a contender in the NL East. Boras has a signed a few players to one-year deals recently including Ryan Madson with the Reds and Kyle Lohse with the Cardinals.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff The latest pitching rumors: * Danny Knobler of CBS suggests that Roy Oswalt may not be crazy about the Red Sox. * ESPN's Jim Bowden reported on Twitter that the Red Sox have made an offer to Edwin Jackson. For a guy who has been traded six times, the 28-year-old Jackson has pretty good numbers (a fWAR of 11.2 the last three seasons) and is a decent bet to produce a good season. But he's also a Scott Boras client. Boras compared Jackson with Yu Darvish a few weeks ago, so the price could be high.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Prince Fielder is close to a nine-year (yes, nine) deal with the Detroit Tigers. The American League is getting ridiculous. First Albert Pujols and now Fielder. More to come. UPDATE, 3:01 p.m.: Jon Heyman of CBS is reporting the deal is done and it's for nine years and $214 million. Scott Boras knew what he was doing all along. That's an average of $23.7 million a year. Pujols got 10 years and $254 million.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff DALLAS — Scott Boras just met with reporters at the Winter Meetings. Here are a few of his thoughts in regards to Red Sox players: On Jason Varitek's desire to return to the Red Sox: "Ben [Cherington] and I have had a conversation about that and we're in the process of working on that. I think that he has an interest in playing for Boston and I think they have an interest in looking into that subject.

Manny Ramirez applied for reinstatement to Major League Baseball, and his suspension for a second failed drug test was cut Sunday from 100 games to 50 because he sat out nearly all of last season. Having already served a 50-game ban for violating baseball's drug agreement in 2009, Ramirez faced a 100-game suspension last spring for a second offense. But rather than serve the penalty, the 12-time All-Star told the commissioner's office he was quitting. MLB announced his retirement on April 8 and said merely he was notified "of an issue" under the drug program.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff When Mark Teixeira decided to sign with the Yankees instead of the Red Sox in December of 2008, John Henry and Co. were furious. Henry and Larry Lucchino went to Dallas to recruit Teixeira on Dec. 18 and the meeting ended badly. The Sox felt Teixeira and agent Scott Boras were stringing them along to get a better deal from the Yankees. The Sox stormed out of the meeting, Henry sending e-mails to reporters saying they were out of the chase.

Manny Ramirez applied for reinstatement to Major League Baseball, and his suspension for a second failed drug test was cut Sunday from 100 games to 50 because he sat out nearly all of last season. Having already served a 50-game ban for violating baseball's drug agreement in 2009, Ramirez faced a 100-game suspension last spring for a second offense. But rather than serve the penalty, the 12-time All-Star told the commissioner's office he was quitting. MLB announced his retirement on April 8 and said merely he was notified "of an issue" under the drug program.

Scott Boras is already making his case for Prince Fielder over Albert Pujols. As baseball's general managers arrived in Milwaukee for meetings that begin Tuesday, Boras emphasized that Fielder is four years younger than Pujols. "I don't think Pujols and Fielder are in any way related in the market place," Boras said Monday. "I think their markets are separate and distinct. " The slugging first basemen are the top power hitters available in free agency. Fielder helped the Milwaukee Brewers win the NL Central title this season and a trip to the NL championship series, where...