Hardball Heaven

Another busy day for the World Champion (it just doesn't get old) Red Sox. A week after hearing that Kevin Youkilis had won a Gold Glove at 1B, pint-sized Dirt Dog Dustin Pedroia took home Rookie of the Year honors today. Much deserved, and adding to the Pedroia legend is the news that he played with a broken bone in his hand during the postseason. My two favorite moments from this past year: his three-run homer in Game 7 against the Indians, and the great play he made on Miguel Tejada to help preserve Clay Buchholz' no-hitter. As our senior senator would say, Pedroia plays with some vim and vigah.

The free-for-all - aka MLB's annual free agency period - officially gets underway in 11 minutes. Boston.com is reporting that Theo Epstein failed to seal a deal with Mike Lowell's agent, so Lowell will be free to talk to other teams. Most reports say the Sox wouldn't budge on three years; Lowell wants four. It'll be interesting to see how this ends up - losing Lowell would be a big loss. But never say never.

Finally, I bring you the shocking news that Youkilis is planning to shave off his trademark goatee. All for a good cause.

And that's all I've got for you today.