Hardball Heaven

Ask and ye shall receive. A little Hot Stove baseball talk for your Sunday morning. First, I read a rumor this morning that the Tigers may deal either Nate Robertson or Dontrelle Willis to the Sox for Julio Lugo, a deal in which Boston would undoubtedly have to eat a lot of cash. Anything to get Julio out of town, but that also says that Theo is content to go with Jed Lowrie as his everyday shortstop. I'm not sold on Lowrie yet, but I'd be okay with that - he needs to cut down on the whiffs. The Sox are also rumored to be talking with Scott Bore-Ass about stud 1B Mark Teixeira and Derek Lowe. Personally, I think Texeira should be their No. 1 priority. Move Youk to third, trade Mike Lowell, and you've got a 30-homer, Gold Glove first baseman to plug into that lineup. Then sign Varitek for reasonable money, get a decent bullpen arm or two and that's all they need to do.

Here's a look at the some of the better-known names available by position, with guys I think the Sox should pursue in bold:

C: Brad Ausmus, Rod Barajas, Michael Barrett, Johnny Estrada, Jason Kendall, Paul LoDuca, Pudge Rodriguez, Jason Varitek, Greg Zaun

1B: Carlos Delgado, Jason Giambi, Kevin Millar, Mark Teixeira

2B: Orlando Hudson

SS: Orlando Cabrera, Rafael Furcal, Edgar Renteria, Omar Vizquel

3B: Troy Glaus, Chipper Jones

OF: Bobby Abreu, Garret Anderson, Casey Blake, Milton Bradley, Pat Burrell, Mike Cameron, Carl Crawford, Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey, Jr., Vladimir Guerrero, Raul Ibanez, Jacque Jones, Mark Kotsay, Manny Ramirez

DH: Frank Thomas, Jim Thome

SP: A.J. Burnett, Ryan Dempster, Randy Johnson, John Lackey, Kyle Lohse, Derek Lowe, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Matt Morris, Jamie Moyer, Mike Mussina, Brad Penny, Oliver Perez, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets, Randy Wolf

RP: Brian Fuentes, Todd Jones, Jorge Julio, Brad Lidge, Mariano Rivera, Francisco Rodriguez, Dan Wheeler, Kerry Wood

Here's the full list, with agents, service time, ages, etc.

Some very big names available, and of course, leave it to the Yankees to turn their noses at the biggest economic meltdown we've seen in our lifetimes. Reports say they've made a huge offer to Sabathia, and are also pursuing both Burnett and Lowe. Think they want to improve their pitching?

Throw in your thoughts...