Goodbye, Tony

Well, I'm not too happy about the fact that the Sox will now get nothing in return, but I'm glad for Tony Graffanino that the club finally waived him. Now he can catch on somewhere (St. Louis? The Cubs or Mets?) that he's wanted and needed.

This was pretty much a forgone conclusion once the team offered him arbitration, a move I still don't understand. By offering it, they pretty much guaranteed that no club would offer him a contract and surrender a draft pick to the Sox. That, in turn, forced Graffanino to accept arbitration, which at least meant that he would be guaranteed a decent contract. Unfortunately for both him and the Sox, that move made him completely useless to the Red Sox, who already had Mark Loretta in camp and Dustin Pedroia waiting in the wings. With other teams knowing the Red Sox had to move Graffanino or waive, no one would offer them anything of real value in return, making today's waiver inevitable.

Keep in mind, the arbitration offer that set all of this off was made while Theo was still doing social work. For all of the posturing Johnny Damon has done about the Theo void and how it prevented him from returning to Boston, I think that's a load of baloney. But Graffanino, on the other hand, is a good guy and a good player who truly was victimized by the team's profoundly disfunctional off-season front office shenanigans.

I hope someone in the front office offered him a sincere apology on his way out the door.

Other Sox Notes:

• I love the signing of Hee-Seop Choi. The rumors all spring have been that both Mike Lowell and J.T. Snow are showing their age worse than Farah Fawcett. Signing Choi, who has always fit the Sox offensive blueprint of patience combined with power, allows them to cut Snow loose if he can't cut it anymore, or move Youkilis back to third if Lowell can't cut it anymore, or both. Plus, he still has a minor league option left, so they don't have to make these decisions anytime soon. Just a perfect signing all around.
• So, Josh Beckett even plays his Spring Training games with a chip on his shoulder? Beautiful. If this guy can stay healthy, I get the feeling I'm going to like him for a long, long time.