Flutterballs Fly

(Wake, pumped about his contract extension)

According to the Boston Globe, Tim Wakefield has been given a contract extension. Looks like the contract guarantees Wake a job in Boston through 2006 with club options for 2007 and beyond. So we're talking about indefinite team options here. That is, in a word, choice. I remember watching Wake and Timlin being interviewed during the Jimmy Fund Radiothon over the winter and during the question and answer session with the crowd, a young woman asked Wake, "How many more years are you going to pitch and will you retire with the Red Sox?" And Wake answered, very directly, "I don't know how many more years I'll pitch but I guarantee I'll retire with the Red Sox." The crowd gave him a standing ovation.

I suspect it's only a matter of time before I receive a call from my brother, wondering why the Sox haven't offered Mirabelli a matching deal.