Spring Training picking up speed.

It's heating up down in Fort Myers, Florida as new news and rumors circulate around this years team.

Some notes to point out. Manny is still not at Spring Training, but don't dispair, he is very likely to show up by March 1st as it seems there have been no serious talks for his trade this offseason. His reasoning for his absence is a ill mother, but its also Manny being Manny, he'll take the fine and still hit like crazy when the season starts. Doesn't really bother me.

Secondly, after Curt Schilling (without an agent), gave the Red Sox front office an ultimatum for his 2008 season, the team rejected his proposal for an extension to the veteran ace. This means that in the 2008 offseason, Schilling will become a free agent and open to other teams. He has stated that he 'will never play for the Yankees', but Traitor Damon said that too, so you never know. It seems that Theo has continued what Dan Shaughnessy refers to as a 'Belichekian' approach to team management, where loyalty isn't really rewarded. It's just a matter of 'business decisions'. After seeing Curt slightly overweight arriving at City of Palms, as well as factoring in for his age and his dodgy ankle, the team felt the risk couldn't be afforded to one of the most influential pitcher in recent Sox history. Don't be disheartened, because if Schilling has a good season, there's a good chance he will resign with the Sox, but probably not at the $13m he wanted in this deal.

Matsuzaka seems to be proving to the Sox that he is a comitted workhorse, throwing 103 pitches yesterday out of the bullpen as well as spending time on the boring drills. The team are learning phrases in Japanese to comfort him in his new surroundings, and Dice-K promises to teach them Japanese once he has got the hang of some English. There is debate on how to come to a compromise amount of work for Matsuzaka between his 250-odd pitches in Japan, to the 100-odd in the US. Time will tell. His first start is on March 2nd.

Further news is that Roger Clemens made a statement saying that as long as he can stay in shape and keep up with what's going on, he wants to remain a part of baseball because he still enjoys it. There is still some chance that we could be seeing him in Boston for a half season, but that won't be decided for quite some time yet.

Also, NESN have introduced a fresh new face to their reporting team. Amelie Benjamin joins Tina Cervasio as the female correspondents for the Red Sox and is really getting her start at this years Spring Training. Expect to see a lot from her. That's all for now from Red Sox Nation. Will keep you posted. Games start soon!