Here's the latest out of Boston:

• Red Sox Need A Closer, And There Are Plenty To Choose From - Over the Monster
  "Patience is a virtue in this off-season's reliever market, as there are now more job applicants than there are jobs available."
• Red Sox Unlikely to Focus On Offense - WEEI
  "David Ortiz accepted salary arbitration, a process that projects to give him a salary next year of at least $14 million. It also ensures that the Sox will have a tremendous middle-of-the-order force back in the fold, with Ortiz in Boston for a 10th season. That being the case, Cherington said it is unlikely that the Sox will focus their limited offseason resources on offense."
• Twitter / @Joelsherman1: 1 exec who knows Bobby Val ...
  "1 exec who knows Bobby Valentine said he' very high on Nakajima. Thus expects SS to reject #Yankees overtures after they won posting [to] go back to Japan, play in 2012, become a full free agent and join #Redsox for the 2013 season. Valentine really likes Nakajima's bat."

• Analyzing Ortiz in arbitration - Tim Britton
  "Ortiz represents an interesting case for arbitration because of his age. Those that go through arbitration are traditionally younger players in their first six years of major-league service, not a 35-year-old with Ortiz's track record. That means there are even fewer historical comparables for the DH."
• Epstein, Cherington's "old pair of jeans" - The Providence Journal
  The two sides, Cherington said, have not yet come to an agreement on compensation for the departure of Epstein to the Cubs. Major League Baseball has not set a timetable to resolve the issue.
• Red Sox Sign Jesse Carlson: MLB Rumors - Tim Dierkes
  "The Red Sox signed lefty reliever Jesse Carlson to a split contract with a spring training invite, his brother told Robert Mayer of the local online newspaper the Berlin Patch in a story published yesterday."
• Boston Red Sox Rumors: Farrell, Ortiz, Cherington - MLB Daily Dish
• Not linked: "Red Sox were never in on Pujols." (thanks analysts!)

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