Red Sox Rumors, Notes: Middlebrooks, 40-Man, Ortiz, Closers

Checking in with the Red Sox, where these new CBA rules could really affect their off-season strategy -- it could mean pursuing a higher-profile closer without losing a draft pick:

• On (And Off) The Red Sox' 40-Man Roster - Over the Monster
  The Red Sox protected Will Middlebrooks, Drake Britton, and Che-Hsuan Lin from the Rule 5 draft by adding them to the 40-man roster. Who didn't make the cut?
• Report: New CBA to include HGH testing - The Providence Journal
  "...At that point, Red Sox player representative Daniel Bard discussed the likelihood of HGH testing in the future. "I think it'll happen eventually. The technology has maybe got to get a little better," Bard said. "I know a lot of guys are in favor of cleaning up the game to the fullest extent. Most guys are playing clean now, and I think everyone wants their opposition to be playing clean, too. Any way we can get that done, I'm sure it will happen eventually."
• New compensation rules good news for Red Sox - The Providence Journal
  This modification in free-agency rules may compel Boston to pursue a top-line closer more aggressively, since the cost no longer includes that first-round pick. It also means that, if Ortiz were to leave Boston and the Red Sox not sign a headline replacement for him, the Red Sox could end up with three first-round picks and two sandwich picks in next year's draft.
• Ex-NY Mets manager Bobby Valentine would be a perfect fit to manage the dysfunctional Boston Red Sox - NY Daily News
  "In his 15 years as a big league manager with the Texas Rangers and the Mets, Valentine earned a reputation for being strong-willed, hands-on, opinionated, outspoken and (in the Mets’ case anyway) high maintenance. It is why, as this kind of a lightning rod, there’s nary a GM in baseball who, on his own, would hire the 61-year old Valentine. It is also why now, under these circumstances, he is the perfect guy for the Red Sox."