Larry Walker and Kevin Millar

If you've read these pages for any period of time - you would probably realize that I really, REALLY wanted the Red Sox to pick-up Larry Walker. Now St. Louis has picked up Walked for the equivalent of the coins to be found in the couches of the visitor's clubhouse at Busch Stadium.

Colorado even agreed to pay $7.5 million of Walker's 2005 salary - meaning he will only cost St. Louis $5 million next season for the career .315 hitter. Are you telling me that the Red Sox could handle that amount for 2005? Are you telling me that they couldn't use Walker this year when Trot Nixon is basically unavailable for the entire season?

Yes Walker had a no-trade veto over where he was going to go but you have to think that the good friend of Bruins legend Cam Neeley would have been happy to come to Boston.

I really wanted the Red Sox to trade for Larry Walker. I'm really disappointed that they didn't.

If the Red Sox had traded for Walker - that would probably have meant diminished playing time for Kevin Millar. I wonder how Cowboy Up (.240 BA in the playoffs) Millar would have reacted to that? This is what Millar had to say last night about his originally not being in the line-up:

"I wasn't told I was on the bench today," said Millar. "I didn't know that was the situation. I didn't know they traded for [Mientkiewicz] to be the everyday first baseman. I wasn't told that. Once we got him, it was like maybe I'll play some right field against righties and first base against lefties, and here we are. El bencho today."

Let me point out the obvious to Kevin Millar - you're not Todd Helton at first and you're not Manny Ramirez in the outfield. Francona stood by you when you were struggling earlier in the year and now you complain about playing time? Just shut the Fuji (the spellcheck alternative to what I originally wrote) up and play when your name is penciled in.

Now I'm normally a big supporter of Kevin Millar - more for the cohesion he brings to the clubhouse (Manny credits Millar with his more outgoing 2004 persona) than for what he brings to the field. I'm willing to even grant that maybe it was just a momentary lapse of common sense on the part of Millar and let the comment slide. It's just coming on the heels of the Red Sox not getting Larry Walker - I guess I'm a little cranky.