Red Sox guru Peter Gammons has reported that  Boston has signed  Reynaldo Rodriguez who is the #1 independent league prospect . Rodriguez a first baseman played for Yuma in the Golden League. Theo Epstein has his much needed youth movement underway. The Boston bats let down the pitching staff against the Angels in a playoff series that was certainly winnable with some decent pitching performances wasted by having no run support.

Although he is no Mark Teixeira the Red Sox signed catcher Josh Bard to a one year deal in the range of 1.7 million with incentives. Bard had a brief stint with Boston in '06 but catching for knuckleballer Tim Wakefield left him feeling too much pressure but know he says he's mature enough to understand sometimes a ball will get passed you and you just have accept it and move on.

Telling Timlin, who has four World Series rings, that he was off the ALDS roster, was a tough move for Francona. Putting him back on was far more appealing.

"I think we felt like in a potential seven-game series, we needed to have the extra pitcher," Francona said. "You get yourself into a little bit of a bind if you don't. It's certainly a lot more fun to give somebody good news than it is the other way. He's very deserving. He's been doing this a long time. I don't know how he will fit in or where he will pitch or when. We certainly don't know how the games are gong to go beforehand, but I know there was a comfort level putting him on the roster."