The Red Sox have claimed 26-year old righty swinging outfielder Jordan Parraz off waivers from the Royals. Parraz played in 123 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 115 of 432 (.266 avg, .760 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 11 homers, 61 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He has now played in 634 games in seven years in the minors and he is 672 of 2,324 (.289 avg, .814 OPS) with 366 runs scored, 54 homers, 325 RBIs and 114 stolen bases. The Red Sox will likely stash Parraz in AAA for 2011.

UPDATE: (12/17/2010) - The Red Sox have lost Jordan Parraz on waivers to the New York Yankees.

The Red Sox have signed 27-year old switch hitting infielder Drew Sutton to a minor league deal. Sutton played in 13 games for the Reds & Indians last season and he was 10 of 39 (.256 avg, .745 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 2 homers and 8 RBIs. He has now played in 55 games in parts of two years in the majors and he is 24 of 105 (.229 avg, .683 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers and 17 RBIs. Sutton will likely be stashed in AAA in 2011 by the Boston Red Sox.

Red Sox’ manager Terry Francona finished fourth in the voting for the A.L. Manager of the Year Award after leading the team to a 89-73 (54.9%) record despite a rash of injuries that likely would have crippled another other team in baseball. Francona has been the manager of the Red Sox for 7 years now and he has compiled a 654-480 (57.7%) record during the regular season and he is 28-17 (62.2%) during the post season. Francona was the manager that broke the curse of Babe Ruth winning both the 2004 and 2007 World Series for the Red Sox.

26-year old righty starting pitcher Clay Buchholz finished sixth in the voting for the A.L. Cy Young Award. He started 28 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 17-7 with a 2.33 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. In almost any other year Buchholz would have been in the top two for this award but not 2010 as a lot of pitchers had great years. Buchholz has now pitched in 64 games (62 starts) in his first four years with the Red Sox and he is 29-21 with a 3.68 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. The Red Sox have to be ecstatic that they resisted trade offers for Buchholz as a lot of teams wanted him.

26-year old lefty starting pitcher Jon Lester finished 4th in the voting for the A.L. Cy Young Award. He deserved the votes as he was outstanding for the Red Sox last year. Lester started 32 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 19-9 with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He has now pitched in 124 games (123 starts) in parts of five years with the Red Sox and he is 61-25 with a 3.55 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. I can see Lester winning a Cy Young Award in the near future if he can stay healthy which hasn’t been a problem since he beat cancer.