According to CBS4, the Red Sox have signed Mike Timlin to a one-year deal worth $2.8 million, plus incentives. I’m sure a lot of people will scoff at that decision, but I think it was the right thing to do. While most people will focus on the fact that Timlin will be 41 one and coming off a season in which he went 6-6 with a 4.36 ERA (and you often held your breath when he came in with runners on), it’s also a season in which he had the fewest appearances since 1999. The way I see it, with some rest in the off-season and no WBC, I think he’ll be a relative bargain given what good arms cost on the market right now. Plus, who doesn’t want to see Timlin–who has been nothing but an iron horse for us while here–wearing a Red Sox uniform when he becomes only the 11th pitcher in major league history to appear in 1,000 or more games? I certainly won’t mind it.

P.S. I’m back! I think…