No batting gloves, no pine tar, no problem

Rumor has it that the Red Sox have re-acquired Doug Mirabelli from the Padres (this is according to the Sons of Sam Horn site, based on Buster Olney on ESPN2). He will apparently start tonight in Boston with Wakefield pitching against the Yankees.

Josh Bard had allowed 10 passed balls in 5 Wakefield starts, and it will be a tight race for a play-off spot this year. Dropping any more games because your catcher allows 2 extra bases a game is really not an option, I guess. Bard's hit OK, but he has only 5 hits (1 double) and 3 walks so far. That's 9 bases he's accounted for with the bat, while giving up 10 bases with the glove. Actually, more than 10 since there were certainly multiple guys on base for some of those passed balls.

Hopefully, the Sox didn't give up much. [(Seanez? He had had success in SD and is off to a slow start in Boston, and couldn't handle Boston the first time through either.) We'll see when/if we get confirmation on this.]

ETA: ESPN.com confirms. Says SD's package is unclear, but reports it as Josh Bard, Cla Meredith and cash. Seems like a strange package. Why would the Sox be sending cash? Mirabelli makes $2 million/year, so that's a huge saving right there for SD. Well, until there's an official announcement, these reports might be off.

Finally: So, it looks like it's Bard, Cla Meredith and either cash or a PTBNL. Looks like a good deal to me. I wonder if this makes the top story tonight that Doug Mirabelli is returning as a Red Sox or that Johnny Damon is returning as a Yankee?