“Our Man Brandon” is close to signing a three year deal worth about 11.5 million with the Sox. This is good news for music buffs, college girls and fans of value-priced pitchers who manage to stay off the DL. Hell, I’d lock the guy up long-term simply for his role in sparking the infamous “smell the glove” brawl back in ’04.

What’s interesting is that, according to a quote in today’s Herald, it seems to be pure love pushing Bronson to sign on the line that is dotted:

“Bronson believes that taking this deal will allow him to remain a Boston Red Sox for the remainder of his contract and hopefully for the rest of his career by providing this discount to the Red Sox. Bronson loves the city of Boston, he loves the fans and he loves the Red Sox and he wants to finish his career with the Red Sox.”

Kid Arroyo seems to be moving forward on this without the full blessing of his agents, however, who feel he should be paid more. Perhaps more specifically, they’re concerned that the Sox might be trying to lock the pitcher in at a bargain price just to flip him somewhere else. A reasonable concern.

Me, I’ve always liked the guy and figure he’s good for 13-14 wins each season. Certainly worth holding on to at a bargain price. But there are those holes in the line-up…

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Okay, here’s a question, and further proof that pitchers and catchers can’t report soon enough: What song are you listening to right now? At this very moment. It might be on your iPod, the radio, the office muzak channel… whatever. Just call me Mr. Curious… I wanna know.

Myself? As I type these very words, it’s Van Halen’s “Jump.” Which is one of those songs I always say I don’t want on my iPod. But it’s there [along with “I’ll Wait,” which is arguably the best song on 1984]. Why? Not sure. Mostly because there’s all that precious space that needs to be filled. Also, I’m man enough to admit I’m utterly entranced by it. Funny thing about this song, some wannabe musicians spend their entire lives searching for those elusive lyrics… the ones that will deftly grab a listener by the heart and mind and make them see precisely what the artist was thinking when he or she wrote it. Then there’s “Jump,” in which an entire stanza consists of:

“Haaaa-waaaa. Hey You! Who said that? Baby how you been?
You say you don’t know-ow-ow, you won’t know until you begin”

What does it mean? Only Roth and his accountant know for sure.