WEEI.com's Rob Bradford reports that the only way the Red Sox can think about signing Roy Oswalt is if they "move payroll" to avoid the 'Dreaded Luxury Tax'. Herewith are some of our suggestions to help the NOG pare down and make the badly-needed Oswalt signing:1.) Fire Wally. Let's face it, his time has come and gone. Little kids are either scared of him or have moved on to more anatomically-correct mascots. This move would free up somewhere between $30-40,000 in cap space and allow the team to donate the costume to some deserving Independent League franchise for the tax deduction;
2.) Don't Hire A Replacement For Heidi Watney. Come on, be honest, she can't really be replaced anyway. And are we really substantially enlightened by any of those "sideline" interviews? This can save around $70,000—plus pancake make-up costs (about another $30,000);
3.) Cut Joe Cole and Fernando Torres From The Liverpool Roster. Frankly, we have no idea who these guys are—and, by the way NESN, we don't want to know who they are. What we do know is that cutting them would free up a whole 8 million pounds (that's $12.3 million in real money);
OK, so total it all up and you've got almost $12.5 million! That should be more than enough for a one-year contract with Oswalt. Next question?