Reach him via Twitter or josh at smallwhiteball dotcom

Bay looked like a sure-fire MVP candidate, but that's why they play the whole season.A nasty slump fueled by the inability to hit a 1-2 breaking ball killed the lineup in June and July. He got hot again in August and September, but suddenly there were questions we didn't have before. Did we still want Bay How many years and at what price Was there a better option Once the season closed though, you didn't find too many people ready to kick him to the curb unless Matt Holliday was ready to move into the house. Surely the Red Sox wouldn't let both Bay and Holliday slip through their ring-laden fingers and go into '10 with less of a power punch than in '09. If the past month has been any indication, that actually seems to be the case. This offseason, it's clear that pitching and defense have become the main goals of the organization, while the power bats that many of us yearned for still haven't found their way here. But before you run with the notions being put out there that he's asking for too much money, that his defense isn't that great, and that the 36-year old Cameron is essentially "Bay Lite" with a better glove, stop yourself for a second.At 31, Bay still managed to finish seventh in the AL MVP vote and had career-highs in home runs and RBI (and yes, strikeouts).

He played a solid left field and adjusted to the Monster nicely in his season and a half here. Sure, he had the awful two month slump, but keep in mind that he also batted all around the lineup in a constantly reshuffling order that had major power outages at nearly every position. In the next few weeks Bay is going to sign a big deal, likely with the New York Mets or Seattle Mariners, and just like that it'll be made official He'll be gone. And at some point during that deal, the day will come when he'll make his return and get the same standing ovation he did the first time he took an at-bat in Fenway Park in '08 something that has become a hallmark of any former player's homecoming and he'll deserve every single second of it Thanks for everything, J-Bay It was a blast having you here, pun full intended.

Josh Nason is the main writer for Small White Ball, a New England-based sports and media blog that contributes to Bleacher Report. Reach him via Twitter or josh at smallwhiteball dot-com.. Acoustic Precision Control Delivers High-Fidelity SoundLAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ Demonstrating its commitment to playing aleading role in the development of quality performance headphones, Panasonictoday announced the debut of the RP-HJE700 High-Fidelity In-Ear Headphones. Featuring Acoustic Precision Control, these new premium in-ear headphones aredesigned to provide optimum sound and comfort.Acoustic Precision Control employs a triple virtual speaker system which usesthree tuning gates to deliver fine tuning and rich bass response.Thespeakers are engineered with special ribbing on the driver cones to providerigidity for purer sound and less resonance.