Mike Lowell is a ping pong ninja

Not sure how I missed this one, but here goes.

On Tuesday, Kevin Youkilis suggested the spring training equivalent of a sunset duel, offering to “play anyone [at ping pong] at anytime if someone would get him a table.”

Comcast SportsNet brought the table, a round robin tournament was setup between Youkilis, Pedroia and Lowell, and Lowell kicked everyone’s ass.

For a trophy, he was presented with the Golden Paddle. A fine trophy if I’ve ever seen one, this beauty appears to be a regular ping pong paddle with the rubber ripped off.

Red Sox, Youkilis reach agreement

The Red Sox and Kevin Youkilis have agreed to the terms of his 2008 contract. He will make $3 million this season.

The contract is a nice compromise between the Red Sox’ $2.525 million offer and the $3.7 million Youkilis asked for.

Theo has yet to have a player go through arbitration under his watch. 

Youkilis files for arbitration

Kevin Youkilis has filed for salary arbitration in his first year of eligibility.

He had hoped to receive an offer for a long-term deal this offseason, and the Red Sox seemed as though they were willing to oblige—but only if he gave them a discounted price. In the end, there wasn’t enough incentive for either side to get a deal done this year.

Youkilis made $424,500 in 2007. After being a rock for the Red Sox in 2007 and years past, he is expected to receive a significant raise through the arbitration process. Expect his 2008 salary to come in anywhere between $1.5-4 million.

Javier Lopez and Kyle Snyder are the only other Red Sox players to file for arbitration this year.