Epstein’s got some work to do with Sox

Discussion in 'MLB General' started by 44Thrilla, Dec 3, 2009.

  1. 44Thrilla

    44Thrilla cuatro cuatro

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    Well, it has begun. Eligible free agents have been offered arbitration, and the Red Sox are supposedly interested in every single one of them if you listen to and read all the reports.

    One thing is true, though: Sox GM Theo Epstein is leaving no stone unturned in his search to find players to fill gaps, which is one reason why he asked Dustin Pedroia about the possibility of playing shortstop.

    Now, let’s be honest about that. It’s probably not going to happen, even if Pedroia was an award-winning shortstop at Arizona State. The Sox would prefer to leave Pedroia at second base and find themselves a new shortstop, now that Alex Gonzalez has bolted to Toronto. But who? Who will play left field? Who will back up the outfielders? What’s to become of Mike Lowell at third base, and will Kevin Youkilis be shifted, leaving an opening at first base?

    These answers and more will be coming in the next couple of months, perhaps as soon as next week when the Major League Baseball winter meetings begin in Indianapolis. This, by the way, has become serious business.

    After the GMs held their meetings at a hotel near O’Hare Airport, the league is meeting in Indy, not Hawaii or Orlando. They’re not playing around.

    The Red Sox have actually already come through nicely in one of their early transactions. On Monday they offered arbitration to reliever Billy Wagner, and may have even thought that he’d bite, figuring that while he wouldn’t close in Boston, he’d at least receive a steady paycheck and work.

    Instead, Wagner declined almost immediately and signed with the Braves for an exceptional $7 million paycheck, leaving the Sox smiling.

    Because Wagner is classified as a Type A free agent (a formula compiled by the Elias Sports Bureau to identify the top 20 percent of free agents), the Sox automatically received the Braves’ top draft choice, plus a sandwich pick (a secondary first-round pick), which will help to replenish what has become a somewhat depleted farm system.

    The Sox have another opportunity to add to the minor league pot should Jason Bay decide to opt for other pastures. Whether they’re greener remains to be seen because Bay has turned down a four-year, $60 million offer from the Red Sox, instead opting for free agency.

    Will other teams offer more? Probably, and if they do and he decides to leave, the Sox will then have additional first-round picks, a rare bounty these days.

    That creates the further problem of having to replace him, and to do that they need a quality fielder. That means, barring a trade, acquiring another Type A free agent, and since the Sox already will have picked up four draft picks in the Bay and Wagner losses, losing two of them for a quality Bay replacement is perfectly acceptable. Matt Holliday tops the list of course. In fact, there’s no comparison between him and the two other Type A free agents: Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye.

    The Sox preference would to be get Holliday or re-sign Bay because it’s the path of least resistance. There just aren’t many other acceptable free agent outfielders, unless you want to include Coco Crisp, Xavier Nady, Hideki Matsui, Mike Cameron, Vlad Guerrero, Garret Anderson or Frank Catalanotto, among others.

    Meanwhile, Epstein’s other big task is to come away with a shortstop/second baseman. It makes more sense to leave Pedroia at second base, but who comes in to play shortstop? The preference remains Jed Lowrie, who showed loads of promise, especially defensively, during his rookie year, but the wrist injury wrecked him last season and the Sox have no way of knowing if he can return to play a full-time role.

    If they have enough confidence in him for a year or two, they might want to go that route while waiting for 19-year-old Cuban Jose Iglesias. For that matter, the Sox have been linked to their own former young shortstop, Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins, but Marlins GM Michael Hill has said he is not talking with the Sox about a deal for Ramirez.

    Quality free agent shortstops are few. Marco Scutaro and Orlando Cabrera are the only Type As out there, and that seems a little far-fetched. Epstein’s certainly not going after Cabrera as a Type A. Scutaro was offered arbitration by the Jays, even though they signed Gonzalez, but he has until next Monday to make a decision. Scutaro is coming off a career year, which would make it unlikely that the Sox would give him a hefty long-term deal beyond a couple of years.

    Other free agent shortstops include an aging Miguel Tejada, Adam Everett, Bobby Crosby and Khalil Greene.

    Come to think of it, moving Pedroia to shortstop might make some sense, but that’s where Epstein finds himself as he prepares for the winter meetings. There are holes to fill and no clear plan of how to fill them.

    http://www.patriotledger.com/sports/x29008089/Epstein-s-got-some-work-to-do-with-Sox
     

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