Red Sox Season

Well the Red Sox for only the second time since 2002 will not make the postseason. I think it is safe to say that they would likely have made it had they not been decimated by injury but of course with Tampa and New York in their division one never knows.

What is evident is that this is a team in transition. A quick overview from my perspective.

The starting pitching, like it or not seems set. Beckett and Lackey each with 4 years left on their contracts with Lester and Bucholz under team control thru 2014 gives stability. Dice K still has two years left but cannot be depended on and Tim Wakefield is now officially old. Even so starting pitching is not the area of most concern. With Casey Kelly and others on the way this will be strength.

The bullpen as relates to set up men is a mess. With Delcarman and Ramirez traded, Okijima likely not to be brought back this could be an all new group. I think that Micheal Bowden pitched well this year in the second half in this role but other than that we should expect a whole new crew next year. With Daniel Bard in the set up role and Papelbon in the closers role the back end is pretty secure. Still Papelbon did have the most blown saves of his career and with Bard ready it seems likely that Jonathan will not be back in Boston after his contract expires next year. That being the case I would not be surprised to see him moved this winter. If that happens that will put even more pressure to improve the set up as with Bard moving assumingly to the closer role nothing but the ninth inning will be secure.


Mike Lowell is retiring. David Ortiz has a team option and Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre can walk. What will happen. Originally we thought that there was no chance Ortiz would be back. He has however now hit 30 homeruns. Still 12.5 million for a DH is in todays market alot. Teams are paying about half that. The Sox are in some ways motivated by fear, fear of Ortiz going to the Yankees and reminding them of his value 18 times a season. Still it might be time to cut him loose. I think that is future is tied to Adrian Beltre. Beltre has had an MVP type year, he plays hard, he never slacks off. But he now will be looking for the big payday. The Sox must ask themselves if they do this, will he be the Beltre we saw this year or the Beltre who played a big contract out in Seattle with limited success. I believe Fenway is made for him so I do think he is a worthy investment. I am not sure they will want to dig deep enough however and with the pending free agent first base class of 2011 perhaps they should not. Beltre being signed would leave the Sox with no hole save DH in the infield. I do not believe Victor Martinez will be back. He is a good hitter but if he is not the catcher his value is less as a first baseman. The jury is out on if he is a good catcher.

Of the three I would rate in liklihood of returning Ortiz, V MArt, Beltre.

Next year the return on Pedroia and Youkilis will mean alot. JD Drew will be playing for a contract and all the young position players will be that much closer to making an impact.

Which brings us to Jacoby. His value is down now but still many teams would be interested. He might well return and be a great player. I believe that Boston may not be the place for him. He will always have the not tough enough label and with Boras as his agent he will never sign with Boston when he becomes a free agent. He will likely have great success somewhere, but probably not in Boston. It might be time to consider trading him.