| 26 January 2009
Daniel Barbarisi of the Providence Journal thinks the Red Sox should sign a catcher (Varitek) and call it an offseason... but with plenty of quality Free Agents still looking for homes, the Red Sox would be foolish not to keep the phone lines open.
The question is, do they NEED to make any more moves?
Theo Epstein has negotiated a number of low-risk, high-reward moves this offseason, including signing Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Rocco Baldelli and Takashi Saito. The Red Sox are currently one of the deepest teams in baseball, but would anyone complain if they made a one-year offer to any one of these guys?
Adam Dunn - Ken Rosenthal said the Red Sox have expressed interest in Dunn, but his defensive ineptitude in the outfield would force the Sox to try and move Youkilis to third and trade mike Lowell. Dunn says he doesn't want to play first, but many Red Sox fans are still hoping that Theo will find a way to add anotehr big bat to the lineup. Dunn's 40+ home run power come with 160+ strikeouts, but if Mike Lowell can't start in April or can't get through the 2009 season, having Dunn on the roster wouldn't hurt...
Ben Sheets - Injuries are the obvious concern here, but the assumption is that The Red Sox took a chance with Smoltz and Penny because they were cheaper than Sheets. With only a few weeks left before Spring Training, Sheets' prise has dropped dramatically. The Rangers were the most recent team to make a run at Sheets, but the remain cautious about his injured elbow. Some are saying he'll be lucky to to get a 2-year, $20 deal at this point... if the price goes any lower than that, The Red Sox would be silly not to throw out an offer. You can never have too much pitching, right?
Andy Pettitte - We already discussed Pettitte earlier this offseason. He's still hoping the Yankees will offer him $10 million to come back to New York. The Yankees could use him, but they don't seem willing to make that offer... and the Astros aren't interested either. If the Red Sox are willing to hand Penny as muchas $8M (after incentives), I don't see why they wouldn't offer Pettitte a similar deal... other than the fact that Pettitte is 36, not 30.
Bobby Abreu - Abreu is looking to start, but with JD Drew needing every 5th day off in right field and David Ortiz looking for another big bat to protect him, Abreu could earn 400 at-bats filling that role for the Red Sox... but they aren't going to pay him $16 million to do it.
John Garland's (14-8, 4.90 ERA, 90 K) ERA is up and his strikeout numbers are down, but he's fighting Randy Wolf (12-12, 4.30, 162) and Oliver Perez (10-7, 4.22, 180) for a job. The Mets have reportedly offered Perez a 3-year, $30M deal... an offer the Red Sox won't match, but they could add Wolf or Garland with aa $5-7M offer.
Bottom Line: The Red Sox don't NEED to add any of these players... but you can see how each of them would help the team. Guys like Abreu and Perez are probably too expensive, and adding Dunn would make a mess of things... but what do you guys think?
Personally, I'd love to see Pettitte come to Boston and rub it in the Yankees face all season.
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