| 19 November 2009
That means Jason Bay and his agent Joe Urbon will finally begin the process of determining Bay's value on the open market.
Urbon says there are a number of teams interested in signing Bay and feels the Red Sox have not put their "best foot forward"... yet. The Red Sox reportedly offered Bay a 4-year, $60M contract earlier this year, but Urbon clearly thinks Bay can do better on the open market.
Most of the teams interested in Bay will also be interested in Matt Holliday, so it will be interesting to see if Holliday (and Scott Boras) jack the price up on Bay by default as the winter rolls along. Once one of these two players sign with a team, that contract will set the bar for the other.
This could be a long offseason for Bay and the Red Sox...
The Red Sox will also find out what Billy Wagner is worth after midnight tonight. Wanger made $10.5M in 2009 after missing most of the season due to injury. He proved he can still be an effective RP during his time with the Red Sox, but I doubt he'll make more than $8M per year going forward - even as a closer.
Yesterday we discussed the idea of Wagner returning to Boston as the setup man. I like the idea, but it will require a re-negotiation of Wagner's contract and, most likely, a pay-cut. Wagner will likely have to choose between a possible WS ring with Boston and a closing role with a lesser team.
Alex Gonzalez is the other Free Agent the Sox need to speak with. Boston did not pick up his 2010 option at $6M, so Theo Epstein will have to hope Gonzo doesn't get a better offer from another team before they can re-negotiate a deal to stay in Boston.
Lastly, the Red Sox will likely begin discussions with Free Agent starters like Rich Harden, Ben Sheet and Erik Bedard - to name a few. The Red Sox will have a formidable rotation with Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, Buchholz and Wakefield slated as the starters, but the Sox would be wise to add some depth beyond Michael Bowden and Junichi Tazawa.
Bottom Line: We'll be throwing more coals on the Hot stove tonight, so get ready!
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