INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Ben Cherington left baseball’s general managers meetings on Friday in a unique position when compared with his counterparts on other teams.
The August trade that sent Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Adrian Gonzalez to the Dodgers trimmed just less than $57 million that was committed to the team’s payroll for next season. That money has yet to be spent, leaving the Red Sox in an enviable position of being able to afford the best free agents at every position they need to fill.
Comments
Why not use some of that $$ to sign Ellsbury ? The devil you know...
The danger is turning into Rick Pitino--signing players to long term large contracts because you can. Travis Knight, anyone? If Ben approaches 2013 like Theo did 2003/2004, they will be fine. Spend for the key additions on the mound, like Foulke and Schilling. Fill in with Cody Ross-like gems (Bill Mueller, Todd Wallker, Mark Bellhorn, Kevin Millar, David Ortiz ) and let it happen. Jason Bay might be that kind of guy this year. I think Sox fans will settle for that in a wea Free agent class. How does NEXT year look? Maybe you keep you cash for next year, when you might have the long term answers for CF and SS ready internally, and spend for the rest.
The sound of inaction on Ellsbury this off-season, with all the money these guys have buried in the back yard, would be deafening. I would think something should be done Now - either way.
I hope this time the Red Sox have enough sense to not sign old ball players merely to get shorter contracts. Players like Torii Hunter are not the answer. Go for youth. The Sox have a history of signing other people's has beens. And stay away from Jason Bay. He was terrible the last two years. Spend the money on pitching and all of a sudden your offensive lineup will look wonderful. The only long term I would consider is Josh Hamilton who is a great ball player dispite his personal problems. We never should have let Beltre get away.As far as all the young outfielders the Sox have been using the past two years, they're not the answer. Try to keep Ellsbury if you can.