Red Sox Offseason BluePrint v.2 : Holliday, Harden, Scutaro

Like most teams, the Boston Red Sox offseason will be defined by the willingness of their owner to open his wallet.

Fortunately for Sox fans nationwide, Uncle John certainly has some deep pockets. However, the amount he is willing to spend will have a lot to say about the direction that this team will be headed.

The prudent move by the Red Sox will be to look for incremental gains in what is partly a transitional year, while also being a year of opportunity. The club has nearly its entire 2009 starting lineup under contract, including its entire starting staff and at least seven of nine position players. For a team that won 95 games last season, that’s a recipe for success. Still, the American League gets more competitive every year, as the AL West, the Yankees, and our little brother Rays make it harder and harder to buy the Wild Card.

Sox’ Expiring Contracts

As is customary at the conclusion of every MLB season, the Boston Red Sox are now the proud holders of a number of expiring contracts and team options.

For a team swept in the opening round of the playoffs, there is often the urge to spend big on the free agent market in an attempt to show the fans that they are committed to winning after a badly failed run.

However, this may not be the case with the 2010 Sox, as they are retaining most of their starting roster – many at excellent prices for their skill level (i.e. Lester for $3.75 million in 2010) – with significant questions at left field and shortstop only.

Now, with the end of the season upon us and free agency approaching, who will the Sox choose to keep around?

Tweets on the Red Sox’s 25-man roster

In a homage to Twitter, the new social media application that is changing how news is delivered (in the same vein how blogs changed everything) I bring to you a summary of each Red Sox player on the 25-man roster in 140 characters or less (the maximum number of characters you can enter on Twitter).

Have Twitter? Follow me. Tim’s on too. Oh, and Fire Brand has one as well. You’ll notice that had you followed Fire Brand, you would have gotten all these tweets last night.

Sox to get both Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee?

Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse tweets that the Red Sox have told people they are trying to pull off a big deal, bigger than Roy Halladay.
Price goes on to speculate it may be a Cliff Lee/Victor Martinez package, as reported earlier by Joel Sherman.
The Sox also have been keeping tabs on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm team. It could be related to this big trade, or the Dodgers might be interested in acquiring a bullpen arm, most likely bringing Takashi Saito back.

Sox interested in Atkins; should Sox go to 11 pitchers?

Rumors abound that the Red Sox and Colorado Rockies have discussed a deal around reliever Takashi Saito for third-baseman Garrett Atkins, making roughly $7 million this year.

The benefit to Atkins is that he would give the Sox a legitimate power bat off the bench, something the team lacks. Atkins would play first and third base off the bench, providing invaluable depth should Mike Lowell’s return prove unsuccessful.

Which brings us to a more important question: are the Sox better served with an extra bench bat or an extra pitcher?

BAL 11, BOS 10: Shocked

Even the best bullpen in baseball can have off days. This was just of the extreme variety.

Dealing A Strength

On that depressing snowy day when the news broke that Mark Teixeira had opted to sign with the New York Yankees, my reactionary self conceded the division to the pinstripers at that point in time. When I had more time to step back and reflect, evaluating each team’s strengths and weaknesses, Boston had one clear and definite strength- their bullpen.

Standing pat: When not making a move might pay off.

Let me begin by saying that the Red Sox personnel–constructed as is–will compete all season long. Theo and the rest of the organization have put the club in a position each and every season of late, to well, win.

So if they decide to play out the season and simply hope for the best–with the exception of a few minor moves–then it should be okay with us.

Think 2010.

In 2010 I am almost giddy thinking about the rotation. One that could consist of the following: Beckett, Lester, Dice-K, Bowden, and Buchholz. And possibly Wakefield again. Or even Smoltz if he shows us that he can still be effective. And of course Smoltz will have to an express a desire to remain with the team at a reasonable cost. Because they aren’t going to extend him if the money isn’t right.

Should we be concerned about that +17? A run differential extravaganza.

It’s still relatively early in the season, with roughly 20% of year gone by. And +18 is still a solid number. A larger “differential” than all but two teams in the American League have currently. So in that regard, it is definitely solid.
The “Pythagorean W-L” has the record at 19-16. So one could say the team has been slightly lucky over the first 35 games of the season (a small sampling).
But there are signs that the team should improve

BOS 4, NYY 1: Thieves

After Usain Bolt threw out the first pitch in Saturday’s win against the New York Yankees, Jacoby Ellsbury wanted to remind everyone who the fastest person wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey really was.