May 16, 2010: Boston Red Sox's Jason Varitek (33) during the MLB baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan. Tigers defeated the Red Sox 5-1.

We have officially hit the off season and can continue to root against the AL East for the next few weeks or so.  If you are like me, you will be rooting for the Texas Rangers and old friend David Murphy or perhaps the exciting, yet overlooked Cincinnati Reds.

As long as it’s not #28 for the Yankees, I can handle it.

That brings us to our poll of the week and the difficult upcoming tasks for Theo Epstein and the front office.  So what would you do?

In our weekly poll (over to the right of the page) we ask, “Which Player is Most Important For the Red Sox to re-sign?”

You can vote once and cast your opinion.  Jason Varitek is up there, but I have a feeling he will struggle to land on your ‘must-have’ list.

As far as our last poll is concerned, it’s a bit dated, but the readers of FireBrand AL just didn’t think bringing Johnny Damon back to Boston in late August was the right move.  Here are the results:

August 24

Poll Question: Would Johnny Damon make this team better for the stretch run?

  • Yes, let the run begin – 23%
  • A little, but not enough to make a playoff run – 32%
  • No, hope he stays in Motor City – 45%

So there you have it.  No Johnny Damon and you were fine with that.  I would be hard-pressed to disagree.

So go ahead and vote in our weekly poll as it runs until Saturday, the 9th.  At that point, we’ll post the next poll as well as your voting results.

No Red Sox baseball for awhile, so try to keep yourselves busy.  Winter meetings aren’t that far away.