The 2011 season for the Boston Red Sox was one that started out with such promise in spring training of a team that was expected to get to the World Series and hopefully win it. Obviously that didn’t happen as the St. Louis Cardinals were crowned as the champions on Friday night.
The Red Sox got off to a slow start early on before becoming probably the hottest team in baseball. Then September happened. And of course after that took place came the decision of manager Terry Francona to leave the Red Sox. Shortly thereafter, boy wonder Theo Epstein left and went to franchise that hasn’t won a World Series in over a 100 years.
We can’t forget the Fried Chicken and Beergate either.
But as much as we are upset as to what happened and some of us may not be ready to forgive the players for their roles, it’s time for us to put what happened in the 2011 Red Sox behind us and move forward to the 2012 season.
After all, the Hot Stove has been officially lit with the end of the 2011 season.
So what does that all mean?
For starters, it means the Red Sox have five days to try and re-sign their free agents and make decisions on players with team contract options.
The Red Sox will need to decide who of their six free agents, Jason Varitek, J.D. Drew, David Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon, Erik Bedard and Tim Wakefield, they don’t want to lose. They’ll need to figure out if Jose Iglesias is ready for the big leagues. Otherwise, they’ll need to exercise the $6 million option on shortstop Marco Scutaro, who also has a $3 million player option.
The other decision in dealing with contract options is Dan Wheeler which the Red Sox hold a $3 million team option.
It’s not going to be easy for new Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington. But the good thing is the fact that he is not an outsider coming in. He’s been with the organization since 1999.
To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
Obviously of the big free agents the Red Sox have, the focus will probably be on Papelbon and Ortiz. I wouldn’t expect Drew or Bedard back at all. Bringing back Varitek remains to be seen but could be a possibility if the Red Sox don’t feel Ryan Lavarnway is ready to be the backup catcher to Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Wakefield is the wild card in all of this as well.
The Red Sox need starting pitching. They’ll only have Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz back for next season. John Lackey, as we know, is out for 2012 as he’ll be having Tommy John surgery. Daisuke Matsuzaka is still recovering from his Tommy John surgery as well.
So could the Red Sox bring Wake back on another team friendly deal? I guess that’ll come down to what they during free agency.
For Papelbon, this is something he’s been waiting for.
For the past three years, Paps has gone through the arbitration process without being signed to a long-term deal. He probably could have taken one but he wanted to set the bar for elite closers in arbitration and he did just that. Given that Daniel Bard is still a liability at the back end of the bullpen along with the uncertain health of Bobby Jenks, the need is there to re-sign Papelbon.
He’ll most certainly want to test the free agent market and see what the other teams out there who need closers think he’s worth. It may drive his price up to where the Red Sox aren’t comfortable in paying him that much.
Big Papi started off slow in 2010 and was essentially run out of Boston by everyone but the team. He made all of those people, including myself, eat crow basically by turning his season around. This year in what was a stacked lineup when healthy, he made his mark too.
He means so much more to the Red Sox than just his bat. His presence in the community along with his charitable endeavors is second to none. One could say he is the face of the Red Sox right now (I know people will argue that fact).
Ortiz has said if the Red Sox re-sign him, they won’t regret it. But what it’s going to come down to is one, could Lavarnway be the backup catcher and DH on a regular basis? Two, is there anyone else on the free agent market who could put up the same numbers as Ortiz but for a cheaper price? Three, how much money and years does Big Papi want?
If the price and years are right, you know Ortiz will be back. If he’s not, I’d be surprised.
The Red Sox will have five days to exclusively negoitiate with all of their free agents. Do I think we’ll see a deal get done with any of them? Other than Scutaro’s option being picked up, no, I don’t.
As I said above, Paps will want to hit the market. And unless the Red Sox give Big Papi something even close to what he desires, he’ll join Paps and the others out there on the market.
For now though, it’s time to sit back, buckle up and get ready for the littany of rumors that will be churned out of the hot stove for the coming months until February when the Red Sox will head to their new home at JetBlue Park in Ft. Myers, FL.
I’m ready for it all, are you?
Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.
