NewsRed Sox ready to fire up Hot Stove
Personnel decisions looming before start of free agency
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
11/05/09 7:23 PM EST
BOSTON -- While their rivals from the Bronx are enjoying the afterglow of a World Series championship, the Red Sox are in business mode, trying to plot their own title contender for 2010.The process of free agency formally began on Thursday, as players who are eligible can now file at any point over the next 15 days. Jason Bay, Rocco Baldelli and Billy Wagner all filed today.
For the Red Sox, there are key decisions looming, both in terms of straight-up free agents -- Bay is the most significant Boston player eligible -- and those who have either club or mutual options.
Then, there is the matter of looking at players from other organizations who might be a fit, whether it is through free agency or trades.
"We're really just in the planning stages, going through different scenarios, trying to get as good a feel for the market as we can," said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. "It's a complicated landscape between trade possibilities, the free-agent market. We spend as much time as we can trying to get a really good feel for the landscape and getting a feel for the supply-demand dynamic of this particular offseason, and then we can go forward with a strategy in place instead of just going in blind and seeing what presents itself."
Of course, what becomes of Bay figures to have a significant ripple effect on how the rest of Boston's offseason takes shape. If the Red Sox can't retain the slugging left fielder, they will search near and far for another big bat to take his place.
"The fundamentals are in place in that he really wants to be here and we'd love to have him," said Epstein. "Sometimes the player has to go through a process. We have a good dialogue with his representatives. I think it's obvious that when a player gets this far, he goes through the process."
Bay isn't eligible to sign with a team other than the Red Sox until Nov. 20.
Other free agents from the 2009 Red Sox include Wagner, righty reliever Takashi Saito, Baldelli and right-hander Paul Byrd. Wagner will either retire or pursue a closing job elsewhere. The Red Sox would like to bring Saito back. Baldelli's health remains a concern, but Boston likes his bat and his attitude.
Then, there are the players who have options. The Red Sox have their annual $4 million option for knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, which they must exercise within the next five days. Wakefield made it through back surgery fine, so he is expected to be back in the fold for a 16th season with Boston.
Arguably the biggest no-brainer in all of baseball this winter is that the Red Sox will pick up the $7 million option on catcher Victor Martinez.
Far more of a grey area is what becomes of shortstop Alex Gonzalez. The club has a $6 million option with a $500,000 buyout. Their deadline for that decision is Monday. However, the option is mutual. So if the Red Sox inform Gonzalez they plan to pick up his option, he then has two days after that to tell them if he wants to stay or become a free agent.
Then, there is the matter of captain Jason Varitek. He is no longer the team's primary catcher, with that job now going to Martinez. That being said, it is a near lock that the Red Sox won't pick up their $5 million option for Varitek. They must officially notify him one way or the other over the next five days. If the Red Sox inform Varitek they are not picking up his club option, he then has five days to tell them if he will exercise his $3 million player option.
"We usually wait until the World Series is over to have most of the conversations and ... we usually wait until the last possible day to make a final, executed decision and make it public," said Epstein, referring to the decisions on vesting options.
While the Yankees now have the moniker of World Series champions, Epstein doesn't let that impact how he makes his own decisions.
"As an organization, we don't define ourselves relative to any other club," Epstein said. "We have an organizational goal of winning 95 games and getting to the playoffs as many years as we can. We actually hit that number on the nose this season and felt great about ourselves going into the postseason. So things didn't go our way for three games in October, but we're certainly really happy with where we are as an organization."
As always, Epstein is open-minded as far as ways to improve his team.
"We're just trying to get better where we can," Epstein said. "Defensively, I think there's a lot of room for improvement, so if we can get better defensively, that would be outstanding. On the offensive side, we had a good offense last year. We have a couple of free-agent position players, so we're going to have to deal with those guys and hopefully bring them back. If not, try to replace them and keep moving forward offensively.
"On the pitching side, we're in pretty good shape. We have just about everyone coming back in the bullpen and the rotation, so we'll see if we can improve there without turning over too much."
For the next few weeks, Epstein's cell phone minutes will likely pile up.
"I don't think you try to look at the offseason as a defining moment," Epstein said. "It's more part of a process. You're going to hit on some players, you're going to miss on some players, and ultimately the success of next season is really created over the process of several years, not just one offseason. Again, there are only so many times a year when teams really sit down and talk trade. It's harder than the average person might think to engage other teams in trade talk. It's a nice opportunity the next six weeks or so to do that and see what happens."
Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
