How do the Sox improve this off-season?

[winsomme]

just summing up my thoughts from the Felix thread....

I think we should overpay if we have to to get Hanley...(Buch, Youk + another top prospect IMO would do it...Youk could fit right in Hanley's spot in FLA order and they would get a top of the rotation in Buch..he would tear up the NL).

re-sign Bay
and sign Ben Sheets as a FA.

order

Ellsbury
Pedroia
Victor
Hanley
Ortiz
Bay
Drew
Lowell
Varitek (i like VM at first because he hits better when he's not catching)

staff

Beckett
Lester
Sheets
DiceK
Wake

bullpen (essentially the same as last year with tweaks)

The sox already said that VMart will be the full time catcher next year.


I also worry that your lineup defensively would be awful. Lowell's range is horrible, Tek can't throw me out, VMart is ok at first, but not great, etc...

VMart's not exactly throwing people out either...

personally I think you are wasting VMart by having him catch. he's a much better hitter when he can save his legs playing first...

[yall hate]

The sox already said that VMart will be the full time catcher next year.


I also worry that your lineup defensively would be awful. Lowell's range is horrible, Tek can't throw me out, VMart is ok at first, but not great, etc...

VMart's not exactly throwing people out either...

personally I think you are wasting VMart by having him catch. he's a much better hitter when he can save his legs playing first...

That's true, but his offensive bat is superior to other options at catcher, so you atleast remove the black hole known as Tek. 

[winsomme]

The sox already said that VMart will be the full time catcher next year.


I also worry that your lineup defensively would be awful. Lowell's range is horrible, Tek can't throw me out, VMart is ok at first, but not great, etc...

VMart's not exactly throwing people out either...

personally I think you are wasting VMart by having him catch. he's a much better hitter when he can save his legs playing first...

That's true, but his offensive bat is superior to other options at catcher, so you atleast remove the black hole known as Tek. 

yeah, that true too...

but i think what we saw in the playoffs, having good hitters is not enough...you really need guys that the other team doesn't want to pitch to.

VMart is a much more dangerous hitter when he's not catching...I'd rather have a top hitting VMart and one bad spot at the bottom of the order...

Pedroia, VMart, Hanley, and Bay would be pretty sick. That's four batters teams would rather not pitch to...

plus adding a bat like Hanley would take that "replacing Manny" tag that is following Bay around right now...

[bstnsportsfan3]

I think the Red Sox's need to do several things.

1st. Re-Sign Jason Bay.

I know he Struggled in the Playoffs and slumped during a crucial part of the season, but the man can hit. He is a decent fielder, knows how to play the wall, and is happy here.

2nd. Acquire a Power Hitting 1st or 3rd Baseman. (most important thing to do this offseason)

The one name that has been repeated on here that i truly like is Prince Fielder. I would trade up to 3 of our prospect plus bucholtz for him. He is that good. Plus he allows Youk to go back to 3rd and for us to etiher keep lowell on the bench or trade/release him.

3rd. Acquire a Solid Starting Pitcher ( only if option #2 fails)

While i agree that the sox's starting pitching is not the sole reason they lost in the playoffs, i do feel like if you ever have a shot at getting an elite pitcher you do so. So if Feilx Hernandez is avaible then you do everything you can in your power to acquire the guy. A 23 year old #1 doesnt come along very often.

I honestly feel if the red sox's did #1 and #2 they would be the favorite to win the world series. # 3 is a good option if they can still do #1 or #2 but if they cant do either of those, even another # one starter wont get them over the top.

Im excited for the baseball hotstove period already and hope the yankees dont destroy the entire market.

[BudweiserCeltic]

In with the new, out with the OLD. That's how we improve... I think it's time to reshape our roster.

Tek-Lowell-Papi need to be upgraded overall. Having Youkilis in our roster will allow us plenty of options on how to go about it. Martinez helps also.

Then there's Papelbon. His value should be high at the moment, trade him I say and see what you can get for him. He's not as dominant as he once was, and little by little he's becoming less effective... witnessed this year during our last game in particular, when we needed him the most.

[yall hate]

Pap's value is as low as it's ever been.  he was hittable all year, and he had the worst postseason of his career. 

I think his value is as low now as as it's ever been