With Lester likely to stay, lackey coming off TJ, and Buchholz, the Sox need a couple of guys to replace Beckett and Diice-K. There are 5 pretty good FAs and their 2012 Salaries, that I would consider in this order:

McCarthy  4.28M

Greinke  13.5M

Shields   7.0M

A. Sanchez  8.0M

E. Jackson  11.0M

I'll add Villanueva as a 6th. Cheap at 2.27M with a decent WHIP and 122 Ks in 125 IPs.

In response to Alibiike's comment:

Shields is best pitcher of above but believe Rays have an option and doubt the would like to see w/ RS, probably would sign & trade if anything just to control where he goes. McCarthy coming off injury filled season, but like if $ is right, has pitched well vs. AL East. Greinke/Boston BAD match. Sanchez / Jackson only if price came down. Big $ for bad performance is what got RS where they are.

In response to Alibiike's comment:

I believe Jake Peavey is also available.  He would be #1 on my list and worth at least what Lackey got.  Sanchez would be my second choice.  And I would also try to work out a trade for Justin Masterson.  With Lackey, Lester, Buchholz, Morales and Doubront (if he is not traded to get Masterson) you would have plenty of depth and potential to fill out a good (if not spectacular) starting 5 and have the neccessary reserves to fill in for the inevitable trip(s) to the DL.

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Masterson? really? LHH kill him, always have. He can eat some innings but hasnt got any better. 2012 numbers were awful...Just curious, who would you trade for this gem who will finally be arb eligible in 2013 and a FA in 2015?

 

Gee, you'd pay a whopping $13.5 mill for Greinke.  Might as well say you would not be in on Greinke.  He's been making $13.5mill for the past 2 seasons and something tells me he wants some sort of raise this year. 

 

And he'll have bricks thrown through his living room window that have been wrapped in offers much greater than $13.5mill.

Not sure how you can go on 2012 paychecks...It would be more realistic to post what they are expected to earn or be offered going forward.

In response to southpaw777's comment:

Hard to say what they will make, whatever teams are willing to spend I suppose. I just showed their 2012 salaries as a baseline.

For the money, McCarthy is proabably the best value since he's coming off injury and not likely to get that big a raise. Jackson will probably stay about the same or a little better. I have a feeling about Villanueva. I think he's going to be outstanding next year.

In response to Alibiike's comment:

You named three guys that will, barring injury, be 3/5 of the starting rotation.

Are you planning on sending Dubront to the 'pen?

 

[/QUOTE]

I believe Jake Peavey is also available.  He would be #1 on my list and worth at least what Lackey got.  Sanchez would be my second choice.  And I would also try to work out a trade for Justin Masterson.  With Lackey, Lester, Buchholz, Morales and Doubront (if he is not traded to get Masterson) you would have plenty of depth and potential to fill out a good (if not spectacular) starting 5 and have the neccessary reserves to fill in for the inevitable trip(s) to the DL.

[/QUOTE]

I fail to see the fascination with Masterson. As I posted the other day he's been in Cleveland for four year, three very mediocre years with only 2011 being decent. This year his record was 11-15 with 206 inning pitched with a 4.93 era, with 88 bbs, 212 hits and a 1.45whip. About the only positives are that he's still young and can eat innings but I think we can do much better. As for Doubrant involved in a trade for Masterson I'd rather keep Doubrant who is younger at 24.

Hetch 

 

I would trade Doubront for Masterson.  If the Sox also added Peavy and Sanchez, Masterson would serve as the spot starter/long reliever you lose if/when Padilla is not re-signed.

Doubront gets lit up with HRs by RHH, Masterson by LHH.  In Fenway, unless and until the RF fence is moved in, I would rather have a RHer giving up long fly balls to LHH than the opposite.  Plus, Masterson has a FB that has as much juice on it as Doubront, and a sinker that really saws off RHH bats.  The fact that he can give you as many innings as any pitcher the Sox have had over the last 2 seasons makes him an upgrade over Doubront to me.  But I understand the hesitation you express.  I only want Masterson as part of an almost complete overhaul.

 

Kuroda will also be a free agent after this season.  

I thought he would struggle in the AL but he did very well for the Yankees.  

In response to Ice-Cream's comment:

With all the injuries the Yankees had with their top minor league pitchers, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Yankees resign Kuroda.

I was all for signing Kuroda last off-season.  And I would still support a 2-year plus option type of deal.  He would easily be the #3 starter on this team, and a very good #4 or 5 going forward.  But I have to believe the Yanks will re-sign him.  They would be idiots not to, IMO.

Starting pitching is a must!... Shields and Jackson would work!... Ca mon Ben!

Why the world Boston would trade Doubront for Matterson?  Matterson have been on the decline while Doubront was the team best pitcher other than Bucholtz.

 

It is not happening.

Boston is more likely go after hard at Shield, or trade for Josh Johnson or Felix.  If none of these pitchers are available, Boston is going to be in a trouble for next season.

That is why they need to go hard after talent starting pitchers like the one I mentioned above

no matter which decent pitcher you go after you're gonna end up in a bidding war as a free agent or an overpay in prospects if you go via the trade route.....that's the facts of life circa 2012

 

It would also be nice if the Red Sox can get Garza from the Cubs.  

 

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In response to Ice-Cream's comment:

dont want Garza.  Shield is a much better pitcher than Garza!!

In response to GoUconn13's comment:

I actually want both Shield and Garza.  lol

In response to GoUconn13's comment:

The Seattle Mariners are working on an extension for Felix Hernandez and a deal might be done around the World Series, according to an anonymous source cited in this tweet from columnist Jason Churchill:

https://twitter.com/ProspectInsider/status/255915232881438720

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In response to hill55's comment:

Once they agree on the extension, the "Trade for Felix Hernandez" threads will hopefully be cut back to 2 or 3 a week...

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