He will attempt to re-sign Ross, but Ross had a career year, his best since 2009 when he hit 24 HRs and hit .270. So, he will want at least 4/30M and I would be surprised if the Sox offer more than  2/12M. My guess is he goes elsewhere.

Papi would be my guess to land first, and they will offer him 2/27M. whether he takes it or not is another story.

Ellsbury is on the block, he will be traded and the Sox will attempt to sign the FA Bourn to play CF unless the Braves make him a qualifying offer. But again the Sox are usually short on time, and Bourn will looking for at least 5 years. If they offer 5/40M, it could be enough.

1B. This is an issue. LaRoche is an FA but the Nats will likely exercise to 10M mutual option. The Sox best bet is to reacquire Youkilis to play 1B.

A hole remains in RF (and really has for a number of years). I would like to see the Sox try to work a deal Quentin. He's got 3 years left on his 4/37.M, and is a steal at that price. Would likely take a couple of top prospects to get him though.

Catcher is something the Sox need to look real hard at. I used to be real high on Lavarnway but after watching him late this year, he did not impress me much. It was a mistake to let Shoppach go, and Salty is just not a solid catcher. Napoli would be my first choice then Martin or Laird (although NY will likely want to retain Martin's services). Trade Salty, obtain a veteran catcher and groom Lavarnway.

As far as the pitching goes, I think Lackey will rebound. I'm just not so sure about Buchholz and Lester. There are some intriguing FAs out there and I think we need to get at least two of the best ones available.

That's my take.

 

 

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In response to wallyisdead's comment:

McCarthy, Lohse, A.Sanchez, Villanueva, Blanton, Santana, Saunders, E. Jackson, Harden Haren, Wang......those guys are hardly garbage.

In response to Alibiike's comment:

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Quenton is a good player, but almost never stays on the field.  Not much of a fielder either.

(1) My speculation will be signing Ross and Big Papi.

(2) Another factor will be the condition of Lackey's rehab and re - entry into the MLB; a smart move will be to have him at the bottom of rotation Lester Bucholtz Doubront Lackey and ????

(3) To find FA starter that can be reliable enough to fill the the number 3 spot between Buch. and Doub.

(4) Work getting a more consistent bullpen, I hear that Farrell wants Peterson to be their pitching coach. keep Breslow Bailey Atchison Padilla Acevez and maybe Bard. Melancon and Cook could be 50/50 shot in case a starter has bad start to the first three innings. With Farrell being the sox ex pitch. coach will know how to handle the bullpen and starters.
 Farrell with the Jays had a tendency to keep his starters in to long.

(5) Sign Ichiro Suzuki to a 2 year contract when his contract expires Bentz will be ready for the big leagues.

(6) Sign Loney reasonble 1st baseman for good price.

 

The Batting line up will have youth and vets mixed in the line up ie:

Elsbury Pedroia Suzuki Papi Salty Middlebrooks Ross Loney Iglesias or Ciriaco

 

Overall the teams that go far into the play-offs always have a good consistent pitching staff. I personally will not want to see any outrageous contract signings and try to disrupt the team too much abd wait and see what farrell and the staff can do this year.

 

I think Cherington's first player transaction will be signing Ortiz to a two-year, $23.5 million deal.

Ortiz's options are limited since he is a DH.  

Next will be a trade that will send A-Rod to Boston.  j/k   LOL

 

Loney should not be resigned. I would play Gomez at 1 B if they don't sign Youk to a short term deal.

Ichiro in RF-if  he's willing to play at Fenway before ending his US career, would be a great addition. His jerseys sales alone would offset his salary substantially.

Sign Ross to play LF. If they trade Ells--go with JBJ in CF if he has a good ST--if not, put Kalish in CF.

Carlos Quentin can't play right field at Fenway.  It would be a disaster.  They don't need someone as good defensively as Drew was, but they need someone who is above average out there. He's also pretty brittle, as Joe mentioned.  One White Sox Sports Writer once asked if "Carlos Quentin" was Spanish for "made of glass." 

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In response to TrotterNixon's comment:

Spellchecking Spanish last names, really?  You haven't even made your "Ellsbury is useless" quota  for the day yet.  

In response to TrotterNixon's comment:

Spellchecking Spanish last names, really?  You haven't even made your "Ellsbury is useless" quota  for the day yet.  

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In response to Yonkersman's comment:

oh snap. pike with the personal attacks.

In response to Joebreidey's comment:

No, he's not the best fielder but I think the injuries are legit. We would be hard-pressed to obtain a GG RFer who can hit for Avg with Power.

Would you take a flyer on Sizemore? Perhaps a 1 year deal at 5M might be worth the risk to see if he can hold up. Or do you think the injuries have ended his career and he will never regain form?

Tori Hunter would be a good fit, but age and salary I think make him cost-prohibitive.

Whot do you recommend to play RF, provided Ross moves to LF (if the Sox re-sign)?

If you could pull this off Ben I could see the fans very pleased:

for OF spots sign Ichiro and Hunter.. .MLBTR is suggesting Ichiro to the Rays and Hunter to the Yankees. These are two excellent defensive outfielders, two very different type hitters but thirdly keep them from playing for two divisional foes. Both still do first to third well and both can still steal bases . They are both in amazing condition and know how to hit.

If MLBTR speculates Ichiro to the Rays--it's probably for short money--which the Sox could exceed if Ben was willing to pursue. As I mentioned recently--just Ichiro's jersey sales would be a huge financial plus. In addition you've got a future HofF candidate.

Trade Ells install Hunter in CF and Ichiro in RF with Brentz in LF. I would reduce the number of years offered to Ortiz to "1" offer him $14 M--take it or leave it.

My next priority is pitching...I like the Cuerto trade proposal from another thread. I don't think we would miss any of the Sox players mentioned in that proposal.

In response to MadMc44's comment:

Why offer Ortiz 14mm when you can make a qualifying offer of 13.3? And Cueto is NOT coming here...Cinci is on the cusp of going to the WS and part of the reason they didnt was cause Cueto got hurt. They will be adding players, not trading their best pitcher...