Roche: Where Do Red Sox Go From Here?
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox came out swinging in the 2014-15 offseason by quickly taking arguably the top two bats off the free agent market in Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez.
The money is a bit obscene, but the Sox went out and got some offense which they desperately needed.
As for where Ramirez will play, there's an old saying in the game, "if he can swing the bat, we'll find a place for him to play." That appears to apply here. Ben Cherington and his Baseball Ops guys now have to figure out where to put Hanley, with the likeliest destination left field if the trade Yoenis Cespedes.
The Sox now have all kinds of chips to use in the trade market in order to acquire quality starting pitching. Here's the list:
Every Day Players
Yoenis Cespedes
Jackie Bradley Jr.
Daniel Nava
Allen Craig
Bryce Brentz
Mookie Betts***
Shane Victorino
Rusney Castillo
Will Middlebrooks
Mike Napoli
Xander Bogaerts***
Sean Coyle
Brock Holt
Travis Shaw
Garin Cecchini
Deven Marrero***
Christian Vazquez***
Blake Swihart***
Pitchers
Henry Owens
Brian Johnson
Anthony Ranaudo
Brandon Workman
Matt Barnes
***designates as perhaps untouchable
Obviously, this gives you an idea of what the Sox can offer to get one or two top starting pitchers in a deal. Someone such as Johnny Cueto, Matt Latos and/or Mike Leake of Cincinnati, Andrew Cashner or Ian Kennedy of San Diego, Zack Wheeler or Jonathon Niese of the Mets, Cole Hamels of Philly, Hisashi Iwakuma or Tyler Walker of Seattle, or a Jordan Zimmerman or Doug Fister of Washington.
Just throw it out to all these teams and figure it out from there.
Ideally, you would love to add Jon Lester as well. The only question is how silly does his market get? There's so much money to spend out there and only two what I would call "elite" free agent pitchers out there: Lester and Max Scherzer.
Read: 14 Facts To Know About Pablo Sandoval
Scherzer will get his big payday, so then what does Lester get? I think it could get real crazy, something to the tune of 7-8 years at $23-25 million per year. If the Sox can get close to Lester's best/favorite offer then perhaps there can be a reunion. Meanwhile, Lester also has to be asking 'where was this money last spring?' The same money they threw at Sandoval or Ramirez probably would have gotten it done.
As for the sudden change in philosophy for the Sox on long-term deals and veterans? I think ownership gave Ben and the baseball folks a year to evaluate the young players. What they found is just how hard it is to go from a "can't miss" prospect to a solid big leaguer. It looks like Vazquez and Betts proved that they are worth holding on to, while Bogaerts has shown (at times) what he's capable of. Beyond that, there was some disappointment. Meanwhile, as nice as it was to hear fans say, "We're fine with watching the kids grow," it's not realistic. Fans want/demand winners, especially here in Boston. TV ratings, advertising revenue, and ticket sales are a huge part of the equation, and with the extravagant price tags on those things, fans want a winning team -- or at least one that looks like it has a chance.
Read: 16 Facts To Know About Hanley Ramirez
So, the Sox changed on the fly and we're underway with Sandoval and Ramirez.
But make sure you stay tuned. Hot Stove season has just begun.
Follow WBZ-TV's Dan Roche on Twitter @RochieWBZ.
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