Pete Abraham: More Shoes Still To Drop For The Red Sox
BOSTON (CBS) - Late Sunday night the Red Sox reportedly agreed to terms with free agent Hanley Ramirez in the range of a five-year $90 million deal.
Then just hours later Monday morning, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports announced that Pablo Sandoval was headed to Boston as well on a five-year deal "close to" $100 million.
The two signings seem to be very redundant. Sandoval is a third baseman, and with Xander Bogaerts already on the roster it doesn't make sense for Hanley Ramirez to play shortstop. Ramirez has played third base before and has shown a willingness to play outfield according to reports.
But if the Red Sox envision Ramirez roaming the outfield then something's got to give, because the team already has Mookie Betts, Rusney Castillo, Yoenis Cespedes, Daniel Nava, Shane Victorino, Allen Craig and Jackie Bradley Jr. under contract.
Talk about a logjam.
To break it all down and discuss future possibilities, 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich had on Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe to talk about what's next for the Red Sox.
"You could certainly see one of these deals being made, but nobody expected I don't think for them to do both of these deals," Abraham said of the Ramirez/Sandoval signings. "Unless there's something afoot with Xander Bogaerts, presumably Hanley Ramirez is going to play left field for the Red Sox."
What will the Red Sox do with their surplus-outfield situation?
"Well they could get rid of an Allen Craig, but they're not gonna get much back considering the kind of year he's coming off of. The same would be true for Shane Victorino, who has a very expensive contract for a guy that is getting older and coming off surgery. I would think that if the Red Sox want to get something good back for one of their outfielders it would have to be Yoenis Cespedes, perhaps Mookie Betts in a deal that would bring back a top notch starting pitcher, or a combination of all sorts of different things."
Abraham added the team showed no inclination in the general managers meetings of trading Mookie Betts, but then again "anything is possible" as he noted.
"There's a lot of things going on here. I think they have eight outfielders right now, so they're going to have to trade out of that surplus one way or another," said Abraham.
"I think they could still sign Jon Lester if they wanted to. But they'll still need to get [another starting pitcher]. There's a lot of guys who are now blocked, who are now redundant that the Red Sox can go out and trade and get back what they need."
For what it's worth, Abraham said the Red Sox are "still alive" to sign Jon Lester, but their initial offer in the neighborhood of six years and $110 million "won't be enough to get it done."
Listen below for the full interview, including the Red Sox chances of signing Jon Lester and much more!
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