The Now Big multi-year deal gun shy Redsox once again made a splash in the winter meetings signing The Powerful right handed catcher and first baseman Mike Napoli, The switch hitting gold glove center fielder Shane "The Flyin Hawaiian" Victorino and the hard throwing Japanese legend Koji Uehara but who is on deck next? Will the sox finally get a starting pitcher by signing one in free agent market or trade for one by using are surplus of catchers & relievers? or will they bluff everyone and sign the all mighty free agent Josh Hamilton to that 5 year deal he wants? One thing is for sure it will be an interesting few weeks.
Out of all the free agent moves the soc made this offseason they still haven't filled their biggest need, and thats starting pitching. But who is out there? First Off forget Zack Greinke, Hes Predicted to be the highest paid pitcher since CC Sabathia or is he? (Pending Texas signs him) but the bottom line is Boston is not going to pay him a max deal that could be worth 130 to 161 million. also he has anxiety issues so Boston would not be a good place for him. Same goes to Anibal Sanchez, if the Dodgers lose out on Greinke expect them to overpay Anibal Sanchez and Second cross off Dan Haren (Signed with the Nats on tuesday) & Brandon McCarthy (Agreed to a deal with the Dbacks on Friday). So you can say the pitching market is pretty thin but there are some good starters out there. Expect the Sox to make a run at both Ryan Dempster & Kyle Lohse. They may not be a Greinke or a Sanchez but they are solid #2-#3 Starters. Ryan Dempster is a better pitcher then Lohse. hes a multi 14+ Game winner and when he gets hot hes can be the ace on the team but when he gets cold he'll give up runs. When he was traded to texas this past july he was awful the first few games but he did settle down finishing a 7-3 record in texas but with Era of 5.09. As for Kyle Lohse He is a multi 14+ game winner and some questioned that is he a Dave Duncan Product but with Dave Duncan no longer the pitching coach for St Louis Kyle Lohse showed why he is a safe signing posting a 16-3 record with a ERA of 2.38. If the Sox land one of them don't be shocked if they overpay. maybe for Napoli/Victorino Money. However if they don't want to overpay for a starter or spend cheap money on a guy like jair jurrjens. they will probably go to the trade market and go after a guy like a Gavin Floyd of the Chicago Whitesox. Hey both teams Have needs that both teams have. Redsox Need a Starter & the White sox need a Catcher. Both Phil Rogers of the Chicago times & Pete Abraham of the boston globe Came up with the idea of a Gavin Floyd for Jarrod Saltalamacchia Swap which makes pretty good sense. Gavin Floyd is a pretty good pitcher whos been having bad luck in Chitown but when he is on hes un hittable. its probably likely The White sox lose Aj Pierzynski but they do like there own young catcher Tyler Flowers but they will probably need a catcher to platoon with him.
There are others needs too, they lack 1 more big bat in the lineup so don't count them out on Josh Hamilton. but is it worth it tho? Nope. Hes going to be 32 and might start to decline as the years goes on also hes a risk for injury aswell. they may look trade for another bat using there Catching & Reliever Surplus but the smart way is wait till the trade deadline or the start of the 2013-2014 offseason to look for a power bat to complement Ortiz & Napoli. One more thing, they also need a backup first baseman and dont be surprise they bring back Haverhill native Carlos Pena for that role. Pena who played with the Sox briefly in 2006 and then made his name in Tampa crushing homers left and right. he's a perfect fit.and could be that lethal bat when Napoli catched.
