The View From Landsdowne Street: Where Do The Red Sox Go From Here?

It wasn't exactly heart-breaking the way the Aaron Boone home run went, but the loss to the Tampa Bay Rays still stings for any Red Sox fan.

What the series went on to show is that with the lineups that each team put out on the field during that series, that the Rays were far and away the better team. The Red Sox dealt with too many injuries, and their lineup, which had been so potent during the regular season, fizzled in almost every game in the postseason.

Surprisingly, the Red Sox don't have any more work to do than any other team in baseball when it comes to the offseason. Jason Varitek is the only marquee name who is a free agent to be, and ironing out long-term contracts for Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, and Kevin Youkilis should be a top priority for Theo Epstein and the rest of the front office.

Here is a 5-item to-do list for Boston if it expects to make themselves a better ball club when April rolls around.

1. Get Healthy

Although the Rays were clearly the better team during the 2008 ALCS, one cannot help but wonder whether the outcome of the series would have been different in Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, David Ortiz, and J.D. Drew had been completely healthy for the entire postseason.

Drew doesn't seem to be having any real setbacks from his back injury, and Boston should not be truly concerned about his injury or status for 2009 unless Drew does something crazy like go out and buy a motorcycle or something drastic like that.

Although no one has any idea how Beckett's oblique really feels thanks to his vow of silence during the postseason, it is safe to say that if he could pitch with it in the playoffs. No matter how much it hurt then, it will be a non-factor when spring training opens up.

Beckett also has the type of work ethic and drive that makes small injuries like these a moot point because he will do everything in his power to make himself healthy again.

The larger concern for the team rests with two of their injured sluggers. Ortiz, whether he will admit it or not, was visibly hampered by his wrist injury. Even after coming back during the regular season his swing was exceptionally slower and mistake pitches he used to crush were now getting fouled to the backstop.

Some seem to think that he is on the downside of his career and that he will never be able to reach the type of power potential that he had in 2004, and 2005, but I am still holding out hope.

If his wrist heals during the off-season, then he won't be tentative about taking healthy hacks anymore and hopefully he will regain some of his swing speed.

Lowell seems to be the worst of the group. The veteran third baseman turns 35 at the end of February and every year it seems as if he gets more and more fragile. His postseason was cut short with a recurring thumb injury and a bad hip as well, and the Red Sox showed that they had no contingency plan for this because they were forced to insert Mark Kotsay at first.

The Red Sox have relied on a healthy Lowell for a lot of offense he was not expected to produce in his years in Boston, and although he was still productive when healthy in 2008, it might be time to start searching for other alternatives.

Lowell may be able to get healthy for spring training but the likelihood that he will be able to play even 130 games is very slim.

2. Do not re-sign Jason Varitek, get creative in the trade market

If I had my way, Jason Varitek would retire gracefully, thank the Red Sox for all the great years they have given him, and then be promptly named bench coach or bullpen coach and have his achievements lauded publicly on opening day 2009.

Unfortunately, Varitek turns 37 at the beginning of next season, and his offensive ineptitude vastly out-weighs any sentimental value or game-calling prowess that he still has.

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