Boston Red Sox: 5 Offseason Moves They Must Make

After a disappointing ending to the 2011 season, the Boston Red Sox will need to make some moves in the offseason to make sure the 2012 season doesn't end the same way.

The moves have already begun with the departure of Terry Francona and will surely continue throughout the offseason.

Other than finding a new coach, here are five moves the Red Sox must make this offseason.

Pick Up Marco Scutaro's Option

Boston Red Sox shortstop, Marco Scutaro, is one of the many players with uncertain futures that the team needs to address before pursuing other free agent options.

Scutaro has a $6-million team options, $3-million player option and a $1.5-million buyout for the Red Sox to make a decision on and if they were smart, they'd pick up one of the options or renegotiate a deal to keep the short stop in Boston.

He showed heart down the stretch having one of the best months of anyone and top prospect Jose Igelisas does not appear ready to contribute offensively for the major league club.

The right move here is to bring back Scutaro for another year while Iglesias continues to develop at Triple-A Pawtucket.

Re-Sign David Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon

David Ortiz and Jonathan Papelbon, like Marco Scutaro, have uncertain futures with the Boston Red Sox.

It was long though that Papelbon would be let go after this season but that was before, closer in waiting Daniel Bard, went through September with an ERA over 10.

In the first press conference of the offseason, Theo Epstein spoke glowingly of the closer which would make you think the team would do what it takes to bring Papelbon back. 

It would be wise to bring him back as closers like him do not come around very often. 

As for Ortiz, he has shown no signs of slowing down with an average of .306 to go along with 29 home runs and 96 RBI in the 2011 season.

It would be hard to replace a bat like that and he has expressed his feelings about coming back next season, so the Red Sox should oblige.

Ortiz and Papelbon are integral parts of this franchise and the  team would regret letting either of them go. 

Sign a Right Handed Outfield Bat

All season long, the three starters in the outfield batted left handed with few right handed options on the bench.

The team is very left handed heavy, with three of their top hitters batting from the left handed side and need some differentiation.

Darnell McDonald was the Red Sox main right handed outfield bat and he simply did not produce, hitting just .236 on the season.

With Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury cemented into the left and center field positions, they need to sign someone who can play right field. 

One candidate who the Red Sox could consider is Josh Willingham, who hit .246 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI for the Oakland Athletics in 2011.

Willingham could either be the full time starter or a platoon with one of the two young lefties, Josh Reddick or Ryan Kalish.

Either way, the Red Sox need to sign a right handed bat in the outfield to compliment the influx of lefties. 

Overload on Starting Pitching

In the beginning of the 2011 season, the Red Sox were contemplating running out a six man rotation because they had too much starting pitching.

By the end of the season, that notion was proved wrong as they were scrambling for starting pitching up until the last day of the season.

You can never have enough starting pitching!

The Red Sox need to learn from 2011 and years past and overload on starting pitching. 

If they continue the trend of signing reclamation projects, you could possibly see the Red Sox sign both Rich Harden and Scott Kazmir this offseason and see if they can get anything out of them. 

If they want to make a big splash, two possibilities are CJ Wilson or Edwin Jackson but don't expect either to come to Boston. 

Sign Proven Bullpen Arms and Bring Back Alfredo Aceves

Down the stretch, the bullpen was the Achilles heel of the 2011 Boston Red Sox.

They had two bright spots, Jonathan Papelbon and Alfredo Aceves. Daniel Bard will likely recover from his torturous September but other than that there are a bunch of question marks and not many answers.

Alfredo Aceves should be the teams top priority in the bullpen as he proved to be a stud throughout the entire year, throwing scoreless inning after scoreless inning when the Red Sox needed him the most. He will get a hefty raise over his $650,000 salary in 2011 but it is well deserved.

Other than Aceves, Theo Epstein, if he doesn't bolt for the Chicago Cubs, will have to target some free agent bullpen arms.

Some guys he should look into could be Frank Francisco, Heath Bell, Jonathan Broxton and Matt Capps to name a few.

Theo has never been able to assemble a great bullpen and if he can't do it again for 2012, it could once again prove to be the Achilles heel of the team.