Boston Red Sox : 5 Moves They Could Make Before Spring Training

Postseason awards: Done. 

Winter Meetings: Those happened weeks ago. 

If August is considered the "dog days" of summer, then the period from mid December to mid February has to be considered baseball's "hibernation" period. 

Baseball only hits the front pages from now to mid February when something big happens. There will still be at least one more major news release regarding baseball when Prince Fielder eventually signs with another team. That team won't be the Red Sox though. 

The Boston Red Sox probably won't spend too much time in the headlines between now and spring training. They likely prefer that given the tone of most of their headlines since the end of August 2011. 

They still need to make some moves though. Mark Melancon can be a closer or a set-up guy but he can't be both. Both those spots are open in the bullpen. The right field position is as of now, unsettled. Then there's the starting pitching where it seems unlikely that Boston would start the season with a rotation of Beckett, Lester, Buchholz, Bard and Aceves. 

There's still work to be done and it's going to get done.

All five of these moves won't happen. It won't be a shock if some combination of them do though.  

Andrew Bailey

It seems pretty clear that Ben Cherington isn't interested in cleaning out what remains of the Boston Red Sox minor league talent in the name of acquiring Gio Gonzalez.

Oakland General Manager Billy Beane has been fairly vehement in his trade requests for Gonzalez. He's asked for top talent from every team he's talked to. In Miami he wanted Mike Stanton; In Detroit he wanted Jacob Turner. Toronto will probably have to part with catching prospect Travis D'Arnaud, but he's also somewhat expendable with young catcher J.P. Arencibia already in place in the majors. 

Boston doesn't have any minor league talent quite as marketable as Turner or D'Arnaud, having dealt Casey Kelly and Anthony Rizzo for Adrian Gonzalez last winter as well as having former top prospect Ryan Westmoreland recovering from major surgery. 

If they can convince Billy Beane to take a trade for Bailey that doesn't involve Will Middlebrooks or another one of Boston's top remaining minor league talents, then this deal will get done. Oakland will likely wait to get a decent return on Gio Gonzalez before allowing Bailey to be dealt, but all of that could happen in the next few weeks. 

Bailey would be a nice guy to step in and close in Boston and Melancon with his prior experience closing would provide solid insurance should Bailey get injured or falter in the position. Neither player makes big money either. 

Paul Maholm

With names like John Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Bobby Jenks fresh in the minds of Sox management and fans, almost any free-agent pitcher the Red Sox sign will be unfairly met with a degree of cynicism. 

The Red Sox have over the past several years made two types of offseason starting pitching acquisitions. The big splashy free agents (think about the Lackey and Dice-K signings), or the big-name past-his-prime or coming-off-an-injury guys. John Smoltz, Brad Penny and Bartolo Colon come on down! 

Perhaps this offseason will feature a more subtle approach? 

The fact is that while every Red Sox fan would love to see the Sox get a top-of-the-rotation starter, someone like Matt Cain or Matt Garza it's not what the Red Sox really need. 

The Red Sox won 90 games last year and that was with virtually nothing from Daisuke Matsuzaka or John Lackey. Clay Buchholz missed the entire second half of the season and Jon Lester (even before the September slump that engulfed the entire team) was having a season not nearly as impressive as his 2010 campaign. Only Josh Beckett performed at or above expectations in 2011 (naturally half of Red Sox Nation wants him traded). 

A team with three very good starting pitchers won't ever turn down an opportunity to acquire another one, but they're also not giving up the farm— literally, for one. So the Red Sox will likely pursue a short-term solution to their rotation issues. 

Bard being moved to the rotation fills one of the two open spots. He's unproven as a starter though and as all baseball fans know, over the course of a season it's pretty unlikely you're going to have the same starting five the whole time. 

So while there are still some well known names such as Roy Oswalt on the market, a guy like Paul Maholm seems like a better fit. Maholm is a 29-year-old left handed pitcher who seemed to come into his own last season. He doesn't strike out many guys but he does get guys out. He's far from dominant but he's not going to throw batting practice either. His walks, hits and home runs given up per nine innings all improved last season and he averaged 6.1 innings pitched per start. 

He's basically a nice No. 4 starter. He's also a lefty which would be a nice fit in Boston's rotation since both Buchholz and Beckett are right handed. 

Ryan Ludwick

The right field dilemma. 

Red Sox fans seem to be infatuated with the youngsters. Ryan Kalish and Josh Reddick have both shown flashes of real potential while playing in the majors. Kalish got his look in 2010 while Reddick got plenty of real big league experience in 2011.

Both players do have some qualities that could make them viable every day major league outfielders. Neither would be considered "can't miss" by anyone though. 

When you play for the Boston Red Sox there are plenty of perks. National attention, more face time, a truly fanatical fan base. Each season also comes with daunting expectations. The Red Sox are expected to make the playoffs most seasons and more often than not they're also expected to advance well into October through those playoffs. 

That means that when a starting outfield position becomes available, it's unlikely to be handed to either a platoon situation or a young player who still has some holes in his game. Jose Iglesias is more than big league ready to play shortstop, but his bat has prevented him from being handed the job. Ryan Kalish has some great skills but his lack of experience and his low batting average coupled with a major injury last season mean he's unlikely to be handed the Red Sox starting right field job. 

Josh Reddick, who got lots of playing time last season, proved that he's got some definite major league potential, but he strikes out a lot for an everyday player. In addition some question his instincts in the outfield. 

Mostly though, the Red Sox probably feel that both of these guys are still fairly young. Especially Kalish, so why rush them into a job they may or may not be ready for? 

The Red Sox aren't going to make a long-term commitment to any outfielder this offseason. 

Carlos Beltran's name has come up frequently but his price and his injury risk would make him an odd choice for a team that has had so many notable injuries and free-agent busts over the past few years. 

A less expensive player such as Ryan Ludwick would make more sense. 

At first glance Ludwick would seem an odd choice. After all, his numbers have been pretty bad the past few seasons. Yet if Ludwick came to Boston he'd be playing in a far better ballpark for offense than those he played in with Pittsburgh and San Diego. In addition, he'd be in a lineup surrounded by much better hitters as well. 

That means more good pitches to hit, and a better field to hit them into. At 33 years old Ludwick won't get or expect anything more than a short-term deal with some performance incentives, but he's a right-handed batter (something the Red Sox lineup lacks) as well as someone who produces when surrounded by good hitters. From 2007-2009 he had some decent seasons in St. Louis 

If Ludwick were to falter or Reddick or Kalish were to perform so well that the position had to be handed to one of them, it's unlikely that Ludwick's deal would in any way really handcuff the Sox. That type of flexibility would seem to be a plus as well. 

Andruw Jones

The Red Sox might not go after Ludwick but that doesn't mean that they're handing the starting job to Kalish or Reddick. Maybe they'll look for another reclamation project? Their attempts to do this with pitchers haven't met with much success, but with a lineup packed with All-Star caliber hitters, a guy with a decent history of offensive production whose career has taken a downturn could reinvent himself in Boston.  

Andruw Jones could be that guy. 

A veteran right-handed slugger who at one time was one of the major's best outfielders, Jones, career has taken a bit of a downturn over the past five seasons. He's still just 34 years old though. Perhaps in the right circumstances he could turn things around? 

No one would expect him to return to the days of 2006 when he hit 41 dingers and drove in 126 runs.

Still the former 10-time Gold Glove winner and power-hitting righty might be able to improve on the woeful batting averages he's posted the past few years. He's also suffered from some injuries as well.

Last year in New York, Jones hit 13 home runs in just 190 at-bats. Those are the types of numbers that raise eyebrows. Could Jones hit 25-30 home runs if given a starting position and the 500 or so at-bats that would come with it?

Remember he got to the majors at the age of only 19, so while he's had a very long career he's not that old yet. Thirty-four isn't too old to experience a bit of a resurgence under the right set of circumstances. Boston might be that place.  

Hiroki Kuroda

Perhaps Paul Maholm isn't to the liking of Ben Cherington? 

Perhaps it was Cherington pushing former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein to acquire Dodgers' starter Hiroki Kuroda at the trade deadline last summer? 

If it was in fact a move endorsed by Cherington, then signing him to a free agent contract would seem logical.

He's out there for the taking.

Kuroda is a bit of a rarity.

He's a Japanese pitcher who has flown largely under the radar. He never arrived with the hoopla of a Yu Darvish or a Daisuke Matsuzaka. He's also done something else that most Japanese pitchers haven't done.

He's improved over the course of his career.

Guys like Hideo Nomo, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okijima all experienced the bulk of their success in their first few seasons in the majors.

Kuroda was never bad, through his first three seasons he had earned run averages of 3.73, 3.76 and 3.39. Last season his earned run average dropped all the way to 3.07.

Pitching in Dodger stadium and against some of the weakest offenses in all of baseball such as National League West rivals the Padres and the  Giants certainly helped his numbers.

If he were to come to Boston things would change, dramatically. He'd be pitching against the Yankees and Blue Jays. His home starts would be in tiny Fenway Park and he'd pitch in the Bronx on the road. Those could be the types of changes that would deter Red Sox management from sinking too much into Kuroda, especially since last season Kuroda gave up a career-high 24 home runs. 

Kuroda is also 36 years old. Clearly he won't be getting any sort of long-term deal. That however works in his favor. The Red Sox don't want to lavish a long term deal on any of the free-agent pitchers on the market. They know it's a thin market and they know there will be other more attractive options to fill gaps in their rotations down the road. Kuroda for one or two years with some nice incentive clauses might be something they'd be willing to go for.