Boston Red Sox: BoSox Need to Start Making Noise in Quiet Offseason

Given the way their 2011 season ended, you'd think the Boston Red Sox were going to tackle the offseason with a sense of urgency.

But nope. Ever since the Sox parted ways with Terry Francona and then saw Theo Epstein depart for the Chicago Cubs, things have been pretty quiet in Boston.

In fact, they've been too quiet. Considering the Sox have quite a few holes they still need to fill, that's not a good thing.

To be sure, Nick Punto and Kelly Shoppach are good additions, and you have to tip your cap to Ben Cherington for the Mark Melancon trade. All three new additions will help the Sox in 2012, and hopefully beyond as well.

But the team's biggest needs remain unfilled. The starting rotation consists of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and two question marks, a replacement for Jonathan Papelbon has not yet been found and it would be a good idea for the Sox to add a right-handed bat they can use in the outfield.

To these ends, Cherington and Boston's front office has been biding their time, carefully weighing their options and pursuing all leads. As of right now, the word from CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler is that the Sox are still kicking the tires on Oakland A's closer Andrew Bailey and free-agent starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, but that they "don't appear to be close" to acquiring either one of them.

There has also been talk of the Sox making a deal for Gavin Floyd, or perhaps signing Roy Oswalt to a one-year deal, an idea proposed by John Tomase of the Boston Herald. As far as free-agent closers go, the Sox have been linked to Francisco Cordero and Ryan Madson.

As one of Knobler's sources put it, the Sox are "in on everybody." It's just a hunch, but I take that to mean you and I are probably included in the Sox's plans as well.

I appreciate Cherington's willingness to do his homework, but it's starting to get late. The fact that it is nearly Jan. 1, 2012 and the Sox are still without a full starting rotation and a closer, concerns me. The longer Cherington and the Sox wait to fill these holes, the harder it will be to fill them.

This is especially true of the starting rotation. If the season started today, Alfredo Aceves would be Boston's fourth starter, and Daniel Bard would be its fifth. As much as I like both of them, their arms belong in the bullpen, not the starting rotation. If the Sox actually enter the season with both of them as starters, they'll be rolling the dice. If they enter the season with just one of them in the rotation, they'll still be rolling the dice.

He wouldn't be my first option, but Kuroda would be an acceptable fill-in. I'm not a huge fan of Floyd, but I would take him in a heartbeat too. Given the amount of time that has passed and the kinds of names that are left on the market, any proven starters will do.

Yet both of these names, and indeed all of the names that the Sox are or have been linked to, are long shots. There are a lot of deals on Boston's radar, but none within reach.

This is business as usual for the Sox, of course, but the difference this year is that they are needy, not greedy. They wouldn't be overloading by acquiring two starting pitchers, a closer and a bat. They would be surviving.

That the Sox seem to be in no hurry to survive is disconcerting, to say the least. I applaud the effort, but it's time to see some results.