[Luis_Rivera]

Originally Posted by QuestGAV

First base:
Clearly, Millar is gone. Olerud is probably gone too. I don't think you can sell Petagine as an everday 1b to Red Sox nation. What's available here? In the absence of a decent first baseman on the market, I'd like to see Youkilis plugged in here every day. I'm not sold on Youk's defense at third and he's proved he needs 500+ AB next year.

I really don't know at this point what I think they should do here. Unless they work a trade or do something drastic and unforseen (like move someone else to this position like Nixon), then Youks is really our best option here.

Second base
A tough decision here. Do you sign/resign a caretaker for a year or do you hand the job to Pedroia? I'm not sure he's ready for the start of next year,but by the end I think the job is his.

I say get a caretaker... I doubt Graff will be back (I wouldn't come back after making an error like that when the Fenway "Faithful" haven't had their chance to boo him in person yet), sign a guy like Grudzielanek to a one year deal to hold the position and move Pedroia in when he shows he's ready in AAA (which I anticipate will be this year).

Actually, if it were possible to land Grudz to a one year deal, platooning him with Cora would be a great situation. Of course, there are always other factors (i.e. Grudz wanting to seek a solid starting job) and this would probably end up not being feasible.

Third base:
Mueller's contract is up. Another solid year for him. If he'll take a one year contract at reasonable money I'd like to see him back at 3b so Youkilis can play first. If he wants 3-4 years then I'd let some other team make that mistake. I think Youkilis gets a starting job next year at either first or third, where he's playing will likely depend entirely on what replacement options are there at first and third. Obviously, 3b is normally the tougher slot to fill but if you've got a guy who can do the job in Bill Mueller maybe that's the way you go.

Given our 1B situation, it's very possible that Youks will be there next year. Ideally, I'd like to see Mueller back on a one-year deal because he's really the best option... but again, how likely is that?

Shortstop:
I really want to like Edgar Renteria but he sure made that difficult last year. Offensively, his numbers were right on par. Defensively, he was a complete ****ing mess. I'd like to think the difficulties were due to injury but only time will tell. He needs to start playing well at the beginning of next season or his tenure in Boston is going to get real difficult real fast.

I wouldn't say he was on par offensively. I disliked his contract when it was signed because I don't like when long term deals are signed based off of one year as his was due to his great 2003. I'm willing to give Theo one mulligan though, and this one is it.

The pressure to play Hanley Ramirez will be immense if Renteria sputters. And I'm not sure he's ready. Ramirez should be a good player someday but I'd like to see some more production before we hand him an everyday job. But Sox Nation has heard the hype on Ramirez for 3 years now and they'll be itching for a payday. I just hope they don't try to give it before he's ready. If Ramirez is ready and Renteria stabilizes himself defensively, what do you do with Hanley? Obviously, CF has been bandied about as a landing spot for him. If Damon's gone that would be interesting, but you can't count on him to be your starting CF from day one next year so I have to think if Damon goes they'll have someone else ready to play CF for at least the next two years. That leaves him as the heir apparent at 3b when Mueller is done with Youk shifting over to 1b to match his defensive skills.

Ramirez had some mediocre numbers in AA this year. I'm concerned about him. I really don't think he'll ever live up to his hype here in Boston. He's definitely not ready, and should be started in AA this year. If he's raking, then bump him up to AAA and wait for the results.

Left field:
Yes, Manny is overpaid. But you can count on him for massive offensive production each and every year, and sometimes it's worth paying for consistency. You know each year with Manny you're going to get anywhere from 2-5 "Manny being Manny" moments and a continuation of his eight straight years of 30 HR, 100 RBI. If you're going to move Manny, you better find someone that you can count on for 70% of the production at less than 50% of the price. I'm not sure you can do that. The flip side of the coin is that Manny will be 34 at the start of next season and has 3 years left on his contract. Is it forseeable that he'll have a major dip in production over those three years? If Theo can project that I think that's the only way you can get rid of him. Paying him $20M to be a shell of his former self is not an option.

He's not at the same level he was at when he first signed the deal, but he's still an excellent hitter. Who knows what's going to happen with this.

Center field:
Johnny Damon is of course a free agent. It is going to be very tough to cut the cord here, but Jesus will be 32 at the start of next season and with the money/years he wants and will undoubtedly get from someone he's got Bernie Williams written all over him. And Bernie was a better player. Damon has been a very likable and entertaining Red Sox for the past four years but he's been increasingly banged up the past two years and I don't want to be paying Varitek, Damon, and Ramirez when they all hit a decline phase.

LET DAMON GO. PLEASE THEO. He's already started to decline, and it was slightly hidden this year because he had a very high BABIP. That will likely regress, and whoever gives him a big deal this offseason will be stuck with his bad contract. I don't care if they can't get someone at his level for next year. Taking a slight hit next year isn't worth mortgaging the future.

Go out and get a guy that will sign a short term deal. Hopefully Randy Winn won't be able to parlay his strong finish into an irrational deal and we can grab him for a couple years. I'd be more than happy with that.

Right Field
Trot Nixon has never been one of my favorite players but I don't think there's any chance that he's not the guy patrolling RF next season.

Jacoby Ellsbury, Brandon Moss, and David Murphy all look like they'll make decent major leaguers some day. None of them will be ready next year and I don't think any of them are superstars in the making. Still, it's nice to have some organizational depth for once.

Ditto. Well, except the part about Nix not being one of your favorites.

Designated hitter:
Big Papi. What else can I say?

Amen to that.