OK, so this Sox off season has not gone to plan so far. We got Bobby Valentine as our coach, re-signed David Ortiz and RP Mark Melancon. We have watched the likes of Jonathan Papelbon, Jonathan Broxton, Heath Bell, Mark Buehrle, CJ Wilson, Albret Pujols, Yu Darvish, Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins all come off of free agency and the Sox have just stood their with a thumb up their ass and do nothing.
Well nobody needs to worry, Ben Cherington reads this site daily and this will give him all the advice he needs.
1st, Cuban Defector Yoenis Cespedes is a free agent this week. We need a RF and why not put a big on him. It's not like Yu Darvish where you need a posting fee or anything, you can treat him like any other FA. His contract is rumored to be around the 60 million dollars. And for a guy who is MLB ready, 26 and He is a guy that could instantly be one of the best athletes on most teams. He has plus arm strength and a quick first step at this stage defensively and offensively has massive power potential, quality that is definitely pole to pole, that he generates from adequate hand speed, strong wrists, and a solid core. 30/30 potential (30 HRs/ 30 Stolen Bases)
And If you don't believe me watch his epic scouting video:
There right field is solved.
Now onto the SP/ RP:
We need to starters and don't want to spend much. I think he will be in the 12 millionish area a year, but the guy no one is talking about Edwin Jackson. Jackson is what he is and has potential to be a 3 starter but is probably more of a 4,5. He can strike out 11 batters any given night or he can walk 6. But his era will stick around low 4 and will give you around 200 innings. His positives heavily outweigh his negatives.
Roy Oswalt is another guy we can get away with, with your 1 year deal AKA your John Smoltz/ Brad Penny type of contract. Oswalt's back is a concern as he was only limited to 23 starts last year. But that would leave us with a rotation of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, Edwin Jackson, and Roy Oswalt.... not terrible, but a lot of questions.
RPs
I love the rumors of Fransisco Cordero. He's 36 and will demand a not Madson huge contract. He has saved 36 games over the passed 5 years and although his K rate has dropped, he will be fine. The Reds were in the playoffs so he has experience and he's an angry spanish guy, so those are always fun to watch close.
That will win us a championship for sure.