Jeff Passan on the Red Sox

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports looks at the possible offseason moves by the Red Sox.

Passan thinks the Red Sox will be able to re-sign Mike Lowell to a 3-year deal (I hope that's true). It should be noted that if the Red Sox can't re-sign Lowell - then they would have about $25 million coming off the books (Lowell's $9 million plus Matt Clement's $9 million and a bunch of filler). That gives them the flexibility to sign a player like A-Rod but they will not sign a player to a 10-year contract. That just ain't going to happen.

One move I hope the Red Sox make is to sign Jonathan Papelbon to a long term deal (I know I just got done explaining how the Red Sox loathe long-term contracts but I think a deal with Papelbon that would take him past his first free agent year would be fiscally prudent).

After 3rd base - the big questions for the Red Sox will be:

1. Do they trade Coco Crisp and if so for who?
2. What do they do about a back-up catcher? I don't think the Red Sox want to carry Doug Mirabelli and his useless bat.