Red Sox 2013 Roster

Red Sox have a big off-season facing them. Here's my position by position breakdown of what I'd suggest GM Ben Cherington should do regarding the every day players. In another post I'll make my suggestions regarding the pitching staff.

C - the Red Sox for better or worse are set with Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Lavarnway. Everyone hopes to get much more offense out of this duo than we saw in 2012. Even though Salty hit 25 HR - his overall batting performance leaves room for much improvement. Many are hoping that Lavarnway gets close to his minor league batting performance so that he can be the catcher of the future (say 2014).

1B - My preference for first base next year would be for the Red Sox to trade for Victor Martinez. I'm guessing that Detroit would be happy to shed the final two years of Victor's contract ($13 million in 2013 and $12 million in 2014) - so he would cost much in terms of prospects. Martinez has shown he can thrive in Boston both on the field (.322 career batting average at Fenway) and off (media favorite). He'd also be both a big clubhouse presence with the stature to stand up to anyone and also would be insurance at the catcher position if either Salty or Lavarnway have issues.

2B - Dustin Pedroia

SS - This is a weak spot for the Red Sox. What I'd suggest to turn this into a strength is to trade fan pariah John Lackey to Texas for Elvis Andrus. Jon Heyman has reported that the Rangers have no plans to trade Andrus this winter which normally would mean Andrus should have his bags packed. Andrus has two years left on his contract for a reasonable $11 million but the problem is in Texas he's blocking super prospect Jurikson Profar. I'd even throw in Jose Iglesias to make this deal happen.

3B - Will Middlebrooks

LF - The first item of business for Ben Cherington should be wrapping up Cody Ross on a multi-year deal (say 3-years $18 million). I say first item of business because with Ross in the fold then that gives them a little more leverage over David Ortiz as Ross could be made DH. Ortiz should be the second item of business. I will admit that Ross's home / road splits this season concerns me (.921 OPS at Fenway but just .684 OPS on road in 2012).

CF - Let Jacoby Ellsbury play the year and go to free agency. Guessing he will have a big year and be overpaid by someone else. All that is important is that he has a big 2013 first.

RF - Another problem spot for the Red Sox. Do the Sox go with existing options Ryan Kalish or maybe Che-Hsuan Lin? Or do they go for an outside option. Supposedly the Indians would be open to trading Shin-Soo Choo. That would be perfect. I'd even more in favor of giving Choo a long term deal than I would be for extending Ellsbury.

DH - David Ortiz. Just give the man a 2-year $22 million deal with some incentives for Ortiz to up the possible value of the contract.

If the Red Sox were to make these suggested moves they would field very formidable team in 2012. So llet it be written - so let it be done!

Teixeira to the Braves

It looks like it's official - the Rangers are trading Mark Teixeira to the Braves for a package centered around catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and shortstop prospect Elvis Andrus plus two more prospects.

This trade could be the proverbial "win-win" situation for both teams.

For the Braves it gives them a solution to their black hole at 1st base. Not only does Teixeira have perhaps the best power bat available this trade-deadline - he also brings with him Gold Glove caliber fielding. With Teixeira in the line-up - the Braves are pretty solid 1-7 in the batting order. This puts Atlanta in a very good position to win either the NL East or the NL Wildcard.

Next year Texeira will probably get at least $12 million through arbitration but Atlanta will probably be losing at least that much when Andruw Jones goes the free-agent route. If Andruw Jones does leave as a free agent - then the Braves will get two top draft picks in compensation and they get to reload the farm system once again to make trades like the one for Teixeira possible. It should be noted that given the facts that Teixeira went to Georgia Tech and the Braves have Mike Hampton's contract coming off the books after 2008 - the Braves should not be ruled out re-signing Teixeira long term.

In the deal the Braves also got lefty reliever Ron Mahay. That helps strengthen the bullpen and again makes the Braves a formidable opponent down the stretch.

From the Rangers perspective - they had to trade Teixeira. They could not afford to risk keeping him and having him get injured. In Saltalamacchia and Andrus - the Rangers got the Braves' two top prospects (according to Baseball America). It is also rumored that the Braves will be including pitching prospect Matt Harrison in the deal. If true then that would be Atlanta's top 3 prospects according to Baseball America. How could the Rangers hope for more than that?

Two things to consider. From the Rangers position - I'm not sure how confident I'd feel about still wet behind the ears GM Jon Daniels dealing with the master of the trade John Schuerholz. In all the deals that Schuerholz has made the only prospect I can think of that went on to become a star is Jason Schmidt. That has to make Ranger fans at least a bit nervous. From the Braves position - I'm still not sold on Teixeira being the great hitter everyone cracks him up to be. Teixeira has almost a 60 point difference between what he hits at Arlington and what he hits on the road. His OPS is over 100 points lower on the road than it is at home. That has to be a red flag. At least the Braves have a one-year audition to see if Teixeira really can hit outside of Arlington (facing NL pitching should help there).