The season is not even over, but for some, like myself, looking forward to next year (and beyond) offers more to think and talk about than the remainder of the 2019 season. There is a lot of unknowns about next year.

Who will be the GM?
Will we reset the luxury tax and begin some sort of rebuild?
Will we re-sign any of our free agents to be or try to extend Betts?
Will JBJ, Leon and others still under team control be back?
How good can we be under each spending plan we choose?
If we choose to rebuild, how long might it take to become a top contender again and will anyone on the team now be here to see it?

Here's a look at the specifics of our current roster and how it relates to next season:

Free Agents:
Brock Holt (perhaps the only one who may be back)
Rick Porcello (the innings eater departs)
Mitch Moreland (the oft-injured one departs)
Steve Pearce (We hardly knew ya!)
Andrew Cashner (Just didn't work out here)

Likely Deadwood:
Dustin Pedroia (Chances are just too slight for hopes.)
Rusney Castillo (Not on 40 man- last year of contract)

Possible Trade Fillers, Non Tenders or DFA Candidates:
Jackie Bradley Jr. (Will hate to see him go.)
Steven Wright (How much more can we take?)
Sandy Leon (Is being Sale's caddy enough?)
Ryan Brasier (pre-arb)
Brian Johnson (No options left)
Hector Velazquez (pre-arb)
Mike Shawaryn (pre-arb)
Colten Brewer (pre-arb)
Sam Travis (pre-arb- may keep around)
Tzu-Wei Lin (pre-arb- may keep around)
Ryan Weber (pre-arb)
Travis Lakins (pre-arb)
Bobby Poyner (pre-arb)
Trevor Kelley (pre-arb)
Joey Curletta (pre-arb)
Chris Owings (pre-arb)
1-2 Arbs left (Trade if Rebuilding or Keep if Not?)
Mookie Betts (1 arb left)
Brandon Workman (1 arb)
Eduardo Rodriguez (2 arbs)
Matt Barnes (2 arbs)
Heath Hembree (2 arbs)

Certain Keepers (Hard to trade due to Contract Cost):
Chris Sale
David Price
JD Martinez
Nathan Eovaldi

Certain Keepers (Build Around the Core/Promising pre-arb Players))
Raphel Devers (pre-arb)
Xander Bogaerts
Andrew Benintendi (3 arbs)
Christian Vazquez
Michael Chavis (pre-arb- could be traded or be handed 1B or 2B)
Marcus Walden (pre-arb)
Josh Taylor (pre-arb)
Marco Hernandez (pre-arb)

Rule 5 Candidates:
Christopher Acosta
Fabian Andrade
Yoan Aybar
Roldani Baldwin
Eduard Bazardo
Gary Calvo
Marino Campana
Pedro Castellanos
Rusney Castillo
CJ Chatham
Jake Cosart
Ricardo Cubillan
Bobby Dalbec
Enmanuel De Jesus
Chad De La Guerra
Jhonathan Diaz
Jerry Downs
Devon Fisher
Matthew Gorst
Kyle Hart
Trenton Kemp
Matt Kent
Adam Lau
Nick Lovullo
Everlouis Lozada
Tate Matheny
Samuel Miranda
Oddanier Mosqueda
Josh Ockimey
Angel Padron
Yorvin Pantoja
Keibert Petit
Roniel Raudes
Austin Rei
Hildemaro Requena
Jeremy Rivera
Kleiber Rodriguez
Jake Romanski
Jagger Rusconi
Alberto Schmidt
Andrew Schwaab
Nick Sciortino
Kevin Steen
Cole Sturgeon
Kervin Suarez
Luke Tendler
Josh Tobias
Marcus Wilson

It might be a hard winter to debate, until we know what the spending choice will be. I'm leaning towards re-setting this winter, but going for one more ring in 2020 and re-setting after 2020 might be more likely. Then again, maybe we never re-set.

Let's keep it real, and keep personal attacks on other threads.

I'll do a budget analysis, soon.