SoxSport

I don't think they ever considered Crawford. That was a screen. They wanted AdGon--and Werth. They got blindsided by Rizzo on Werth while they were negotiating AdGon's contract. Boras pulled the string quickly--never giving the Red Sox a chance. Crawford isn't a good fit because they have Ellsbury and Kalish--similar players. And Ellsbury will be up for contract in a few years. So its him or Crawford. And Ellsbury is still cheap for awhile. I think Ellsbury, Drew, Cameron and Kalish will share the OF duties next year, possibly with McDonald.

I think they'll add a RHd power hitter--mainly for DH against LHP. Papi against LHP makes no sense.With the Yankees possibly having 3 LHd starters next year, they will have to make up for the "loss" of Werth. Possibilities include Willingham, Ordonez, D.Lee. Somebody mentioned Manny. Ha. To keep him from NY, yes. But how much money does he want? That would be key. Plus what the players think. After all, this is a guy who quit for money.

I think the attention should now shift to pitching. Mainly the bullpen, though that could change if they find a taker for Dice-K. What I'm reading is the good relievers available want three years. The Red Sox always have a problem with years--they did with Werth and may have initially with AdGon until they saw Werth sign for 7 years. If Epstein wants to get useful relievers, a Downes or a Fuentes, and certainly Soriano, he's going to have to go three years or he will be outbid. No question. Now maybe he can pull off a trade, using Papelbon or Dice-K as bait. I would prefer Doubront, a lefty, as the 5th starter anyways. The plum might be Bell. Certainly they need Fuentes or Downes to replace Oki. And they will have to go three years.

Just want to add, we all owe a vote of thanks--to Jayson Werth and the Washington Nationals--for increasing the national debt and getting the Red Sox off their asses.

The way the Red Sox behaved in this extended drama, you would think they were getting a cut for each post in Red Sox chat groups. If you want to know what happened, just go back to Speier (WEEI). They have an extension, but will wait to announce it, presumably to save on the luxury tax. I wonder, though, how Werth's sudden 7 year deal with Washington affected the Sox thinking. Maybe they realized the times had caught up with them for 6 years deals.

Heyman has his sources, but he's a NY reporter. Can't rely on twitters from one guy who spins NY a lot. The negotiating deadline is self-imposed by the Red Sox. They don't need it to do the trade. AdGon is under contract for next year. No sense in jumping to conclusions without hearing from the parties involved.

AdGon and his agent probably figure they can get what they want on the open market. Maybe Epstein et al are paranoid about his shoulder. Who knows. They will take a big PR hit if they don't do this deal, at this point. They'd be nuts to stonewall on money.

I go with Werth because the Sox have two Crawford-type players in Ellsbury and Kalish, and they need another RHD bat to offset the loss of Beltre and VMart. Besides, I think they can get Werth for cheaper--there is steeper competition for Crawford, since the Yankees are obsessed with LHd hitters and pitchers, and the Angels are a good fit.

The trade will happen. AdGon can't stop it. He doesn't have a no-trade. What might happen is the Red Sox will delay the extension until April 5th--for two reasons; 1) to see how his shoulder is, and 2) to wait until Drew and Ortiz' salaries are off the books (April 5th). That puts them well below the luxury tax, and allows them to spend more money this year, since AdGon only adds $6 mil this year. Speier, of WEEI, has spelled this all out. Actually, the more important reason might be the second one for the Red Sox. I'm sure they knew what they wanted to do before they made the trade. AdGon really can't do anything about the timing to negotiate the extension. Sure, he wants it now, because of his shoulder. But he can't really control it, the way I see it. Actually, I'm surprised they opened an extension window. Maybe they are serious about extending him now. Or wanted to discuss parameters of an extension, to be finalized later. To make sure they are on the same page. Either way, I doubt it affects the trade. It looks like a good deal for Boston. One other thought: the Sox opened the extension window now because they thought they might have some leverage with AdGon's shoulder. Extending April 5th might result in a bigger contract. There are win-wins on both sides here.

This guy Heyman has the right contacts. He said yesterday aft on MLB.com that the Red Sox were going in a different direction towards AdGon, when asked about Beltre's comment about wanting to stay in Boston. He knew what was up.

9 ft? Ted Williams just dropped out of his dry ice (liquid nitrogen?) casket.

I saw Doerr play at Fenway when I was a kid. Doerr was my dad's favorite player. Doerr was very smooth around 2B, and a power hitter in a power lineup. Dimaggio-Pesky-Williams-Stephens-Doerr. Batted 5th. As someone familiar with playing 2B in my time, I think Pedroia is the best I've seen in a Red Sox uniform.I did not see Eddie Collins. Pedroia is better at 2b than anyone ever thought he would be. He needs 6-8 more prime years, and he will be in the HOF. Just a great ballplayer. The Red Sox MVP. Their Jeter. They stayed in contention last year until he got hurt.

I'm very happy Youks moves to 3B, and AdGon takes his place at 1B--on my fantasy team. Youks has just made 3B stronger for fantasy.

A poster in another chatgroup said he knew somebody who saw him in Boston last night. Sometimes those kind of posts are accurate--sometimes not. This looks like a great deal for the Red Sox. Not losing Kalish or Iglesias. Maybe they had some leverage with AdGon's shoulder. There is some risk to assume there. He has to get his power back quickly.

Kelly, Rizzo and Fuentes. Funny I was going to guess Fuentes as the third--to make up for AdGon with their Mexican-American fans. Just a hunch. Good for Epstein. He caught everybody off-guard with this deal. Wish he would get Bell, too, but they probably want Bard.

From Hayes, Olney et al, it looks like players are agreed to, Gonzalez is reported to be in Boston for a physical, Kelly is involved, Bell is not. They are working on contract extension. I would guess Rizzo or Anderson has to be included, also.

Ditto. Kalish and Iglesias are the guys they want to keep. Kelly is expendable.

Yes.That has to be the biggest concern. The guy has had two good years--both contract years.

Just read Cafardo's blog in the Globe about AdGon. Looks like the Red Sox are pushing Hoyer to make this deal now. Clearly, they have to decide on Beltre. Hoyer has an out now with the SD fans, since they realize AdGon is priced out of SD. Why should any city be priced out? That's capless baseball for you. Seems dreadfully unfair. I'm surprised Theo is willing to package players in a trade rather than go the FA route. I guess this means Youks plays 3B. They'll take a hit defensively at 3B and 1B. And do they still sign a RHd bat? I guess yes. Probably Werth. Don't think they'll give up Iglesias. The others mentioned in another post are expendable. Kalish could be the key for Hoyer. He's going to be good. Can AdGon hit LHP? He did last year (.334 BA, .937 OPS), but not in previous years (career .262 BA, .783 OPS). I forgot to mention that I saw Heymann on MLB.com earlier tonite. When he was asked about Beltre's preference to stay in Boston, he said he thought the Red Sox weren't moving in that direction, but towards AdGon. Guess he was right.

Agreed.

An important date--for sure. Expect a major signing before December 13th. Werth or Beltre? I'm guessing Cameron's major role will be RHd DH this year against lefties, and backup OFder. Having Papi hit against lefties would be folly.