rjortiz

Only if they take Lackey.

Lance Berkman has played 1B in the past.

Loney has been awful for the last four years, and if I see Aviles penciled in as the 1B in 2013, I will hang myself.

He has 90 AB's at AA. They can give him two months of AB's at Pawtucket or Portland next year.

Brewers look like they need to rebuild, and Hart's contract expires after the '13 season. If the Red Sox decided they wanted to go for it in 2013, they could trade for offer a couple B- prospects and get the job done. Brentz and Workman would probably be good enough. Although, I don't think the Red Sox have the bullets in the rotation to make a deep run in 2014.

You like Brentz? He's having a so-so year in Portland. I think he's more of a 4th OF type, but he's not an elite defensive player. I would use him as a trade chip.

He's not even 20. They can give him at least one more year in the minors. He'll probably force their hand. Bradley isn't setting the world on fire in AA. He's going to start in Pawtucket. Loney has been below replacement level for four years. He's going to be a free agent next year. Just designate him. No use wasting AB's when he should be evaluating prospects. I like the rest of your team, although I'm not sold on Kalish. He needs to start in AAA, or be in a strict platoon. The first three months of the season are critical for him to see what we have in him. I could see the Red Sox signing a few stop gaps to ease the transitions for our prospects. Nava and a lefty masher would be a good cheap option in LF. Reed Johnson would be inexpensive, and he can play all three OF positions. I'm not sold on Gomez, either. He's 27, and a career minor leaguer. He needs to have a big September. I'd like to see what Jerry Sands can do. He's hit well in AAA, and he's only 24. I think the Red Sox will have to go find a 1B outside the organization to fill this hole, eventually. Maybe make a big splash in 2014. Ross is another player that scares me. He makes most of his value on his batting against LHP, but he's pretty mediocre against same handed matchups. How much money is he going to want on the open market? I wouldn't go more than two years for him. Johnny Gomes would cost less. Is this somewhere where we can break Kalish in, too? He could be the LH platoon partner for Gomes in RF. That would leave the lineup looking like: CF: Ellsbury 2B: Pedroia DH: Ortiz 3B: Middlebrooks C: Lavarnway 1B: Sands/Gomez/Saltalamacchia LF: Nava/Reed Johnson RF: Gomes/Kalish SS: Iglesis C/1B: Saltalamacchia INF: Ciraco OF: Johnson OF: Gomes 1B/3B: Gomez It's not an elite offensive ball club, but it's solid and cost effective. It bides time for the young players, and when they are ready to come up we can trade our stop gaps for some prospects. If Bradley is performing at a high level in AAA, we could move Ellsbury to solve our 1B solution long term.

This. Premier prospects? Webster and De La Rosa are good, but they aren't ranked in BA's top 100 (maybe the back 20). Sands couldn't hit his way past Loney, and Dejesus looks like a UTL player.

Why? He might stick at SS, and has the athleticism to play LF or 3B. I don't like putting players like that at the least challenging defensive position.

He'll stick at SS until he grows out of the position. I have the feeling that he probably winds up in LF, and make his debut sometime around July. He's tearing up AA ball as 19 year old, so he can't be too far from Fenway.

5th HR for Portland. 20th of his season.