With the news of Victor Martinez‘s 4-year, $50 million deal with the Detroit Tigers, it not only makes the Sox look bad for not shelling out a reasonable amount of money for the catcher, it also takes a big bat out of the Sox lineup. No matter who is the Sox starting catcher next year, whether it be Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Jason Varitek or Miguel Olivo, there will be a serious dip in power production. That could become a huge problem if Theo doesn’t add another big bat or two this off-season and quickly. Now is the Sox chance to forget V-Mart and focus on bringing back Adrian Beltre and signing Carl Crawford to rebuild the lineup for 2011.
Going into this off-season, it became obvious that the likelihood the Sox would sign both Beltre and V-Mart was slim-to-none, but there was at least a chance they would both return. The scenaro is gone and the Sox are faced with a real possibility of losing both of their top hitters for the 2011 season. If I were Theo, the time is now to make a big push at Beltre and Crawford. The Sox can not afford to lose 2 big hitters from their lineup and not replace them with equally strong bats. Beltre obviously had success in Boston, playing at Fenway Park last season and has said he would like to remain with the Red Sox. If the Sox can offer some security in terms of years, Beltre will be happy as a clam playing the hot corner with the B on his hat.
In order to replace the type of production out of the catching slot, the Sox can go after Carl Crawford or Jayson Werth. Crawford allows you more flexibility in the outfield because his defensive range and ability is second-to-none, while Werth would provide more power and with the wall in left, his numbers may even improve in Boston. I think Crawford would be a better fit in Boston with his speed on the base paths and with his near .300 average and solid power, would fit into the top/middle of the lineup nicely. By beefing up the outfield, the Sox would be able to still be a powerful team and compensate for the lack of production from behind the plate.
If the Sox don’t bring in 2 top hitters, they are going to have a tough time competing in the AL East in 2011, because the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays can all hit and hit with power. No matter how good a pitching staff is, the team still needs to score runs to win. By reducing the run-production, it puts more pressure on the Sox pitching staff, which will ultimately not be a good situation as the season wears on. Now is the time for Theo to prove to the fans that he is willing to invest in a big way for the upcoming 2011 season. The money is there, he just needs to spend it appropriately.
Time is ticking and one of the best players on the market is gone. Theo…make it happen.
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