Last offseason, the Red Sox made big moves to acquire Craig Kimbrel and David Price. This year, Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says the team doesn’t necessarily expect those sorts of blockbusters, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports. Dombrowski does, however, have some positions in mind that the team will target.
“Last year, I thought all along that we really needed two big moves, which was a No. 1 starting pitcher and a closer,” says Dombrowski. “Those are two, I guess, what you’d consider headline moves. This winter I wouldn’t say that you put the same thought process on it. But again, you start talking to clubs, you never could tell what happens. But I would say philosophically, that’s probably the case.”
The Red Sox will have a big hole to fill at DH, given David Ortiz’s retirement, and they’ve been widely connected to Edwin Encarnacion. But Dombrowski says he remains open to the possibility that the Sox could fill the position with talent already in the organization.
“[W]e’ll just kind of wait to see what happens in David’s situation as far as filling that is concerned. Can deal with that internally, externally (too) I think,” Dombrowski says.
Signing someone like Encarnacion would be costly, of course. Red Sox president Sam Kennedy, meanwhile, says he doesn’t know what the team’s 2017 payroll will be, Drellich reports. Kennedy adds that the Red Sox will have to be “prepared” to adjust after Ortiz’s departure.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with payroll, truthfully,” says Kennedy. “I think the consistent theme of the John Henry, Tom Werner ownership group, going all the way back to 2002, has been to not sort of set a hard and fast payroll each and every year.”
Dombrowski does say the Red Sox will look for a setup man. WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford writes that the team is planning to attend former Royals closer Greg Holland’s upcoming showcase. He would potentially fit the bill, although it appears there will be considerable interest from other teams as well. Bradford also suggests re-signing 41-year-old free agent Koji Uehara could be a possibility.
Sign koji holland. And Matt Holliday
Not Matt Holliday please!! Kendrys Morales or Carlos Beltran and Holland or K-Rod
Krod just had his option picked up yesterday. Koji can’t be relied on as a setup man because at his age he is good in spurts and wears down. Judging by what the playoffs have been like the last few years I’d say they need at least 2 more top notch relievers.
Also, if 50 mill wasn’t committed to Price and Parcello, I’d say they need at least 2 more decent starters too, because right now how can you predict what you’ll get from the rotation? Chances are Parcello isn’t going to get you 22 wins next year, Price is still more worried about Twitter than pitching, and then that leaves you with Bucholtz/Wright/E. Rodriguez.
As far as dh goes, Holliday is hurt a lot these days but also wouldn’t be playing the field here, and we did just lose a dh that didn’t play everyday anyway. He just had an incredible season so obviously it’s going to look like he played more than he did. On top of that, I don’t see them spending big money on a hitter when they have a bunch dedicated to Sandoval next year, and who knows what direction that mess is going to go.
Beltran would be a good fit as he could spell the corner OFers at times.
We still have Chris Young and Brock Holt to spell the outfielders also Kojis time is done. The dude cannot be relied on anymore. Handle the DH with a combo of Pablo/Hanley/Shaw/Holt/Young. I know Holt and Young are weird ideas but the Red Sox don’t really need to hit a ton of home runs. They need doubles. Guys will be on base all the time with our lineup. Don’t rely on the dinger to get the job done
I agree with most of what you said but man do you have to work on your spelling. It PORCELLO, BUCHHOLZ.
They dont need to spend money on a DH, they have plenty of options for DH. They only need to add a platoon Outfielder, maybe a Catcher who hits, then its all about adding/changing pitching options.
No thanks!
Set up could probably come from within the organization – no need to drop $ to find that. As for DH – I’m guessing that market (if you want to call it that), doesn’t develop until Encarnacion signs with someone.
I don’t see the Red Sox being able to get Holliday. His family is pretty hardcore entrenched in the STL community so I don’t see him wanting to be too far away. I’m thinking White Sox, Royals, or Rangers for his services.
“hardcore entrenched in the STL community”
haha – pretty funny
no one lives in St Louis proper.
Plus they already said – option declined – hes done there.
I didn’t say STL proper, I said STL community. That generally refers to the metro area. Having grown up pretty close to STL, I’m very well aware that most of the players do not live in STL proper. It’s a horrible city. Even downtown STL right outside the ballpark gets pretty dangerous at night once the crowds subside.
I also didn’t say he was going back to STL. Barring something crazy out of no where, Holliday likely heads back to the AL as a DH/occasional OF. Since his family will still live in the STL area, I don’t see him wanting to be too far away from home. Hence the AL teams that make sense and actually have a need – White Sox, Royals, and Rangers.
Red Sox don’t seem like a fit. Too far away and they probably want a DH that will be able to produce at the same level as big Papi. That sort of leaves you with either Encarnacion or Bautista.
I think you are spot on, but I don’t think a guy who can produce like Ortiz is necessary, (or available) you just don’t want to go from Ortiz to Darren Bragg in terms of production from that position.
He does not live in the STL area.
Unless something changed, I believe he bought a house and moved his family there in 2011.
They CANT fill the Set-up role from within. Did you miss how poorly Farrell managed the 8th inning when Koji was hurt? And how poorly most of the pitchers performed when asked to handle the 8th inning while Koji was out.
Is Carson Smith gonna be out for ’17 too? Man its as if the Red Sox forgot they even had him
Smith should be back by June after having TJ surgery in late May. So sometime within June and before the All Star Break is my guess
Smith honestly don’t be back in June. They never come back that quickly. He’ll be rehabbing with setback almost all of next year imo. We see it too much take 18 months
Late Aug return on Smith
Boston need two more pieces: another closer (Kimbrel needs a partner, Holland could be a good acquisition, and Koji must stay in Fenway); and another great bat (Encarnacion, Davis, Bautista… they are very expensive… they can check some names, like Ryan Howard, Joey Votto… they can play first base and DH, helping Hanley in defense. And why not! CarGo!
I wouldn’t mind seeing Ryan Howard but he’s too strikeout prone and really isn’t a good first baseman at all. Votto would take a lot of prospects in any deal. Bautista has ties to the Sox and could come cheaper than EE.
Personally, I’d like to see Beltran who even though at 40 could represent a nice solid option at DH.
Gotta be a lefty guys
Fun fact: Ryan Howard has amassed -3.9 bWAR over the last three seasons.
Right, not to mention a guy who strikes out 30%+ of the time, then has an OBP hovering in the 250% range isn’t desirable by anyone, other than Philly it seems these past few seasons since they didn’t seem to want to DFA him to get rid of the albatross.
DFA’ibg does not get rid of the albatross.
Howard isn’t good enough, votto is staying in cincinati and would cost too much cargo or beltran would be a good signing
I say sign Moss (left handed bat), Holland and Koji
Holland would be a great addition on a possible 2 year deal as a set up guy. Though I think as most have pointed out they need more than just Holland. Koji I think was great in his time in Boston but at 41 he’s I think deserved to try and see if he can secure a better deal
1 thing is for sure, there will be a lot of moving parts this year
I like the idea of Holland, but how many broken down closers are we going to sign? Bailey was a total bust, and Koji isn’t a young guy
Maybe they can repeat history think Minnesota s Kenny Vargas could be the one who might flourish in that spot
This is a solid observation – I’m on board.
in contrast to the headline, dombrowski’s actual quotes say that they’ll look for a setup man and may or may not look for a DH
i mean they’ll “look for” a DH in the sense that they will try to figure out who will fill that role next year, yes. but an outside acquisition is very much a “maybe” thing right now
everyone seems to want the sox to sign EE or someone else to *** Replace Papi ***
but as young and good as the rest of their lineup is, i really don’t see how they NEED to spend a bunch of money on an old guy to DH
people can laugh all they want about sandoval making any kind of comeback, the same way they were laughing about hanley ever doing anything again at this time last year. but he’ll be there as an option at third, plus shaw… before sam travis got hurt he was looking almost MLB-ready in spring training last year. then moncada and devers coming up
personally i’d rather they sign one of the cheaper extra bat options, like a pedro alvarez type one-year guy who’s cheap because he can hit but nothing else, which is really all they need. then let the position fill itself over time, probably internally
Dont worry, the Sox arent going to spend $20m or more on a DH even if he can play in the field. They will add a bat or two but they will be position players, not a Part time DH or Full time DH. And theyll add pitching too.
The Red Sox don’t need offense, they need more starting pitching. They lost because their 30 million dollar golden goose laid an egg for large swaths of the season and is afraid of his own shadow come the playoffs.
Anyone not named Porcello in that rotation is a huge question mark.
Can E-Rod be the pitcher everyone thinks he is?
Can Wright return to form?
Will Pomeranz be healthy, and can he provide stability in the rotation?
Which Clay shows up this year?
Was last year an anomaly for Price, or the start of a decline?
Those questions bother me more than who will DH for this club. There are plenty of options whether you want pure power (Trumbo, Carter) or a more blended approach (Encarcion, Holiday, Beltran) but if they don’t fix that rotation it will be one and done again next year.
If the Sox go a little cheaper due to having so many expensive deadweight contracts like Sandoval, Craig and Castillo (the latter two do not count against the Luxury Tax, but are still costly), they might consider someone like Brandon Moss, Logan Morrison (ugh, but surprisingly good at Fenway) or Adam Lind. Basically a lefty that could be platooned with Young.
The set up guy could be someone like Holland, but cheaper options also include Daniel Hudson, Drew Storen, and Shawn Tolleson, Also possible they go out of the box here and sign someone like Yusmeiro Petit, whose never been a set up guy, but has had some success in multiple pitching roles and is a pretty underrated pitcher overall…
Thank You alexmiller!! I couldn’t have said it any better than that!! Pitching
In my opinion they will go hard after Chris Sale but whether theyll get him or not is another story. Beyond trying to acquire him there are NO free agents worth anything and to this point the Only team that has listed their pitchers as possibly available is the White Sox, which means almost every team in baseball will be throwing offers at them.
Personally Im less worried about the rotation (just look at this years Playoffs where no starter went deep and it was all about Bullpens), Id like to see our Bullpen become a Strength, I say go after Chapman for the set-up man position and add 1 more solid guy beyond him. IE, spend Most of your money on the Bullpen.
Who is Chapman setting up for on a five year 80-90 million dollar contract? They traded the best one in 2014.
Why does the money matter? They need a strong 8th inning guy and who better than a former Closer to do so? It isnt as if there’s a ton of set-up men available right now.
Holland and Edwin are ours !!!!
You guys can have Taz, Uehara and Bautista and his big useless Ego !
Holland hasn’t pitched in a year, he could pick up a ball once and his arm could fall off. I’d take Koji on cheaper dollars. As for Edwin, he’s not worth the money someone is going to vomit at him, you can get close to his production if you play your cards right for probably 1/3 of the cost long term.
Holland would be a mistake if they overpay or commit too long, Edwin would just be a huge mistake, like voting for Donald Trump
you’re an idiot
Well the fact that your only comeback to that was throwing an insult means he’s probably right.
2 idiots, EE is a MUST and so is Trump, Beltran is unreliable, Sale is a great fit , Koji and Smith are unreliable for now but set up is a must
The Red Sox will NOT sign Encarnacion.
Braves have kemp markakis and/or vizzy cabrerra johnson simmons… Benti and devers could get ya one or two future closers/set up men, a nice dh, a gg nominated awsome 4th outfielder and some cash?
THe chances the Sox deal Benintendi for that package are about the same as the chances of me flapping my arms and flying to the moon. I wouldn’t mind dealing Sandoval (3 yrs $59.8mill) for Kemp (3 yrs $65.25mill ) straight up and letting the Braves keep the $18mill from San Diego and Los Angeles. Sox get a DH. Braves get a 3B and save $24mill over the next 3 seasons. But that deal won’t happen and we all know it.
If i was trying to be crazy and get you to flap your arms id said moncada and betts lol- if benti is off limits no problem, but Kemp>sandoval- there is a trade to be worked out somewhere. Sandoval and devers for kemp and cash? Setup/closers arent cheap. Cabrerra has a chapmanesques ceiling, simmons numbers were kimbrell like b4 injury, vizzy could close for most teams. Jj lol is a 2nd rate teams setup man. Point being benti for two controllable closers and kemp and cash is not crazy. But if he is untouchable no hard feelings. But dont offer us devers fat old overpaid cousin bro. Cute face or not we arent taking fat panda off your hands
Wait markakis for panda and half his salary- he leaves his cellphone in the Boston dugout 😉
Bennintendi is going nowhere unless as part of a package for sale or or quintana
So kemp, his salary, two pre-arb closers, and a gglove nominated 4th outfielder and cash doesnt start the conversation. What if we throw in freeman inciarte and teheran lol? So untouchable… Devers for a prearb closer sound doable?
Don’t need kemp, don’t want his salary and there are plenty of closers/set-ups in FA plus kelly and smith as internal options
Pitching wins Championships
I would welcome him if he signed with Boston, but I don’t really think EE should be pursued by us. Given Beltran’s age I’m not overly fond of going after him, either.
Yasmany Tomas for DH. wouldn’t take to much to get him. Just 26 with over 30 HRs. Just cant play OF much.
Was going to suggest this exact thing. If you take the glove away from Tomas he’s great. The guy can hit. The cash would be more valuable to the D-backs right now and outfield defense should be a priority. The D-backs need to fix their bullpen and cheap ownership makes freeing up Tomas’ cash more desirable than any return.
Just consider also the Dbacks just got their general manger and head coach from the Red Sox organization. You can bet any trade we suggest to them they have a couple young under the radar prospects they have had their eye on that theyd take over money.
When the Sox signed Lackey I was unhappy especially since earlier that season he whined about how awful it was to pitch in Fenway. But I rooted for him anyway, he was playing for the team I’ve rooted for since I was a small child.
That said, I’m not sure I could ever root for Bautista or possibly even EE after the conspiracy theory nonsense they tried to pull in the ALCS. It was insulting not just to the Indians or the umpires but to any rational fan. If you can’t hit, blame yourself.
bautista never said there was a “conspiracy”. i know the headlines all described it like that, for whatever reason, but bautista just said “circumstances”. that could have been, and probably was, just don’t-fine-me code for “bad umpiring”.
you can still get on his case for complaining about the umpires, of course, but he’s hardly the first. ortiz himself did a fair bit of grousing about calls over the years
The umps should be held accountable though especially when they did such a lousy job that series
The Red Sox won’t go outside the org. for a DH. They’ve got Sam Travis waiting in AAA. He just needs to recover from his ACL injury.
Sign Holland, Resign Koji, I think our offense will be ok. Put Sandoval in the DH spot, give Moncada 3B out of camp and give Benny LF. Shaw, Holt, Swihart, Young round up the bench. Only question in my mind this offseason is how much pitching depth are we after, and who’s our catcher?
Moncada still has to prove he is ready for major leagues it is unlikely he does well enough in spring training to make opening day roster
What do Red Sox fans think of possibly getting Kendrys Morales? Much cheaper option.
I think we’d better get a cushioned home plate first…
They should go after Ziegler and pay him accordingly.
As a Royals fan, I have very little confidence in Holland for 2017. Boras himself says Holland is throwing in the low 90s now, less than the 95-96 he averaged when healthy.
How about Wade Davis? Dombrowski loves win-now trades.
What would davis cost?
Why not Tolleson and Ziegler for the BP
Wouldn’t cost them anything too much
For DH– honestly, Pedro Alvarez could be a solid economical option, but if they want to go bigger I think Beltran would be a solid add on a 1 or 2 year deal. EE is going to get overpaid and is guaranteed to be a bad contract. If they could shed the Panda deal via trade, then go for EE, but I wouldn’t do it otherwise.
Victor Martinez–former Red Sox player, switch hitter, and has adjusted to DH duties. If the dollars can be worked it, he can probably be had for a #10-20 prospect.
I would love this but remember that Victor Martinez left in free agency even though we wanted to exten him and might not like the Red Sox but I really hope so.
Please everyone understand that signing Edwin Encarnacion is an awful idea. Signing him would destroy the possibility of signing any long term deal to future, better Free Agents. After the huge spending spree of the last few years on international players, starting pitching, and “Big name bats” in Hanley and Pablo the Red Sox are real close to not having much room left to EXTEND THE KILLER B’s. Not even to mention the other top prospects whose names don’t coincidentally start with B. These guys are all going to require multi-year big money contracts to keep and the longer you wait the more money and years they tack on. Keep in mind everyone at some point these kids are gonna reach the end of their deals and you Better lock them up at least two years before they are scheduled to hit the free agent market. If this team wastes cap money on a replacement for David Ortiz and that limits them to extending this young core this will be an awful short term minded move.
Also why is everyone so worried about the Red Sox offense so much and finding all of these big bat replacements. Last year the Red Sox had 5, count it 5 players to hit over 20 HRs and 100 RBI’s. I think we will be okay if that number shrinks to 4. But you know what isn’t that solid, our starting pitching. Pomeranz was awful before last year, and after we got him he gave up like a home run every game. Whose to say he doesn’t regress next year. Or Steven Wright, love the guy but look at R A Dickey and you’ll see how inconsistent knuckleballers can be. And don’t even start with Clay Bucholtz, I literally cannot. The dude is good every other year and sucks the next. But now he’s older and who knows when he will be good again. They should fill that DH spot internally and use it as a way for players to keep fresh, get rest but still see at bats.
Another thing is you have A MILLION TOP THIRD BASE AND OUTFIELD PROSPECTS. TRADE THEM. How long can I hear about how great Devers is gonna be one day. Well guess what, now Yoan Moncada will take over third and there’s no spot for Devers, or the other two top prospects who play third base. And, no room for any outfield prospects. Thank god they started with selling Margot, the dude was never gonna see the MLB. Go trade these guys and get more starting pitchers. Henry Owens and Brian Johnson. I’m sorry but there’s no room for you, we’ve waited long enough and spent way to much money replacing you because your slow progressions. Trade them too There is no sense in having top prospects if you will never use them. Sell high on guys like Wright and Pomeranz and a boat load of literally all prospects and either Swihart or Vazquez, cuz there isn’t room for both, and get a guy like Sonny Grey. The A’s love young guys who are cheap and we could literally give them a team to put out there next year for him and never even notice it happened.
Sorry about the rant but something needs to happen. Sign Zeigler and another reliever and trade for everything you can. There’s no one worth the money in this free agency.
Dont worry, the Sox arent going to spend $20m or more on a DH even if he can play in the field. They will add a bat or two but they will be position players, not a Part time DH or Full time DH. And theyll add pitching too. I see them trying to trade for Sale, not Gray but whether they will get him is another story. Im more worried about the Bullpen and who they may add then anything else. I want to add a top Set-up man, my choice would be Chapman and I dont care if they pay him more then Kimbrel. The Playoffs over the last 2 years have shown us that having a shutdown Bullpen is the most important thing you can have to Win it all.
don’t forget about the Panda! ROFL
The Red Sox need more Pitching, particularly Relief Pitching. They also need (at least) another Starting Pitcher, a #3 or a #4. They are REALLY going to need more pitching since Ortiz is gone and I cannot believe all the other hitters will have career years again..
Not all the other hitters necessarily had career years. Hanley was great. As DH he could stop focusing on learning a position every other year and stay rested and not get hurt as much. That could increase his ability. Also Betts and Bogaerts are gonna put up these number every year. They’re future stars. I’m more worried about Bradley but the dudes a gold glove winner in center and saves the pitching staff multiple times. The Red Sox have to learn that in a few positions defense can overpower offense as long as Bradley is over .260 with 15 HRs and 80 RBIs were good
I think I have a pretty good idea as to what our Red Sox should do this off season.
Obviously the number one priority has to be pitching followed by signing a designated hitter.
1. Sign Chapman for $12m/yr for 5 years
2. Sign Zeigler for $5m/yr for 2 years
3. Sign Encarnacion for $20m/yr for 5 years
4. Trade for Sale as we give up several of our prospects which is a must as we have a backlog. Perhaps ERod, Devers, etc.
I know that seems like a lot but we no longer have the following contracts on our payroll.
1. Papi $16m/yr
2. Koji $9m/yr
3. Tazawa $2m/yr, and
4. Hanigan $3.5m/yr.
This would pretty much guarantee our Red Sox Playoff teams for the next several years with a great chance of winning a couple of World Series titles.
Lets Go Red Sox!
Our lineup could look something like this:
1.. Pedroia 2B
2. Bogaerts SS
3. Betts RF
4. Ramirez 1B
5. Encarnancion DH
6. Bennintendi LF
7. Bradley Jr CF
8. Sandoval 3B
9. Leon C
Bench Holt
Bench Young
Bench Vazquez
Pick a name
SP1 Sale
SP2 Price
SP3 Porcello
SP4 Buchholz
SP5 Pomeranz
RP Kimbrel
RP Chapman
RP Zeigler
RP Smith upon his return
RP Kelly
RP Barnes
RP Ross Jr
May want to give The manager one lefty in bullpen on your dream team. Also looks like a typo in the number 8 spot. Looks like it says Sandoval. Chapman will never set up for Kimbrel.
You responded to the wrong person. I want the Red Sox to sign Chapman for their set-up spot and he’s a lefty. If you pay the player (Chapman) he wont care if he’s setting up or Closing, its all about the Benjamins.
Both Ross Jr and Chapman are lefties. We will require a very good lefty reliever if we are attempting to go far into the playoffs next season. As Willy said, Chapman probably won’t mind if he’s getting paid well. Pitching wins!! The deeper the staff the farther we will go!
No real need for Chapman if we have Kimbrel already. I doubt very highly Kimbrel would go quietly into the the setup role for him. And chapmans likely to get over 12/yr. I’m hoping last year was a wrinkle in Kimbrels form and he goes back to doing what he did when he was with ATL/SD
I doubt Zeigler signs for 5m a year either. He’s a great option as a closer for any other club. I think he’s worth every bit of 7 and could easily see him getting 9 a year. I WOULD go after him if I were the Red Sox. He was the best contributing guy they brought over last year via trade. I honestly think the Cubs would be idiots not check into him as a low cost closer to replace Chapman.
I like the idea of going for EE on a 4 year contract if he’ll take it. He’s gonna be pricey though, so who knows where he lands for pay. He’s the best hitter on the market this year. We need a heavy bat at DH that can put up Papi level numbers, and this guys really the only guy out there. If you take HanRam and make him DH, then that means you have to find a first baseman that put up Hanleys numbers last year to keep things even keel as far as offensive production goes. Trumbo would be a good alternative I think. Less on Beltran. EE is the guy imo
The Sale thing isn’t going to happen. With the market for pitching being what it is this season, they’d probably have to send JBJ, Erod, Moncada, Devers, and Benintendi for him, and thats just way too much. Thats depleting the farm for 2 more years of a good priced great pitcher.
The key to getting Zeigler for the Red Sox is getting out in front fast and signing him before all the big names start dropping. You might see him be able to be signed for 6-7 /year if he’s on of the first relief pitchers to go. But if the big names go first the second tier guys stock rises. I agree they don’t need chapman, let’s keep in mind we have a guy in our system now who throws 105 in Kopech. We could see him come up and start a bullpen role midway through next season. Possibly even the start. There’s no way we get Sale but I’d settle for Quintana. The dudes young and nasty. Killed us in the beginning of the season and that would put 4 leftys in our starting rotation. Also there’s much less likely a chance we send any proven big leaguers for him whereas Sale’s talks would start with Mookie and I’m sorry but not worth it. Finally replace Big Papi inteternally. We have two guys. We payed 90 mil to take over that position not to mention a ton of young talent. Do not sign another one.
They dont need Encarnacion and I Highly doubt theyll sign him or even try to sign him.
NO more Koji, please, loved him but they just cant continue to go down that empty well.
Id rather see them add Chapman or two top of the line Bullpen arms, try to trade for Sale and add a platoon Outfield bat, maybe a Catcher, then I would spend big on any one name out there.
Championships are won with pitching! If the Red Sox want to win, they will need another very good starting pitcher and 2 very good relief pitchers, one being a lefty.
I now think a package of Rodriquez, Bradley Jr, Moncada or Devers, and either Groome or Kopech will get us Chris Sale. This will take the pressure off of Price and Porcello and I feel that we will have the best starting pitching group in all of baseball.
If we want a very good lefty relief pitcher why not go spend $12M and sign Chapman as I just discovered that we spent $9M on Koji and Taz last season.
Now we need a very good right handed relief pitcher? Zeigler played for $5M last season. I’m pretty sure we can sign him for $6M for a couple of years.
What would you guys think of the additions of Chris Sale, Aroldis Chapman and Brad Zeigler?
Starting staff of Sale, Price, Porcello, Buchholz and Pomeranz.
Bullpen with Kimbrel, Chapman(L), Zeigler, Kelly, Barnes, Hembree and Ross Jr(L).
Did you read any of my posts before commenting? I mentioned going after Sale. I also mentioned signing a top notch Set-up man and my choice is Chapman.
Not really! But I’m also thinking that it might be a good time to trade Pedroia and Leon.
I forgot to mention that Smith will be returning to the bullpen at some point during the season.