What does our lineup look like at this point? Are we counting on Cameron hitting 25+ HR? That makes me nervous. If we can add Adrian Gonzalez I will feel a lot better.

Jackie M on WEEI right now with some very intersting rumors of Ellsbury/Clay/Prospect being moved in the trade for Gonzalez. Assuming that's true, there's a hole in the outfield that's going to be filled by _____? This offseason has gotten very intersting in the last week.

I hope they're not planning on putting Youk in left, that's for sure.

Ellsbury to be shipped to SD? Not a chance. I heard that Ellsbury might be moved to LF but then subsequently heard Cameron would be playing there with Ellsbury staying in CF.

Cameron is a career .250 hitter while averaging 23HRs, 82RBIs.

like, as a sox fan, i recognize that lackey is a very good pitcher, but i have no idea how to approach the games. i'm partially hoping that lackey gives up like 8 runs a game, but then the offense bails him out every game after he's taken out. god i hate him. he might be my least favorite player in the league.

If they can get Gonzo without giving up Jacoby...

1.J. Ellsbury LF;
2.D. Pedroia 2B;
3.K. Youkilis 3B;
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B;
5. Victor Martinez C;
6. JD Drew, RF;
7. D. Ortiz DH;
8. M. Cameron CF,
9. M. Scutaro SS.

i don't believe the gonzalez rumors for a second. they're already over the luxury tax, they're not going to trade pre-arby guys and create new holes they need to fill

St. Louis Dispatch reporting Cards offer 8yr/128M to Holliday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g1KcOw7zas

Looks like they are going after A Gonz. Foxsport reporting it anyways

Looking like they would have to give up Buckholtz, Ellsbury, and at least 1 other prospect plus Kotcman as a throw in. They are dealing with their former asst. GM in Hoyer and he knows the Sox system so I guess we will wait and see. Personally if im Theo I may do that deal anyhow.

I loathe that Theo rarely possesses the 2nd level thinking that would grab Cameron solely to take him off the market for a big spending team like the Mets which would create urgency and bump up Bay's price to something they couldn't compete with knowing that they were only going to package Cameron in a three team trade to get Gonzo and not have to ship Jacoby with Bucholtz and maybe say F the luxury tax and taken a decent shot at Holliday.

Plus Tito is on record saying ideally he wouldn't want to move Youk to 3rd, but they're kind of pigeonholed right now with the 3B free agent market flooded with old guys. It's either grab some dinosaur like Nomar, Tejada, Boone, Loretta or Mora, overpay for someone like Glaus, Crede or Adam Kennedy who will be flooded with offers from mid market teams, grab Gonzalez and move Youk to 3rd or.....start Jed Lowrie and his .235 AVG and 400K contract. I would think the best solution should Gonzo not be available would be to bring in an old guy and let whoever and Lowrie duke it out over Spring Training and split time during the season.

1b youk + 3b beltre would be very similar to 1b gonzalez + 3b youk.

Offensivily?

javier lopez to pittsburgh

yesss

Looks like we are stuck with Lowell.

This could actually work out better for the sox, providing he can recover from this thumb surgery. Whatever move they were going to do with the first/third situation they should keep in play. The $3 million they were going to save on Lowell is insignificant. Then have Lowell start the season on the DL and when he's healthy, you have a great backup player who can still catch the ball (albeit no range) and still is a good hitter.

I don't think Beltre is a go, considering what hes asking for. Lowrie at 3B until Lowell is right is more likely.

I don't believe that's the way they are going. If they don't bring in another player and Theo sounds like he just may stand pat, Youk is moving to third and Kotchman will play first against righties. Against lefties, Martinez will play first and Varitek will catch as tek hits lefties better than righties and Martinez can't catch 162 games anyway.

Isn't Youk significantly weaker at 3B defense?

I forgot about Lowrie. Have the sox pretty much given up on him?

Weaker than his own defense at 1B or weaker than Lowell?

lowrie has lots of value

before he came up he was supposed to be a butcher at short who couldn't quite hit enough to be an asset at third. then he put up sick UZR numbers in the majors. and got hurt and stopped hitting completely (blame lugo for making lowrie put off off-season wrist surgery so he could compete for the SS job out of ST) if he's an average defensive SS and can put up a 720 OPS then he's worth a lot given his service time and it's not inconceivable that he's a lot better than that

So as of now our lineup looks like this:

Ellsbury
Pedroia
Youk
V-Mart
Ortiz
Cameron
Drew
Lowell
Scutaro

We missing another big bat or is this good enough to start the season?

Lowell is not starting and probably won't even be on the roster. But to answer your question, I think we need another big bat but I don't think they are going to spend any more big money. Therefore I think they start the season like this, see how the pitching and defense strategy works, and add the big bat at the trade deadline, where they will rent a big money player for a couple months without giving up top prospects.

ESPN.com- Source: Bay agrees with Mets

The contract is for four years and $66 million.

The deal has a vesting option year which could make it five years and >$80 million.