Let the offseason bull(pen) talk begin

It’s officially the offseason now, so it’s time to start talking about what the Red Sox should be doing. Let’s kick this mother off with a discussion of the pitching needs. MCoA recently wrote that the Sox either need a starter and a reliever or two starters. My feeling is that they need to add something like a #1 starter and two top relievers. In the rotation, I’m a lot more comfortable assuming Schilling’s a #2, Beckett’s a #3, etc. In the pen, I don’t think there’s anyone there that you can say is a strong bet to be a good setup man or closer.

The problem is that there doesn’t seem to be very many #1’s, closers, or top setup men available. I would not want to be the one who finds out if Zito’s worth 5/80 in the AL with a poor OF defense. Matsuzaka’s the other top option, but who knows what he will cost. I guess that if they can just ”write off” his posting cost, he becomes a very nice option, but who knows if they can get him. Mussina would be next on my list. He’s fairly durable and he’s got a long history of success in this tough division. And then maybe Pettitte, if his arm’s okay.

Barring those guys, Kuroda and Igawa look like interesting imports as well (Kyle S has a nice blog entry about each).  Other than that, I would certainly be interested in obtaining Freddy Garcia or Buehrle, if they are, as rumored, available on the cheap. Both are workhorses who are consistenly good.

In the pen… um… there’s not much out there. I’d be inclined to try to get no-smell, no-tell Dotel or Gagne the great. Both are FA coming off injury, who have been great closers in the past. Heck, get both of ‘em if you can. Beyond them, Speier looks pretty good. Is Rhodes cooked? A now-healthy Bradford? Politte?

They’re going to have to get creative, but mostly they’re going to have to be willing to push up against the new cap to rebuild this team well.