John Lackey (AP)

The trade of Marco Scutaro unexpectedly freed up more payroll for luxury tax purposes than expected, as the shortstop’s $6 million salary in 2012 would have represented a $7.67 million payroll hit for luxury tax purposes. (More on that here.) Yet in another way, the Sox have slightly less flexibility than anticipated.

It had been assumed that John Lackey had given the team a couple million dollars in additional payroll flexibility with the news that Tommy John surgery that will cost him all of the 2012 season. That is because his absence for the season in turn gives the team an option on his services at the major league minimum for the 2015 season, thus seemingly turning his contract from a five-year, $82.5 million ($16.5 million AAV) contract to a six-year, $83 million contract ($13.83 million AAV).

However, that conclusion was based on a premature push of the fast-forward button. Lackey’s contract remains a five-year, $82.5 million deal. There was a conditional club option for the 2015 season that, if he missed an entire year with a preexisting elbow condition, he would pitch in 2015 for the major league minimum. That is now a club option (rather than a conditional one), rather than a guaranteed season. As such, it does not alter how Lackey’s contract impacts the team’s payroll in 2012. He still represents $16.5 million in salary against the luxury tax threshold in 2012.

That now out of the way, here’s a look at the Red Sox’ current payroll commitments, in a year when the Red Sox appear to be budgeting for somewhere in the vicinity of $185 million to $190 million (a number that will exceed the luxury tax threshold of $178 million): Read the rest of this entry »

Dustin Pedroia

Dustin Pedroia joined The Big Show for his weekly radio appearance to talk about the Marco Scutaro trade, Julio Iglesias, Nick Punto, Mike Aviles and his beloved San Francisco 49ers.

Yet the visit was particularly noteworthy for another reason, as the second baseman was confronted with a phone call from “Andrew, calling from his car.”

“People keep talking about this Punto and Aviles, I think they should be starting over you, they should be in the middle infield now,” the caller said. “I’ve been watching you play over the years and you ain’t that good.

“They already got rid of Scutaro, they should probably get rid of you, too,” the caller added in his rant.

Pedroia was quick to respond.

“Let me break it down for you, Andrew,” Pedroia, who won Rookie of the Year honors in 2007 and the AL MVP in 2008, responded. “I’ve got a couple of pieces of hardware at my house that says I’m pretty damn good.”

But lost in all the trash talk and back-and-forth banter was a simple truth — Andrew was, in fact, Dodgers All-Star rightfielder Andre Ethier, one of Pedroia’s closest friends. Read the rest of this entry »

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington (AP)

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, in an interview on The Big Show, said that the Red Sox face a budget but not a mandate to stay under the $178 million luxury tax threshold for 2012, explained the rationale for the trade of Marco Scutaro to the Rockies and suggested that, while the Sox are exploring options (including starting pitching options) to reinforce their roster, that he is comfortable with where the team stands with its pitching.

Cherington suggested that the team is weighing whether there is more to be gained by using their available resources to sign players now or whether the team might be better served to maintain financial flexibility for potential deals either during spring training or leading up to the trade deadline.

“We would be content going [into spring training] with the pitching staff we have right now. Again, any decision you make, when it comes to acquiring a player, whether a free agent or a trade, there’s that decision and then there’s the opportunity cost of doing that. There’s something, by doing that, that you may not be able to do. Those are the things we weigh,” said Cherington. “If there’s something that helps the team now, that we think makes sense and is the right value, then we’ll do that. If not, we’ll keep our doors open, remain flexible and consider things during spring training and during the year.

“Teams evolve,” he continued. “Teams very seldom look the same way in July or at the end of the year that they do in spring training. In large part, that’s because baseball is such a difficult sport. It’s such a grind, it’s such a long season. It’s hard to predict exactly what you’re going to need. It’s hard to predict how players are going to react or respond. Sometimes flexibility can be a good thing.

“The Cardinals, in spring training last year, were getting beat up because they hadn’t extended Pujols and they lost Wainwright in spring training. Things worked out pretty well. That’s not to suggest it’s always going to happen that way, but things change a lot in baseball. We need to stay nimble and be prepared to react to things that we think make sense. If that’s next week, then it’s next week. If it’s a month from now, then it’s a month from now. If it’s July, then it’s July. We’ll just take every opportunity as it comes.”

As for reports that the Sox have made a contract offer to Roy Oswalt (and reportedly have also made an offer to Edwin Jackson), Cherington spoke in generalities.

“There’s a lot out there. If we acquired every player we are rumored to be on, we’d need, like, an 80-man roster. I’d never comment on a negotiation, specifically,” said Cherington. “We’re talking to a few different guys, we’re considering different things. If there’s a way to make our team better, whether it’s the rotation of the pitching staff or whether it’s another part of the team between now and spring training, we’ll do that.

“We don’t feel like we need to do that. We feel like we’re in a good position. If spring training started today, we like the mix that we have and we’ll have plenty of contenders for the end of the rotation and the last couple bullpen spots.”

To listen to the compete interview, visit The Big Show audio on demand page. Here is a transcript of other highlights of the interview:

Are the Red Sox under orders to stay under the luxury tax threshold of $178 million in 2012? Read the rest of this entry »

The Red Sox need to create a roster spot for outfielder Cody Ross. (AP)

As first pointed out by Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (via twitter), the Red Sox face a bit of a roster crunch at the moment. The team’s 40-man roster is currently fully occupied, meaning that in order to finalize the recent one-year, $3 million deal with outfielder Cody Ross, the Sox will have to create space for the 31-year-old.

According to a team source, the Sox are in the process of “exploring everything” with regards to freeing that spot, though at the moment, there’s no sense that the team will contemplate anything “significant” with regards to its roster. While there are still some available starting pitchers on the market, the most straightforward way in which the Sox might clear space on the 40-man would be either a deal involving one of the team’s many out-of-options pitchers (Matt Albers, Scott Atchison, Michael Bowden, Felix Doubront, Andrew Miller or Franklin Morales), since the Sox will be in a position where — barring a significant string of injuries — they will not be able to carry all of them on the major league roster. Indeed, it was with an eye towards that fact that the Sox spent time early in the offseason gauging trade interest in that group of pitchers, knowing that at some point, one or more would have to be removed from the roster.

The team could also consider a trade of one of its six outfielders who is currently on the 40-man roster. If they did so, Darnell McDonald (who is out-of-options) and Che-Hsuan Lin (who was added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, but who (after hitting .235 with a .325 OBP, .293 slugging mark and .618 OPS in 85 Triple-A games as a 22-year-old last year) represents more of a depth option than a player whose skills (excellent defense, speed, a good command of the strike zone but limited offensive skills and no discernible power to this point in his career) create a clear big league role with the Sox.

And, if the team cannot deal one of those players for a minor league prospect (someone not on the 40-man roster) to clear a spot, it could always designate a player for assignment and hope to sneak him through waivers to the minors.

The 40-man roster bottleneck will ease somewhat late in spring training, when the Sox can put John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka on the 60-day disabled list. But, until then, the Sox will need to create an opening for Ross in order to make his deal official.

Slugger Prince Fielder's nine-year, $214 million deal with the Tigers underscored the unpredictable nature of free agency. (AP)

As the Red Sox prepared to reload after missing the playoffs in 2010, they faced something of a dilemma. They could part with three of their top prospects in an effort to acquire a superstar first baseman, or they could wait until after the 2011 season when there would be a potential once-in-a-generation ensemble of first basemen on the market.

The Red Sox, of course, chose the former route. Though it hurt to part with pitcher Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and centerfielder Reymond Fuentes, the Sox were willing to do so to acquire Adrian Gonzalez on the condition that they were able to define the parameters for a long-term extension. The team chose that path not just because of its longstanding love affair with Gonzalez, but also because they were happy to avoid the murky terrain of free agency, a process that at times resembles a descent into dark underworld of Dagobah in which one never knows what one will encounter.

As one Sox official pointed out last spring, you simply never know who will jump in the bidding in free agency for a player and take him out of a reasonable price range. Moreover, the fact that the free market is not transparent further complicates the bidding process.

It’s become popular sport to ridicule the notion of the so-called mystery team, but suffice it to say that at the start of the offseason, no one anticipated that Prince Fielder would end up signing a nine-year, $214 million deal with the Tigers. Few thought that Albert Pujols would leave St. Louis in order to sign a 10-year, $254 million deal with the Angels.

Would the Red Sox have been able to afford either Fielder or Pujols on the sorts of deals that they signed, or Gonzalez for whatever he might have commanded on the open market? Maybe, maybe not. But what the Sox knew was that they could take the three-prospect needed to trade for Gonzalez and that they could afford his $6.3 million salary in 2011 as well as the seven-year, $154 million extension that will kick in next year and run through the 2018 campaign.

The Sox knew that they had a comfort level adding Gonzalez for his age 29-36 seasons at the value they established in negotiations with him. Whether they would have been similarly confident in the return on investment if they had to sign him through, say, his age 38 season, or if they had to pay Pujols through his age 42 season or Fielder through his age 36 season (given the likelihood that erosion of his somewhat limited defensive skills will turn him into a DH at some point in his deal) is not as clear.

All of that serves as something of a reminder about how difficult it is to plan to build through free agency. Unlike the trade market, which offers cost certainty, free agency inherently features guesswork that either can lead teams to bid against themselves or that forces them to blow past commitments with which they could expect performance to remain in line with contract size.

While Pujols and Fielder received the third and fourth contracts of $200 million or more in major league history, the Sox remained comfortably on the sidelines as the bidding process unfolded. It is hard to imagine that they were unhappy with that vantage point.

A look at the three first basemen:

PRINCE FIELDER

27 years old (turns 28 in May)
9-year, $214 million contract with the Tigers ($23.8 million per year)
2011: .299 average, .415 OBP, .566 slugging, .981 OPS, 38 homers, 120 RBI, 162 games
2006-11 average: .282 average, .391 OBP, .541 slugging, .932 OPS, 38 homers/year, 108 RBI/year, 160 games/year

Fielder is the youngest of the bunch, at an age that suggests he is just entering his prime, and that he’s likely to be the healthiest of the players over the coming few years (despite concerns that his massive frame will make it difficult for him to remain hold up for the long haul). He also put up huge numbers in 2011.

He’s been somewhat less consistent than Gonzalez and Pujols, having alternated MVP-caliber numbers with star (rather than superstar) level production in the last six years. His year-by-year OPS since his rookie year of 2006: .831, 1.013, .879, 1.014, .871, .981. His defense is also a notable step down from that of past Gold Glovers Pujols and Gonzalez, and the likelihood that he spends the life of his next contract as a first baseman (rather than a DH) is low.

Moreover, he has benefited from his home park, with a .965 career OPS at Miller Park and an .896 road mark. Still, his power is extraordinary, and his ability to impact a baseball while unloading with a monster swing bears resemblance to David Ortiz.

ADRIAN GONZALEZ

29 years old (turns 30 in May)
7-year, $154 million contract with the Red Sox ($22 million per year)
2011: .338 average, .410 OBP, .548 slugging, .957 OPS, 27 homers, 117 RBI, 159 games
2006-11: .297 average, .380 OBP, .520 slugging, .900 OPS, 31 homers/year, 103 RBI/year, 160 games/year

Gonzalez had his fewest homers since 2006, a development that was at least partly the result of the fact that he lost strength in his surgically repaired shoulder over the course of the year and that he suffered a mid-year neck injury that hindered his ability to drive the ball.

However, removed from the offense-smothering environment of PETCO Park in San Diego, he also performed near an MVP level, with the highest average and OBP of his career, along with the second highest slugging mark. Moreover, Gonzalez is in the middle of his prime.

With a healthy offseason of workouts in front of him, there is reason to believe that he is capable of sustaining or improving upon his 2011 performance in the coming couple of seasons, so long as he remains relatively healthy.

ALBERT PUJOLS

32 years old (turned 32 on Jan. 16)
10-year, $254 million contract with the Angels ($25.4 million per year)
2011: .299 average, .366 OBP, .541 slugging, .906 OPS, 37 homers, 99 RBI, 147 games
2006-11: .325 average, .424 OBP, .613 slugging, 1.037 OPS, 41 homers/year, 118 RBI/year, 152 games/year

Pujols is the oldest of the three, and he is at the end of what is typically a player’s prime offseason seasons, at a point where decline typically sets in. His career-low average, OBP, slugging percentage, OPS and RBI total suggest as much.

That said, his production was still remarkable, particularly given that he shook off a poor start and that he missed just two weeks after suffering a wrist fracture in the middle of the year. And he still assaults baseball’s with nearly unmatched force.

With Pujols, it is nearly impossible that anyone else can match his peak years. The question is whether the coming peak years of Fielder and Gonzalez might prove superior to the early years of his decline from his historic heights.

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The Red Sox have agreed to a one-year deal with outfielder Cody Ross. (AP)

According to multiple major league sources, the Red Sox are finalizing a one-year deal with free agent outfielder Cody Ross. Ross will receive a $3 million base salary, with possible “high-level” performance bonuses also in the mix. News of the agreement was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports (via twitter).

Ross, 31, is a career .261 hitter with a .323 OBP, .456 slugging mark and .779 OPS, along with 100 homers, in parts of eight seasons with the Tigers, Dodgers, Reds, Marlins and Giants. He owns a robust career line of .282 with a .349 OBP, .563 slugging mark and .912 OPS against lefties (with the caveat that he hit just .234/.336/.362/.698 against southpaws in 2011, and went from one strikeout per 5.8 plate appearances against lefties through 2010 to one per every 4.8 plate appearances in 2011).

The Sox said from the beginning of the offseason that they would like to add a right-handed hitting outfielder. Ross, who has played primarily center field while also spending extended time in both left and right in his career, would seemingly fit that bill.

Ross joins an outfield mix that now includes Carl Crawford in left (when he returns from wrist surgery), Jacoby Ellsbury in center and the left-handed Ryan Sweeney, right-handed Darnell McDonald and right-handed Ross. Sweeney, McDonald and Ross are all capable of playing all three outfield positions. The addition of Ross suggests that the Sox will be in position to use Mike Aviles primarily — if not exclusively — at shortstop.

The Sox had been interested in Ross throughout the offseason, but the team felt that it needed to clear some payroll in order to add him (or a player like him). The deal sending Marco Scutaro to the Rockies gave the Sox new financial flexbility to explore such deals, as it removed $7.67 million from the team’s payroll (as calculated for luxury tax purposes).

Right-handed pitcher Kevin Millwood agreed to a minor league deal with the Mariners, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reported Sunday night.

Millwood signed with the Red Sox last May and pitched in Pawtucket until asking for and receiving his release on Aug. 7. He then signed with the Rockies and pitched in nine games, going 4-3 with a 3.98 ERA.

A 15-year veteran, Millwood has a 163-140 career record with a 4.10 ERA.

Millwood is reunited with managed Eric Wedge and pitching coach Carl Willis, who coached Millwood with the Indians.