The Boston Red Sox could need a shortstop for next season and it makes sense to give the Brewers a phone call. I’m sure an offer of Michael Bowden, Manny Delcarmen and Dusty Richardson would be enough to get the Brewers very interested. The Brewers need pitching and all three of those guys would be on the pitching staff for them in 2010 if they agreed to the deal. All three of those pitchers are expendable and J.J. Hardy is a good all around shortstop who would fit right in with the Red Sox. Bowden would move right into the starting rotation for the Brewers. Delcarmen would give them a solid righty in the bullpen and lefty Dusty Richardson would also fill a need for them. This trade makes almost too much sense to go down. The Brewers would also likely have to throw in a minor prospect to get this kind of deal done.

The Red Sox have granted free agency to Jeff Bailey, Gil Velazquez and Billy Traber. 31-year old righty swinging 1B Jeff Bailey is the most familiar player of this bunch for Red Sox’ fans. He played in 26 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 16 for 77 (.208 avg, .746 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 3 homers and 9 RBIs. He played in parts of three seasons for the Red Sox in which he was 31 for 136 (.228 avg, .774 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 6 homers and 16 RBIs. 30-year old righty swinging shortstop Gil Velazquez has had a couple of cups of coffee for the Red Sox in the past. He played in 6 games for the BoSox last season and he was 0 for 2 (.000 avg). In parts of two seasons with the Red Sox, Velazquez played in 9 games in which he was 1 for 10 (.100 avg, .282 OPS) with 1 RBI. But Velazquez was horrible in AAA thus earning him a one way ticket out of town. He played in 93 games in AAA-ball for the Red Sox this season and he was 56 for 290 (.193 avg, .509 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 3 homers, 18 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. 30-year old lefty reliever/starter Billy Traber only worked in 1 game out of the bullpen for the Red Sox and he was 0-0 with a 12.27 ERA and a 2.72 WHIP. After the Red Sox watched him give up 9 hits (2 homers) in 3 2/3 innings they figured that they saw enough out of him. Traber also pitched in 38 games (7 starts) in AAA-ball in which he was 7-8 with a 3.52 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. I have no doubts that both Bailey and Traber will hook on with new teams in 2010 but the Red Sox won’t miss either of those guys.

The Boston Red Sox have a lot of free agents of their own to deal with before the market opens up. The Red Sox are going to pick up club options on C Victor Martinez and righty starting pitcher Tim Wakefield. The Red Sox must decide whether to pick up the option on Alex Gonzalez or try to throw money at shortstops like Orlando Cabrera, Marco Scutaro, Miguel Tejada or Jack Wilson (if the Mariners don’t exercise his option). A lot of teams need shortstops so all of those free agents are likely to earn more than the option the Red Sox have on Gonzalez. Jason Bay is also a free agent and I can already sense that the Red Sox are nervous because the Yankees will have a opening there for next season as they are likely to let Johnny Damon go. With the way Red Sox fans have treated Johnny Damon since he left don’t expect him ever wanting to come back to Fenway and play for the BoSox so cross him off the list. That leaves pretty much Matt Holliday and Carl Crawford (if the Rays don’t pick up his option) who both would make more than Jason Bay next season. The Red Sox also would likely have an interest in lefty reliever John Grabow to team with Hideki Okajima in the pen. The Red Sox will be really busy over the winter as they try to keep pace with the Yankees and Rays in the American League East.

The Red Sox hold a $6 million dollar option on the 2010 season for 39-year old righty reliever Takashi Saito. The only way I see the Red Sox picking up that option is if they trade Jonathan Papelbon over the winter and make him the closer. Saito did pitch well for the Red Sox this season as he worked in 56 games out of the bullpen in which he was 3-3 with a 2.43 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. He has outstanding career numbers in four years in the majors. He has now pitched in 236 games out of the bullpen in his major league career and he is 15-10 with 83 saves, a 2.05 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. Saito is worth $6 million bucks a year but the Red Sox will find it hard to pay a set up man that kind of cash.

UPDATE: Takashi Saito has refused a minor league assignment after getting outrighted to the minors. Now he is a free agent which will likely make it hard for the Red Sox to re-sign him.

The Boston Red Sox hold a $6 million dollar option for the 2010 season on Alex Gonzalez. If they decline the option they still have to pony up a $500,000 dollar buyout. With free agency looking pretty barren except for Miguel Tejada and Marco Scutaro the Red Sox should really think about bringing back Gonzalez. I mean, do you really want to see Nick Green and Jed Lowrie playing shortstop for the Red Sox in 2010? Hell no! Gonzalez played in 44 games for the Red Sox after coming over in a trade with the Reds and he was 42 for 148 (.284 avg, .769 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 5 homers and 15 RBIs. Overall, he played in 112 games with the Reds & Red Sox in which he was 93 for 391 (.238 avg, .635 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 8 homers and 41 RBIs. Gonzalez’ best attribute though is his glove where he is very underrated. The difference between playing Gonzalez and Green at shortstop is huge. Gonzalez has played in 1,229 games in his major league career and he is 1,087 for 4,393 (.247 avg, .689 OPS) with 508 runs scored, 114 homers and 521 RBIs. It’s quite possible that the Red Sox will buy out Gonzalez and then try to sign him to a cheaper deal.

UPDATE: The Red Sox have declined Alex Gonzalez’ option on the 2010 season but they are open to bringing him back at a lower cost.