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CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman was the first to report that the St. Louis Cardinals had signed free agent Jhonny Peralta to a contract pending a team physical.

Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi was the first to report that it was a four-year deal that was just north of $52 million. Heyman later tweeted that the deal was going to be for $53 million. 

Peralta receiving $53 million from any team in MLB is a bad sign, especially when it comes from one of the marquee franchises in baseball. It pays to use PEDs in baseball. Even if you get caught, teams will still be willing to pay millions if the numbers are good. 

MLB and commissioner Bud Selig spent a lot of time investigating the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic in Florida. The investigation led to the suspension of 13 players listed in this report by Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown, including Peralta, who acknowledged taking PEDs. All 13 players received 50-game suspensions that they started serving immediately in order to complete them by the end of last season. 

Alex Rodriguez was also charged in this investigation and was given a 211-game suspension, something that he is still in the process of fighting with baseball. 

The 31-year-old Peralta is an average player who has had two above-average seasons recently in 2011 and 2013. It begs the question of when Peralta started using and if his improved numbers are solely driven by using PEDs.

In baseball’s quest to wrap up the Biogenesis investigation in a neat bow, it allowed players who served their 50-game suspensions last season to come back in time for the playoffs. Peralta came back for the Detroit Tigers and was one of their best hitters, hitting a combined .333 in the playoffs. 

Imagine if Peralta had managed to propel the Tigers to a World Series victory after serving a 50-game suspension. It would have only managed to further embarrass baseball when the focus should be on the greatness of the sport.

Peralta’s signing sends a bad signal to the rest of baseball. Cheat, be momentarily embarrassed but hit it rich when you come back. The Cardinals should want no part of adding Peralta to their young locker room. Instead, they are welcoming him with open arms. 

Until baseball understands that they need to start hitting the players where it really hurts, in the wallet, nothing is going to change. Players need to face stiffer suspensions, face postseason bans and teams should be allowed to opt-out of contracts with players who are suspended. 

Players who are suspended should also have limits on the length of contract and amount of money that a player can make after receiving a suspension from baseball. Those may sound too harsh, but until the suspensions become real deterrents, players are still going to find ways to cheat, because the benefits still outweigh the negatives. 

Cheating still pays. It’s the only message that you can see from Peralta’s contract. One that other players and fans can easily see. 

Information used from Jon Heyman/CBS Sports, Jon Morosi/Fox Sports, Jon Heyman/CBS Sports, Baseball Reference, Tim Brown/Yahoo Sports

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The Boston Red Sox acquired right-handed reliever Burke Badenhop from the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. The deal was announced by the Red Sox on their Twitter feed. 

Dealing for Badenhop is not the type of move that will attract much attention in November, but it could get considerable notice come the middle of next season if Badenhop is a key part to next year’s bullpen.

Organizational pitching depth is partially what allowed the Red Sox to withstand injuries to closers Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan, as well as key reliever Andrew Miller. Boston was able to use Koji Uehara, Craig Breslow and Junichi Tazawa effectively, allowing the Red Sox to win the 2013 World Series. 

It’s another smart, solid move by Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington. Instead of dipping into the free-agent market for a reliever who might command a two-year deal, Cherington was able to acquire a solid bullpen arm for very little in the way of trade cost and salary commitment. It is an area where Boston can use its large market payroll to its advantage. 

Badenhop is projected by MLB Trade Rumors’ Tim Dierkes to earn $2.1 million in 2014. Boston has the luxury of paying a middle reliever $2 million for next season, while it would be more difficult for the Brewers to spend that much when Milwaukee’s 2013 payroll was $88.8 million and it already has $75 million in salary commitments for next year. 

The 30-year-old Badenhop has been a generally effective reliever in his career, a ground-ball pitcher who can come into games in the middle innings and potentially get a double-play ball.

Right-handed hitters batted only .229 against him last season and have a .253 average against him for his career. Badenhop also has very good control, allowing only 12 walks in each of the past two seasons while appearing in more than 60 games each season. His career 5.68 strikeout-to-walk ratio against right-handed hitters means that he will likely be trusted to come in and get tough outs.

In 2012, Badenhop had an excellent season with pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays, his 3.03 ERA showing that he could thrive in the AL East while pitching against tougher American League lineups. 

This deal also opens the door for other deals from the Red Sox, maybe allowing Cherington to package a pitcher or two in a deal for a catcher or an outfielder. Franklin Morales would likely have some value to other teams, especially as a starter to a National League team, and it is also unlikely that the Red Sox will tender former closer Bailey a contract this winter. 

Trading for Badenhop might not move the excitement meter much here at the beginning of winter, but pitching is the name of the game and the Red Sox have shown that they have learned their lesson well. 

Information used from Boston Red Sox, Baseball Reference, MLB Trade Rumors, Cot’s Baseball Contracts/Baseball Prospectus.

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It shouldn’t be surprising that the Boston Red Sox are expressing interest in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Matt Kemp as has been reported by the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo.

Kemp is an excellent player when healthy, and Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington should be kicking the tires on any above-average player in MLB this winter. It never hurts to talk with anyone, especially when it is a player with Kemp’s skills. 

The 29-year-old Kemp has struggled to stay on the field the past two seasons, playing in only 179 of a potential 322 games and is coming off a season where he had ankle surgery that caused him to miss the playoffs this past season, as detailed by Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.

Kemp will also have to deal with a shoulder issue the entire winter, as discussed by B/R’s Rob Goldberg. It is an injury history that should give any team pause, especially the Red Sox. 

If the Red Sox do not re-sign Jacoby Ellsbury this winter, part of the reason will obviously be the money involved for the star outfielder but also concerns over Ellsbury’s injury history and ability to stay on the field over the course of a six- or seven-year deal. 

What would be surprising is if the Red Sox readily took back the remaining six years and close to $130 million remaining on Kemp’s contract. The Red Sox are in a perfect position right now, with very little in the way of long-term commitments on their payroll. 

Boston’s approach of signing veterans to short-term contracts and avoiding the big dollars for free agents proved to be an excellent strategy last year, resulting in a World Series title in 2013. It is a blueprint that is likely to be copied by other teams because it is becoming clear that long-term contracts have too much risk attached. 

Kemp could bring power to the Red Sox offense, looking at his career slash line of .293/.350/.493 in eight seasons with the Dodgers. In that time, Kemp has been an excellent player who has had one MVP-type season in 2011, but he has struggled to repeat those numbers since, mostly due to injury. 

If the Dodgers were willing to send $30 to $40 million back to Boston with Kemp, I’m sure that Boston would be all ears. Maybe the Dodgers would be motivated to do that in order to pursue a player like Robinson Cano this winter, especially if there is a soft market for Cano due to his price.

Boston could benefit from making a trade for Kemp, but they would have to be convinced that his injuries will be healed by Opening Day and that they are not an indication of a player who is starting to breakdown physically before the age of 30.

The Red Sox have the pitching and prospects to trade, but it would be somewhat ironic if Boston was the team taking on the big contract this time. 

Stats are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com, unless noted otherwise. 

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One of the biggest things that came out of the 2013 World Series for the Boston Red Sox was the arrival of Xander Bogaerts.

With every at-bat and play in the field, Bogaerts showed all of the characteristics that people had been projecting for him during his minor league days.

The recently turned 21-year-old showed all of the maturity, natural instincts and ability that scouts had projected for him. The fact that he was able to do it on a stage as large as the playoffs and World Series only made it more spectacular.

More so than his hitting, his ability to work the count, know the strike zone and take walks really impressed. His patience spoke volumes about his readiness to play in the major leagues at such a young age. He didn’t seem overwhelmed by the moment at all.

In fact, he looked to be right at home. 

Bogaerts looks like something special—like something the Red Sox haven’t had since Nomar Garciaparra came to Boston in 1996.

Now the question is whether he can become the next Garciaparra: a homegrown superstar who burst onto the scene and injected life into the Red Sox lineup and fanbase.

Garciaparra got a taste of the majors in ’96 at the age of 22, collecting 87 at-bats and posting a .241 average with four home runs and 16 RBI.

Bogaerts managed to collect 19 hits in 78 at-bats in 2013 during the regular season and postseason. Most impressive were his deep at-bats; he worked the strike zone to the total of 11 walks and 22 strikeouts. 

When Garciaparra came back for his first full season, he was the best player on the Red Sox and one of the best in the league. He won the Rookie of the Year, a Silver Slugger award and an All-Star spot and also placed eighth in the ballot for MVP. It was an amazing year for the young shortstop who hit 30 home runs and knocked in 98.

It also made Nomar a household name throughout New England.

His rookie season sets the bar high for Bogaerts as he potentially enters his first full season in Boston. The minor league numbers show that Bogaerts just might be able to put up comparable numbers, even if he enters the 2014 season a full two years younger than Garciaparra was in 1997. Garciaparra hit .289 during his first stint in the minors, while Bogaerts hit .296 in almost twice as many at-bats. Bogaerts has also shown good power, hitting 54 homers with an OPS of .862.

Bogaerts is likely to go into camp next spring with an opportunity to win the third base or shortstop job. Much of his immediate future depends on whether veteran shortstop Stephen Drew returns to Boston next season or signs with another team.

Either way, the Red Sox are hoping that Xander becomes a household name next year in Boston, just like Nomar. 

Statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference.

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If the Arizona Diamondbacks are serious about changing their fortunes this offseason, they should consider trading either Martin Prado or Aaron Hill. Both are good players, but with the development of Chris Owings, Didi Gregorius and Matt Davidson, the D’Backs are in a position where they could potentially move one of the veterans.

Arizona needs pitching, power and payroll flexibility. 

Trading Prado would be a tough pill to swallow given that he was traded for Justin Upton less than a year ago. Having to trade Prado to fill other needs would force general manager Kevin Towers to acknowledge that he waited too long to deal Upton and did not get enough of a return.

Trading Hill might be a little bit easier to stomach, partially because the D’Backs rescued him off of the scrap heap of the Toronto Blue Jays and the cost was only Kelly Johnson. Hill is a valuable player when healthy, but staying healthy has been an issue for him recently. Hill provides offensive production from a position where most teams are looking for defense first and offense second.

Hill could have value in that he is under team control until 2017 at a pretty reasonable $35 million.

I would suggest potentially moving catcher Miguel Montero, but due to his poor 2012 season and the remaining money on his contract, I can’t really see a team trading for him unless the D’Backs are taking a bad contract back or eating a lot of money.

The D’Backs have backed themselves into a corner. They have almost $80 million tied up into too few players, leaving very little room for improving the 2014 squad without getting very creative.

This should be a season where the D’Backs take a step back and try to regroup, but due to the uncertain contract status of Towers and manager Kirk Gibson, it is unlikely that the 2014 Diamondbacks will focus on development. Both men will be aiming to keep their jobs, even if their roster tells them otherwise.

Potential trading partners are teams that might have pitching to spare: the Tampa Bay Rays and the St. Louis Cardinals. Both teams need additional offense.

The Cardinals came up short in the World Series. St. Louis has the ability acquire Hill, and such a trade would provide a huge boost the Cards lineup. Hill would give St. Louis the ability to move Matt Carpenter over to third. He would give St. Louis much-needed offensive production.

And the D’Backs could acquire one of St. Louis’ young arms.

If Arizona can acquire a good young pitcher, it might take the sting out of trading Jarrod Parker and Max Scherzer. A rotation built around Archie Bradley and Patrick Corbin would be a fine starting point for Arizona, and Wade Miley would benefit from being at the back of the rotation.

Signing big-ticket free agents is unlikely given Arizona’s payroll restrictions. Trading away Bradley or Corbin makes zero sense if the object is to make the team better in the short and long term.

The Snakes will also have to make a decision when it comes to Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy. Neither pitcher has lived up to his billing, and both pitchers are highly overpaid. Cahill might be more valuable simply due to his age and the fact that teams might view him as someone who can thrive in a better environment for pitchers.

The D’Backs have much to do this winter. They will have to be creative to do it. 

Information from Baseball Reference, Baseball Prospectus

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David Price thinks he has thrown his last pitch for the Tampa Bay Rays, according to a report by Roger Mooney of The Tampa Tribune, and the early rumors, as discussed by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, have the Arizona Diamondbacks listed as one of the potential suitors for the talented Price.

The thought of acquiring Price is tempting. As good as Price has been in his career and as desperately as the D’Backs need an ace to front the rotation, Arizona should avoid any trade for Price this winter.

If the D’Backs have shown anything over the past two seasons, it is that they are more than just one player away from serious contention. Last season Arizona finished with an 81-81 record again, leaving the franchise at exactly .500 over the past two seasons. It doesn’t get more average than that.

While the 28-year-old Price is exactly the type of elite starter whom Arizona needs to have at the front of the rotation in order to compete in the NL West, the cost is too steep between prospects and a contract extension. Any trade with the Rays would likely have to start with either top pitching prospect Archie Bradley or promising lefty Patrick Corbin fronting a package of prospects.

Prospects are only just part of the deal, the other piece would be working out an extension with Price before he hits free agency. Price will likely command a deal somewhere between last winter’s deal signed by Zack Greinke and the anticipated monster deal coming to Clayton Kershaw. The D’Backs would have two years of control with Price before he becomes a free agent in 2016 if no new deal is reached.

Are the D’Backs really willing to trade four prospects including Bradley or Corbin and spend roughly $150 million on one player? I would have a hard time justifying that type of move given the need for additional talent that needs to be added throughout the entire roster.

In order to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers moving forward, the D’Backs will have to use brains instead of brawn to even the playing field.

The Rays are a model of a team competing against teams with far more money to spend. The St. Louis Cardinals are a model of having your franchise produce young, effective pitching. The D’Backs need to be emulating these two teams in order to change the dynamics of the division.

Arizona would need more than Price and Corbin at the front of the rotation. The only other dependable starter was lefty Wade Miley, meaning the rotation would still be a weakness without adding further arms. This is a team that needs to add two strong starters to the rotation and also address the bullpen, outfield and catcher position without subtracting Bradley.

Acquiring Price would be a flashy move that would get the fanbase excited in November. But, if it only leads to the team winning 82 or 83 games next season due to an overall lack of depth and talent, then the move will be viewed as a failure, no matter how well Price might pitch for the D’Backs.

The pressure is on D’Backs general manager Kevin Towers. It will be interesting to see how Towers operates this winter.

Stats and relevant player information obtained from Baseball-Reference.com, unless noted otherwise.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks have been saying all of the right things lately in regards to the end of this disappointing season, but as the last month plays out, I am beginning to wonder if manager Kirk Gibson will be back in 2014.

When recently speaking with Dan Bickley of AZCentral about the state of the D-Backs, majority owner Ken Kendrick mentioned that Gibson was “relatively new as a big-league manager.” It seemed like an odd comment to make about a manager who is currently in his fourth season with the team.

When speaking with Nick Piecoro of AZCentral, general manager Kevin Towers talked about assigning blame to the entire organization, but he said that he wouldn’t discuss changes with Gibson until the end of the season. Towers also mentions that he would like to see the team play with more emotion.

This is where I wonder if the organization might look to make a change. As a player, Gibson was one of the most fiery and emotional players in the league as he very much wore his emotions on his sleeve. As a manager, Gibson has been decidedly more laid back in the dugout, maybe to the point where the players aren’t responding with any urgency.

It’s not that Gibson has done a bad job managing the D-Backs, he hasn’t. It is just that the D-Backs roster that you see right now will likely comprise most of the roster that you will see in 2014 unless Arizona plans on significantly increasing their payroll. Arizona’s payroll this season in $86 million and they already have $80 million committed to 12 players next season.

So if you bring Gibson back with the same roster, how will the D-Backs improve? It is a question that fans and management should be asking themselves right now.

This season has been a struggle for Gibson and the D-Backs this season, especially with the poor performance of the team’s pitching staff, something that team president Derrick Hall acknowledges in this interview on radio station KTAR 620. Former ace Ian Kennedy now pitches for the San Diego Padres, traded at the low point of his value. Starters Trevor Cahill and Brandon McCarthy have been terrible for most of the season. The bullpen has been simply awful. If not for the performance of Patrick Corbin, the D-Backs would have been out of contention very early in this season.

The 56-year-old Gibson is in his fourth season managing Arizona. His resume already includes winning 94 games and the NL West in 2011 and being named manager of the year. In light of the recent PED suspension of Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, Arizona’s loss to the Brewers in the 2011 NLDS is a disappointing “what if.” Braun almost single-handedly defeated Arizona in that series.

It is a talent issue with the D-Backs; they simply do not have enough talent to compete for the front of the division without making major changes. It is something that falls directly at the feet of Towers. He constructed this team. He missed on his evaluations. He has tied the team down to bad contracts. Gibson needs more to work with.

Gibson certainly has areas that he will need to improve on next season; constructing a better lineup, holding the players accountable and sitting veteran players when they are not playing well. Next season, Arizona will need to reflect Gibson the player as well as Gibson the manager.

Towers and Gibson will likely be given another season to turn things around in the desert, but they will face an uphill challenge in trying to displace the Los Angeles Dodgers. It will be David versus Goliath for the foreseeable future.

The most likely outcome will be changing the team’s coaching staff, whether it is firing pitching coach Charles Nagy or hitting coach Don Baylor or both. Matt Williams needs to be moved off of coaching third base. Gibson may not agree to go along with those moves, but this situation needs to be watched closely. 

Information used from Baseball Reference.

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As the final two months of the season wind down, the Boston Red Sox will be faced with a couple of very interesting decisions when it comes to Jon Lester as they continue their push for the playoffs.

First, if the Red Sox make the playoffs, should Lester get a start? Secondly, will the Red Sox pick up Lester’s $13 million option for the 2014-15 season?

Dealing with the first question, Lester’s odd season for the Red Sox continued after being the losing pitcher Thursday night with another shaky performance in a 5-1 loss (ESPN game recap). It has been that type of season for Lester, his first season under new manager John Farrell.

Right now, Lester is the No. 4 starter on this pitching staff behind Jake Peavy, John Lackey and Felix Doubront. If Clay Buchholz returns to the rotation, then Lester should be bumped from the rotation come playoff time. The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham has news of Buchholz making progress in rehabbing his right shoulder.

Going back to the start of this season, it looked like Farrell and new pitching coach Juan Nieves had been able to get Lester back in his groove, with the lefty off to a 6-0 start this season. It was the type of performance that made me think that the Red Sox might look at extending Lester at the All Star break.

Since that 6-0 start, Lester has been a decidedly mediocre 4-7. At a time when the Red Sox needed him to be the staff ace, he has been just another guy. With the injuries to Buchholz, Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan, Boston really needed Lester to become the ace of the staff again.

Instead, Lester has settled back into being an inconsistent No. 3 starter, not at all what the Red Sox need right now. The scary part about Lester’s 2013 numbers is that they are very similar to his numbers from 2012, the worst season of Lester’s career.

For a pitcher with a 95-55 career record, it is hard to look at him anymore as a potential ace of a pitching staff when he has only been 19-21 the past two seasons. The ace label seems to sit with Buchholz when he is healthy enough to pitch. It is also easy to understand that the Red Sox may have had some of the same concerns this offseason when Lester’s name was first mentioned in trade rumors.

For whatever reason, Lester hasn’t been the same pitcher he was through the 2011-12 season and he may never be that pitcher again. It begs the question: will the Red Sox seriously consider declining Lester’s 2014 contract option for $13 million?

It sounds silly on the surface, but the Red Sox might decide having Lester making $13 million as a No. 4 starter isn’t the best investment moving forward, especially with all of the young starting pitching coming through the system.

The 29-year-old Lester should be in the prime of his career right now, yet he looks like he might be showing signs of serious decline. For a supposed ace pitcher, Lester has given the Red Sox only 11 quality starts out of his 24 outings.

It is simply not good enough. The Red Sox will be in a dogfight in the American League East for the remainder of the season. For the Red Sox to make the playoffs, Lester will need to improve his overall performance.

Lester used to be the considered the ace of the staff, now the question is simply whether Lester can ever resemble that pitcher again for Boston.

Information used from Baseball Reference, ESPN, Peter Abraham/Boston Globe

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It was a big day in MLB for teams extending their star players.

And all these extensions will have a direct impact on the Boston Red Sox moving forward.

First, Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers came to an agreement on a five-year extension that will keep Verlander with the Tigers until 2019 with a vesting option for 2020. Total package could be worth $202, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Almost on the heels of Verlander’s deal was word that the San Francisco Giants were locking up star catcher Buster Posey long term with a nine-year, $167 million extension (via MLB Trade Rumors).

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers and star lefty Clayton Kershaw are talking about an extension as well. Given that the market has been set by Verlander, getting the 25-year-old Kershaw under contract seems like a wise idea.

Earlier this winter the Seattle Mariners locked up Felix Hernandez with a seven-year $175 million contract. It is great for baseball that a team like the Mariners can hold onto a player like Hernandez without crippling their team.

In the past, all of these players would have been linked to the Red Sox as they moved closer to free agency. Now, the Red Sox don’t have a shot at them or even a second-tier player like the St. Louis Cardinals‘ Adam Wainwright.  

What this means moving forward is that there are no quick fixes coming for the Red Sox.  

This will be the year to have one eye on what figures to be a pretty tight race in the AL East while having another eye looking at Pawtucket, Portland and the June draft. 

For all the attractiveness of free agency, the Red Sox in recent years have been really burned when signing free agents from other teams.

The recent examples are obvious—from Carl Crawford to John Lackey to Edgar Renteria. Committing big money to players who haven’t come up through your own system is never a sure thing, and doing so has backfired on the Red Sox.

Now when a star player hits free agency, he probably has an obvious flaw or a serious question mark surrounding him. Josh Hamilton and concerns about his off-the-field behavior or Zack Greinke and his ability to handle a high-pressure market come to mind.

The days of a Mike Mussina or a CC Sabathia or Mark Teixeira or Prince Fielder hitting the market appear to be over. MLB has done a very good job of spreading the wealth recently and almost every franchise is doing well financially.

Having players like Verlander and Posey skip free agency to stay home is a great sign for the game.

In the past, the Red Sox have been able to throw their weight around financially. Now the luxury tax has changed the way Boston and even the New York Yankees will operate.

With a more level playing field, every team in baseball should be able to retain the players they want to retain, meaning that Boston will have to be better at developing its own talent.

Looking at MLB Trade Rumors’ Tim Dierkes list of top 10 free agents for 2014, now that Wainwright’s off the board only Robinson Cano profiles as a true free agent star, and he plays a position where the Red Sox are actually set.

Developing Red Sox prospects like Jackie Bradley, Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster now takes on added significance for Boston. At some point, they will all have to have an impact in the major leagues for Boston to contend.

When the season starts Monday, the Red Sox are likely to field a team with six of the nine starters being homegrown. Looking at the current landscape, that’s a starting point for Boston.

Information used from Zach Links/MLB Trade Rumors, Jon Heyman/CBS Sports, Baseball Reference, ESPN, Derrick Goold/St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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The quote jumps off the page from the article from MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger.

Minnesota Twins‘ general manager Terry Ryan, in talking about Aaron Hicks making the Twins’ Opening Day roster, makes the bold statement of saying “The guy has earned it, I find it almost humorous that guys are talking service time and starting the clock. The guy has earned it.”

Boy, I wish that Boston Red Sox’ general manager Ben Cherington was saying this. If any team should be playing the service time card, it should be a team like the Twins. If any team should be taking their players north, it should be the Red Sox.

But here the small market Twins are thinking big and the big market Red Sox are thinking small.

The similarities between Aaron Hicks and Jackie Bradley Jr. are striking. Both young center fielders will be 23 by the end of April. Both players have only reached Double-A in their professional careers until now. Both players have been arguably the best player in their respective camps this spring.

It is just startling how the Twins and Ryan are choosing to handle this. The best players are the best players, period. Service time isn’t a factor. How can you justify it to the fans or the veterans in the locker room if you overlook what the player has done on the field? Ryan makes a lot of good points talking about the Twins.

The Red Sox seemingly have been trying to put Bradley Jr. in a position to struggle, giving them the last minute ammunition to send him down to the minors. But even when being thrown in against lefty Cliff Lee or brought into a game late as a defensive replacement, Bradley Jr. has been up to the task.

The fact that Bradley Jr. is ready for the big leagues early is a good thing, it should be a source of pride for the organization. Only the Red Sox could create angst around a team that lost 93 games and finished last in the American League East by acting like Bradley Jr.’s quick rise to the majors in a bad thing.

This situation will likely take care of itself. If Bradley Jr. struggles and David Ortiz comes back healthy, then you send Bradley Jr. to the minors to spend his 20 days down on the farm, end of story. Immediately the Red Sox have the 2019 under wraps.

If Bradley Jr. carries his performance into the regular season, fantastic, this is a great situation to have as an organization. Too many players means options for the Red Sox.

By the end of the 2013 season, the Red Sox will likely have only Will Middlebrooks and Jarrod Saltalamacchia under the age of 30 in their starting lineup besides Bradley Jr. Getting younger should be a priority for Boston this coming winter.

Honestly, so what if Jonny Gomes or Shane Victorino get a few less at-bats this season. Neither deal was great for the team, but the worst part would be if either player blocked Bradley Jr.’s progress to the major leagues.

Instead of focusing on hot dog and beer prices, the Red Sox could be focusing on the future stars at Fenway. That is what the real fans will be focused on in 2013.

Service time issues are something for management to deal with now and later. If you draft a player who is represented by Scott Boras, you can’t cry foul two years later because he might take his player to free agency. If the Red Sox treat Bradley Jr. well and he becomes the player that everyone imagines, that hopefully things will take care of themselves in 2018 or 2019.

All right Ben Cherington, it’s your move.

Information used from Baseball Reference, Amalie Benjamin/Boston.com

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