Countdown to Spring Training

It's been a great offseason for Red Sox fans. The team won the Daisuke Matsuzaka sweepstakes and then signed him to a very reasonable contract. They signed JD Drew who, though injury-prone is still a productive hitter. He has a reputation for being a churl, but the hope is that if you get him in the right environment he will thrive, and there is little doubt about his talent when healthy. A hidden signing, at least compared to these other two, was that of Julio Lugo, who is another in a succession of Sox shortstops since the heyday of Nomar, but who looks to be a possible long-term fix. (Amelie Benjamin has a fantastic feature on Lugo in today's Boston Globe.)

And now there are rumors that the Red Sox might be trying to work out a deal for Colorado's Todd Helton. Helton has an absolute albatross of as contract and his decline in the last two years has been alarming. But there have been health issues that are not chronic, the Rockies are rumored to be willing to eat up about half of the contract, and Helton has somewhat quietly been one of the most productive players of his generation.

The key, then, becomes what the Rockies are asking for him. Among the names swirling around are Mike Lowell and Julian Tavarez, but also Matt Clement and prospects. The Sox should, and I believe will, draw the line at any prospects that include Craig Hansen or Manny DelCarmen, but we have plenty of lesser-tier prospects who could be under Colorado control for an extended period of time. The Sox might be interested in Helton, but they do not need him. And they can easily walk away because they have all of the leverage. Colorado has been vocal about needing to rid themselves of the bulk of Helton's contract. Helton has a no-trade clause that he has indicated he would waive for the Red Sox, but not for many other teams, and he has indicated that he would want to do so quickly. For the right combination I would make a Helton trade, but the Sox have all of the leverage, the Rockies almost none, and the Sox can walk away from these negotiations without giving it a second thought. The key is that under the right conditions the Sox would like to add Helton's bat and reasonably good defense. But they do not need him, and for the purposes of making plans for the next month, they do not even have to come across as particularly wanting him. Their offseason will go down as a success either way.

(Note that the Nick Cafardo Baseball Notes column, which I link above for the Helton trade, also has a lot of other great news and info, including a list from Gabe Kaplar explaining how he is preparing for his new gig as a manager in the Sox Minor League system, and loads of other stuff. Thank God Peter Gammons pioneered the full-page Sunday notes section for the Globe.)
(Hat Tip to the folks over at SoSH for helping me clarify some of my thoughts on Helton.)