By Hannah Miller, howiGit Contributing Writer, Boston, MA

With the 2013 season underway, the Boston Red Sox are all about putting a dreadful 2012 campaign behind them. They started things off the right way with a strong showing against their rivals in New York, but looking at the big picture, what should people expect out of Beantown?

On paper, the American League East looks to be arguably the best division in baseball. Baltimore is coming off a great season, while Tampa Bay has been a thorn in the sides of the Red Sox and Yankees for the last few seasons. Even the Blue Jays have added so much talent that they believe they will be in the hunt for the title at the end of the season. As for the Yankees, well, they are the Yankees. They will always at least contend.

That puts Boston in a unique situation. They are a mix of talented players and up and coming prospects trying to put together enough wins to stay in contention by the end of the summer. Veterans, and solid fantasy baseball picks, such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli and David Ortiz (when healthy) should give Boston solid run production. It also allows them to ease in some of their younger players, instead of simply blowing everything up and going young across the board.

Pitching seems to be more of a concern, mainly because of the struggles their starters have had in the past. The rotation of Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Ryan Dempster, Felix Doubront and John Lackey is not really striking a lot of fear in lineups around baseball. Considering their #1 and #2 starters both had ERAs north of 4.50 a season ago, they lack one true ace to turn the ball over to.

Getting off to a strong start and staying in contention is the key for Boston in 2013. If they stumble throughout April and May, expect more changes as they attempt to get younger and pick up young assets. They have veterans teams will target, but fans will obviously want to keep them in Beantown. They should finish with more wins than a year ago, but it won’t be enough to survive the American League East.

Yesterday the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voted not to elect a single player to the baseball Hall of Fame for only the second time in four decades. You know that by now. What you probably don’t know is that I for one am thrilled.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s definitely players that were on the ballot yesterday that I’d enshrine in Cooperstown if it were up to me. Craig Biggio is one. Curt Schilling as another (surprise surprise). And yes, I’m solidly in the Dale Murphy should be in the Hall camp. If anything, this year’s ballot was filled with players that in my opinion are right on the brink of being good enough to get in. That said, there’s no doubt that the ballot was also filled with a number of players whose statistics would make them automatic first ballot Hall of Famers – and none of them came even close to getting voted in. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, justice was served.

So hear me out. First off, I know that “justice is served” is a bit of an odd statement when the likes of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens haven’t technically been found guilty of steroid or PED use. This is America, innocent until proven guilty, right? While that’s true, I thought Curt Schilling made a fantastic point yesterday when he said, “I think, with a few exceptions, nobody knows [who used performance-enhancing drugs], so the whole lot of us are lumped in together. Nobody knows. We didn’t do anything about it. At the end of the day, we didn’t do anything about it. We knew about it. I think we all had an idea, a really strong suspicion, but we didn’t do anything about it. And we sat by, and we turned a blind eye, and I think this is one of the prices that we ended up paying.”

Everybody has their own opinions on who “used” and who didn’t, and in my opinion Schilling is one of the players who absolutely belongs in the Hall, didn’t use PEDs, and is not in the Hall because of the actions of his contemporaries who did use. But my point is not to convince you who used or who didn’t, who should be in or should be out. My point is that Schilling is right in his assertion that even the players who didn’t use are guilty to some extent by association – they didn’t step up, identify an issue within the game they love, and work to get it resolved. Now they are paying the consequences.

As for the growing camp of sports writers and fans whose general assertion is, “everybody did it, the best players of this generation deserve to be in the Hall,” well, I for one am disgusted by this point of view. Anyone who holds this perspective A) doesn’t love the game of baseball and B) is buying into some seriously flawed logic. Playing Major League Baseball is a privilege, not a right, and upholding the integrity of the game is part of that privilege. Because of the actions of a series of cheaters, an entire generation of baseball fans, my generation, does not have the heroes of the game that past generations had. There’s widespread disenchantment, and certainly a whole lot of bitterness. Yet you want to put these guys in the Hall of Fame and celebrate them, simply because “everyone was doing it?” Are you kidding me?

Let’s draw a parallel. I’m pretty sure the guys over at Enron broke the rules en route to running a fantastically successful business. Should we celebrate them as amazing business leaders? Not to mention enshrining them in a Hall where “character” is one of the defining criteria on which admission is granted. The guys over at Enron cheated, and their business would not have been as successful if they hadn’t. Even worse, they were far from the only business people making gains by sketchy means. So why should we celebrate any steroid user if we’re not going to celebrate the brilliance that went on over there at Enron?

The sad part is we all know that a Barry Bonds or a Roger Clemens type player never needed PEDs to get into the Hall. Any steroid user was greedy, selfish, and spat in the face of the game. And it’s worth mentioning that they all made millions of dollars more as a result of taking steroids. For all of their bitching and moaning about being locked out of the Hall, how many of those guys would give up their millions for a spot in Cooperstown? Don’t kid yourself – not a single one. These guys are babies that want it all and deserve nothing.

It’s deeply, deeply unfortunate that this will undoubtedly affect many players who did play the game the right way throughout their careers. It’s ridiculous that basically any barrel chested or stocky player, in particular, will have a much harder time ever getting elected. There’s two guys in particular who I’ll have my eyes on in upcoming years – Ken Griffey Jr and Greg Maddux (who I was happy to see Curt Schilling identified yesterday as the best pitcher in baseball history). I consider these guys to be the best pitcher and the best position player of my generation, yet both never went through any sort of body transformation nor were linked to steroids in any way. If these guys have trouble getting into the Hall on their first ballot, we’ll really know the extent to which PED users screwed over their peers who played the game the right way.

So while so many criticize the Baseball Writers’ of America, I for one applaud them for standing up for game.

Since Bobby Valentine was ran out of town and the Boston Red Sox officially began rebuilding, the Red Sox have made a series of what I’d consider bizarre moves involving player personnel. Most maddening to me is letting reliever Scott Atchison get away. This is a guy who pitched 50+ innings of relief for the Sox last year, compiling a tidy little ERA of 1.58. But the two new players the Sox have brought in thus far, Jonny Gomes and Mike Napoli, leave me equally bewildered. While both will supposedly factor into the Red Sox plans in a major way, both come with a series of issues that I’d say raise at least noteworthy red flags.

Let’s start with Gomes, the lesser of the two signings both in talent and in contract. A two-year $10 million contract isn’t going to scare me away from any player with potential, so I’m not overly concerned there. Better yet, I get the Gomes signing – the guy clearly is dying to play for the Red Sox. He knows many of the Red Sox core players, and refers to Boston as “the Mecca of baseball.” I think Gomes is a great signing chemistry wise, and it’s clear that that’s a priority. But at the end of the day this guy can’t hit off of righties and generally seems to lack talent. His career high is 21 home runs, and he’s topped 60 RBIs just once while hitting .244 for his career. Sounds pretty mediocre to me.

Then there’s Napoli. I’ve always liked Mike Napoli, but 3 years and $39 million is a lot – heck, you can get Mark Sanchez for that kind of money. While Napoli likes hitting in Fenway and has some pop in his bat, he did throw down a .227 average last season (en route to being named an all-star?). His numbers at the plate are also eerily similar to Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s, who is a far cheaper option. Which brings me to my next point – the Red Sox clearly plan on playing Napoli at first base, despite his recent comments that he views himself as a catcher. This guy is certainly cheaper than Adrian Gonzalez, but he’s a massive downgrade at first base both offensively and defensively. While he’ll be a great fit in the clubhouse, as evidenced by Dustin Pedroia and Jon Lester rallying to sign him, again my concern is he’ll be a good fit in a line-up lacking the fire power to truly compete with the elite teams in the league. And all of this of course assumes that his health issues aren’t a concern.

Alas, I won’t allow myself to get too worried yet. Ben Cherington has clearly been addressing the team’s chemistry issues, and there’s a lot of players still left to be signed. And better yet, I think one thing is clear – the 2013 Red Sox will play with a chip on their shoulder like few teams in baseball history ever have. That’s a significant X-factor that no coach, GM, or statistician can put a value on. Now let’s get some starting pitching!

It’s been tough watching Boston’s sports teams (aside from the Patriots) slowly fading away from the successes they enjoyed during the 2001-2010 decade, one during which the city became known to many as “Title Town.” And while Patriots fans are rejoicing following the signing on cornerback Aqib Talib – he very well could be the difference maker this time ’round- I can’t help myself in being more excited about the resigning of David Ortiz. The man is finally getting his due from the Red Sox.

Many have been critical of Ortiz’s public statements about his displeasure with the Red Sox front office – given his leadership role on the team, they see it as being inappropriate. I have always vehemently disagreed with this sentiment, although I understand it. Few players on any team, ever, have meant to their organization what Ortiz has meant to the Red Sox. In his 10 seasons in Boston, Ortiz has been an All-Star 9 times. He’s won the Silver Slugger at his position 5 times, and has come in the top 5 in MVP voting 5 times as well. Not to mention the fact that he almost single-handedly delivered the Red Sox their first World Series title in 86 years – that’s right, without David Ortiz the Red Sox are still the Cubs.

Given his production, the fact that Ortiz is viewed as an all-around good guy, and the fact that he is revered by teammates, the Red Sox front office’s treatment of him was inexcusable. If ever a player was to be given a “respect” contract based on his past contributions to the club, Ortiz would have been the perfect candidate. But given that his production hasn’t slowed one bit, Ortiz was owed a multi-year deal. Thank God he finally got it. You want to talk about “culture” issues with the Red Sox? It starts in the front office. Ortiz wasn’t making absurd demands, and it’s a telling sign that the Red Sox are finally showing him the appreciation he deserves.

Ortiz’s 2012 campaign was shortened to 90 games due to injury, but he still managed to put up numbers that would be a solid 162 game season for most of the league – a .318 average, 23 home runs, 60 RBI, 26 doubles, and a .415 OBP. But his own offensive contributions aside, Ortiz is the perfect fit for the rebuilding Red Sox. Will Middlebrooks recently said to ESPN, “He (Ortiz) always said if you’ve got any questions, call me. Any questions in the offseason — non-baseball-related, baseball-related – call me. It’s awesome. That’s why he’s loved like he is, he’s an open book to everyone. He’s been a huge help to me.” If the next generation of Red Sox hitters is learning from Ortiz, the future is bright.

Finally, there are the actual terms of Ortiz’s deal. He’ll be paid $26 million over 2 years, with incentives that can push his total pay to $30 million. Frankly, $13 million is a steal for Ortiz – and dangling a $4 million carrot in front of him for performance is a wise move as well. I would have been heartbroken if Ortiz had gone elsewhere, and I wouldn’t have blamed him given how he has been treated by the front office. I’m happy to say this worked out as well as it could have – I like your style, Ben Cherington.

I vividly remember the 2011 season, when the Red Sox famously collapsed coming down the stretch to miss the playoffs. Yankees fans refused to hear, let alone listen to any sentiment that even hinted at any sort of positivity with regards to the 2011 Red Sox season. In didn’t matter that the Red Sox were 81-40 – one of the highest winning percentages in baseball history over a 120+ game stretch – through more than 3/4 of the season. Nope, it just didn’t matter.

I’m happy to say that in the last week, the tides have begun to turn.

The Yankees first place finish, fancy record, and all of their superstars are no longer seen in the positive light they should be – now the negativity is all the focus. It’s not just Red Sox fans looking at the Yankees this way – it’s seemingly the whole country. Following arguably the worst offensive performance in ALCS history, the Yankees are is disarray. They weren’t not clutch; they were pitiful. The highest paid player in MLB history suddenly needs to be moved and is flirting with girls in the stands during playoff games. Bros throughout New York who have for years worshipped Nick Swisher are now calling for his head. Curtis Granderson’s 43 home runs suddenly don’t matter, but his .232 average and 195 strikeouts do. Derrick Jeter and Mariano Riveria are old as dirt, just two of the veterans on the oldest roster in baseball.

What are the Yankees to do? I don’t know, but I’m happy to say that their biggest division rival has taken a significant step towards righting their own ship. John Farrell is coming back to Boston, and yes, he is the right man to lead a rebuilding Red Sox franchise.

Let’s start by getting a few things straight – John Farrell is  not Terry Francona. He’s not as charismatic, he’s not a “players manager” to the extent that Tito was. But he is a guy that’s respected by the veterans, who can handle pitchers, and who is solid at evaluating talent. While Farrell had some mixed results in his years managing Toronto, it should be noted that other teams were quick to gobble him up and make him a big league manager – the Red Sox aren’t the only ones that see something in this guy. Perhaps more importantly, Farrell served as the Director of Player Development for the Cleveland Indians from 2001 to 2006. In 2003 and 2004 Cleveland would be voted the “Organization of the Year” by Sports Weekly. In 2003 the same publication voted Cleveland as having the best farm system in baseball.

Don’t get me wrong – John Farrell is no savior, and I don’t think he’ll ever be what Terry Francona was to the organization. But that’s also not a fair comparison. What I do think Farrell will bring is stability, a bit more rigidity, and an eye for evaluating young talent – which is exactly what the Red Sox need. He’ll also immediately garner the respect that Bobby Valentine never could.

All in all, Mike Aviles is a solid infielder but I’m happy to sacrifice him to bring in this much more important piece of the puzzle. Red Sox rebuilding? So far, so good.

Mark Texiera hit a single. So did Robinson Cano. And down by a single run with a two outs and a 3-2 count, the Philadelphia Phillies turned Yankees savior Raul Ibanez stepped into the batters box. One devastatingly gutsy slider from Phil Coke later, the Yankees officially have their back against the wall.

The question now is simple – can the 2012 Yankees match what only the 2004 Red Sox have managed to do in the history of baseball – come back from down 0-3 in the ALCS? I doubt it, but I wouldn’t rule them out just yet. CC Sabathia will be taking the mound in game 4, and the Yankees bats just have to come alive at some point. If they manage to in time, watch out.

Last night’s game really brought three issues to light for me. The first is the issue of the Yankees’ team chemistry. New York fans have been so quick to point out the Red Sox flawed chemistry, that perhaps they haven’t spent enough time reflecting on their own team’s lack thereof. There’s no question that the Yankees clubhouse doesn’t even begin to resemble the catastrophe that was the Red Sox this past season – hell, they made the playoffs. But I think it’s been apparent for a long time now that while stockpiling loads of talent can win you a championship on occasion, it’s incredibly tough to do it without the right chemistry in the dugout and locker room. Do you think the Yankees have the chemistry that the 2004 Red Sox had? Far from it. How about the Tigers of this season? No way. If you think the Yankees are playing for each other and not simply for those fat paychecks the only thing smoking more than you is Justin Verlander’s right shoulder.

Which brings me nicely to the subject of Justin Verlander, whose 132 pitch performance last night was yet another gem. Verlander’s last two seasons represent undoubtedly the most dominating pitching we’ve seen since Pedro Martinez decided to light up the league from 1997-2003. I can rest somewhat assured knowing that if the Yankees do push this series to seven games, it will be Verlander taking the mound.

All of this makes me think back to March, when I wrote my 2012 Red Sox season preview and mused on the competitive landscape of the AL. I wrote, “The Yankees will be good. The Tigers will be awesome.” And after a season in which I heard so much about the Yankees playing so well despite so many injuries, coupled with the Tigers’ relatively lackluster performance in the regular season, this sentiment seems to be ringing true at last. Detroit is now 9-3 against the Yankees in their last 12 meetings.

At the end of the day it’s tough to match up against a team with the most dominant pitcher in baseball, a triple crown winner, and Prince Fielder thrown in, just for good measure. I had been rooting for the Nats to win it all, but I’m now solidly in camp Detroit.

When the the Red Sox were practicing their bunting down in Fort Myers this past spring, I would have told you that Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez, or David Ortiz would end up being the team’s 2012 MVP. Needless to say, 2012 didn’t go according to plan.

Superstars left. Bobby Valentine stayed. Injuries were abundant. All the excuses in the world aside, it’s a pretty damn tough task to come up with a MVP of any sort on this year’s squad. Alas, despite years at the bottom of the AL East the city of Baltimore continued to employ baseball writers, who hungrily awaited a season like this one. The coin has now flipped on me, and I must say it’s been hard to find any inspiration worth putting in (web) ink. But I’ll trudge on, regressing into Boston traditions of years past like by repeating “There’s always next season” much in the way that Dorothy willed herself back to her native Kansas by repeating “There’s no place like home.”

So while my TV will cower this October, hiding from the familiar sounds of playoff baseball until the Yankees are eliminated, I’ll at least make an attempt to highlight a few guys who did contribute in a big way for the 2012 Red Sox. This was no Marissa Miller over Petra Nemkova decision, but my 2012 Boston Red Sox MVP goes to…

2012 Boston Red Sox Most Valuable Player: Cody Ross – Cody Ross provided pretty much the only positive memory I have from the 2012 Red Sox season – a walk-off home run against the White Sox way back on July 20th. Ross’ numbers were also among the best on the team: .274 average, 21 home runs, and 75 RBI in 119 games. That computes to 162 game averages of 28 home runs and 102 RBIs – not bad for a $3 million player with one of the best arms out of right field in the game.

But more than the late-game heroics or the numbers, Ross appears the be the rare player that thrives in Boston. He wanted to be here, was always smiling, and seemed to excel in front of a packed house of fans just waiting to heckle him to death. He seems to be cut out of a similar mold to Ortiz, and I see him as very much a part of the Red Sox solution rather than the problem. Keeping him around in 2013 should be an off-season priority. Well done, Mr. Ross.

Runner-up: David Ortiz – Big Papi got off to a blistering start this year (for once) and kept it going throughout the year until his season was derailed by injury. Sadly, his numbers are still among the best on the team despite that fact that he only played 90 games: .318 average, 23 home runs, and 60 RBIs. Had Papi stayed healthy he was on track for a 41 home run and 108 RBI season – not bad for an old DH deemed unworthy of a two year deal. And despite his injury Ortiz was standing on the front steps of the dugout, game in and game out, keeping his teammates lose and the fans entertained.

Honorable Mention: Scott Atchison – Scott Atchison is a right-handed reliever who is 36 years old and makes $510,000 per year – the guy must suck, right? Wrong. Atchison was the best pitcher in the pen for the Red Sox this year, putting together a 1.68 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. In 48 innings pitched he struck out 35 while only allowing 9 free passes. In other words, in a season full of bleeding Atchison was the closest thing the Red Sox had to a gauze pad. I just have a hard time giving the team MVP to a reliever who only pitched 48 innings.

As for next season, I’m picking Jacoby Ellsbury – although I have a growing suspicion that there won’t be a “B” on his cap come spring.

In a season in which I’ve been to more Red Sox games than any other, last night I officially lay the 2012 Red Sox to rest. Sure, at 15.5 games back in the AL East the Red Sox have been over and done with for some time now. Bet despite my grief, I needed closure. It felt very much like a funeral as I walked through the Yawkey Way entrance.

I can vividly remember buying a ticket package last January. I specifically chose the package that I did because it included a Yankees vs Red Sox game on September 11th – a late season game bound to have playoff implications. Instead I watched a decimated Red Sox team trying their best to play spoiler. As my girlfriend scanned the starting line-up on the centerfield scoreboard, unprovoked she stated, “I only recognize two names up there.” Whether you’re a Red Sox fan or not, almost everyone in Boston (except Mayor Menino) has gotten used to rattling off names like Papelbon, Big Papi, Beckett, A-Gone, Youk, and Pedroia. Instead last night’s lineup was filled with Loney, Lavarnway, Kalish, and Ciriaco. Only the names of Ellsbury and Pedroia resonated with the casual fan.

The game itself was bittersweet, for several reasons. Sweet in the sense that Jacoby Ellsbury had a walk-off single, one which would drop the Yankees back into a tie for the AL East lead with the Orioles. As much as I want to root hard for the Yankees to somehow fade and miss the playoffs, it just ain’t happening – the rest of their schedule is brutally easy and mostly at home. It was also sweet to see Dustin Pedroia hit a home run to tie the game after the Sox found themselves down 3-2. Pedroia and Ellsbury absolutely have to stay – I just hope that Ellsbury wants to, and Scott Boras doesn’t play spoiler.

Fenway was stuffed to the max, which frankly was surprising to me. I guess the Fenway faithful will always get up for Red Sox vs Yankees, regardless of how poorly the hometown team is playing. I managed to find seats in the second row directly behind the Sox dugout, and it was more of the same – sloshed 60-year-old businessmen sitting in front of us, similarly sloshed 22-year-old college kids from Boston and Philadelphia sitting behind us and heckling Yankees first baseman Nick Swisher to no end. Swisher, to his credit, was a good sport and went back and forth with people in the stands on several occasions. He clearly has some “idiot” in him, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he’ll end up in Boston next season. On the Red Sox side Jacoby Ellsbury was one of the few to acknowledge the fans as he ran into the dugout each inning.

While the house was packed and the game was tight, there’s no doubt that the Red Sox lineup was missing many of the old personalities that’s made this rivalry great in recent years. The electricity that you’d expect in any Yankees vs Red Sox series, let alone a September series, just wasn’t there. Bobby Valentine seemed to trudge out to the mound as he pulled Lester from the game, and it felt very much like the good times had passed the team by.

Realistically, it might take 2 or 3 seasons for the Red Sox to truly emerge as a contender once again. And while there’s no doubt that Red Sox fans will continue to head to Fenway in droves, it won’t truly be the Fenway I’ve come to love until the electricity is back in the air.

For now we have the Patriots – New England is now solely focused on you, Mr. Brady. Go get ‘em.

I was recently playing golf with an old school Red Sox fan in suburban Boston. “The Sawx are a mess, that’s for sure,” the old-timer muttered. “But I don’t think Bobby Valentine is the problem, he really knows baseball.”

I swallow hard in reaction, unable to formulate words. My hands begin to quiver, and I yip a 3-footer dead left for bogey. I just don’t get it – I really don’t. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard “Bobby Valentine knows baseball” I could afford to pay Adrian Gonzalez’s contract next season.

When I look at Bobby Valentine, I see a guy who has gotten as little as he possibly could out of the 2012 Red Sox. Want to know about someone who knows baseball? He may run his mouth, but look at the Orioles’ Buck Showalter. While the Red Sox have had a hugely positive run differential all year, their recently slide has dipped them to a run differential of 8 runs fewer than their opponents so far this season. The Orioles have had a negative run differential all season – they’re currently at -19, even worse than the Red Sox – yet they’re 14 games ahead of Boston. That’s what you call managing your team – getting the most out of what you’re given. The Orioles are currently tied with the Yankees atop the AL East despite having a payroll less than have the size of Brian Cashman’s.

This is certainly maddening, and while Valentine will finish the season as the skipper of the Sox, I have serious doubts about whether or not he’ll return for next season. With the terrible possibility that he does looming, here are a few players who should at least fit in well with Valentine’s scheme in 2013.

1) Cody Ross – Cody Ross is one of few Red Sox who has made a convincing case for making resigning him an off-season priority. Ross is coming off the most productive season of his career, despite playing in only 2/3 of the Red Sox games. He’s made it clear he thrives in the confines of Fenway and has provided several of this season’s relatively few highlights.

2) Franklin Morales – Franklin Morales is still young (26), and unlike Daniel Bard he showed this season that he’s capable of handling the additional responsibility of moving from the bullpen to a starting role. He maintained a lowish ERA of 3.77 throughout the season, and you better believe that Valentine’s trust in him will not be lost on Morales heading into 2013.

3) Will Middlebrooks – Similarly to Morales, Valentine’s trust in Will Middlebrooks will likely not be forgotten. Middlebrooks played his way onto the team, thus allowing Valentine to move the issue that Kevin Youkilis was becoming. There’s good karma flowing both ways here, and with Middlebrooks growing up in Texas, I’m sure he’s gotten used to playing for managers who aren’t exactly cut out of the Terry Francona mold.

4) Andrew Miller – After a tough end to the 2011 season under Terry Francona, Andrew Miller seemed to find his role in the bullpen under Bobby Valentine’s tutelage. Like Morales he’s young (27) and lefty, making him valuable to Valentine. He managed to maintain a 3.53 ERA for the season.

5) David Ortiz – I don’t think David Ortiz loves Bobby Valentine, but I think he showed this year he’s willing to play for him and assume a prominent leadership role on this team. His real issue is with the front office, as I believe it should be. Ortiz showed that despite whatever his dynamic with Valentine might be, he can perform on the field. He was on a torrid pace from the get-go this season before being derailed by injury.

My preference is absolutely for Bobby Valentine to be shown the door immediately following the season, but if he’s not, it’s nice to know that there are some players who’ve shown they can play in his system.

It’s taken a few days, but it seems as though the dust has finally settled with regards to the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers’ blockbuster trade. Adrian Gonzalez has already hit his first home run in a Dodgers uniform, and Josh Beckett is set to make his Dodgers debut against the Rockies tonight.

Make no mistake about it, this trade was absolutely historic. The caliber of players, the amount of money changing hands, and the foundation for growth established by this trade are all unique. In a very overarching statement, I’ll say that I’m generally in favor of this move. The obvious win is the nearly quarter of a billion dollars of payroll the Red Sox unloaded, with the obvious loss being Adrian Gonzalez, easily one of the best players in the game, moving on. Here’s my 10 reactions to all aspects of this deal.

1) The ball is now in Ben Cherington’s court, but so is the pressure – In a town known for being overly optimistic, let’s start with the good news. Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, and Carl Crawford were owed $261 million is salary, and the Red Sox managed to unload all of that, aside from about $11 million. As a team with one of the highest payrolls in baseball, they now have unmatched financial flexibility. It’s very obvious that the Sox essentially looked at their three highest paid players and said, “let’s get rid of ‘em.” I like this move because it puts the ball in Ben Cherington’s court – he now basically has free reign to build a team from the ground up however he pleases. I’m happy that Cherington will be given this opportunity, but I am wary about the pressure that it will put on him. Few GMs have ever had such an unrestricted opportunity coupled with such a demanding fan base.

2) Yo Adrian, no Adrian – Adrian Gonzalez’s tenure in Boston was short-lived, and I’m certainly disappointed that he was included in the deal. Gonzalez seemed worthy of the contract, was relatively young, and nothing he did while in Boston gave me any reason to question his value to the team. I haven’t been as excited with a free agent signing in a long time, and the 3-4 combo of Gonzalez and David Ortiz was one of the most potent in baseball. Frankly, freeing up the $130 million or so tied up in the contracts of Beckett and Crawford would have been more than enough wiggle room for Cherington to work with.

In losing Gonzalez you lose a perennial Gold Glove first baseman, who not only hits .300 year in and year out but does so with power. He seemed to have all the right intentions during his time in Boston, and the criticism he received for his perceived “poor” performance is absurd. Last season Gonzalez hit .338 with 27 home runs and 117 RBIs. He also added 108 runs, a .410 OBP, and he led the majors with 213 hits. A Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and an All-Star nod were also included (take that Mark Texiera). And this year despite a terribly slow start, Adrian is hitting .300 with 90 RBIs with 35+ games still to be played.

3) Josh Beckett: A fallen hero – If you’ve read anything that I write about the Red Sox, you’ll know that Josh Beckett is one of my favorites. Even for me, there’s no place to hide with regards to Beckett’s performance this year. But Beckett was a guy that I first watched dominate the Yankees in the World Series at 23 years old, only to come to Boston and help the 2007 Red Sox win a World Series of their own. I maintain, steadfastly, that when Beckett is on he’s among the best in the game. He has that rare ability to completely shut another team down – his best is simply that good. His time in Boston had run its course, and we simply couldn’t afford to pay his contract given his on-field production. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pitch some gutsy playoff games for the Dodgers.

4) Carl Crawford – Carl Crawford, by all accounts, is an exciting baseball player. As with Gonzalez, I was all for the deal that the Red Sox signed him to. Unfortunately, no one in Boston was ever clued in on the exciting game that Crawford supposedly brings. I do think that he had a tough time adjusting to playing in Boston last season, but I don’t think that was the debilitating factor with Crawford. Injuries would derail his season this year,  but I still honestly believe that the best would have come out of Crawford eventually. It’s tough to make a case for yourself when you’re not playing and are among the highest paid players on the team, so Crawford’s departure was not a surprise. I’ll look back at his time in Boston mostly indifferently.

5) Nick Punto gets punted – Nick Punto is not good at baseball. When I looked into the Red Sox dugout, I often confused him with the bat boy. See ya!

6) Wow, we got NOTHING in return – When I initially looked at this trade, my reaction went something like this: James Loney, meh. Allen Webster, scrub. Ivan De Jesus, scrub. Two players to be named later? Rubby De La Rosa could be interesting, Jerry Sands, scrub. And we’re trading Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Josh Beckett for these guys? These three guys have been named to 11 All-Star teams combined. James Loney has never touched an All-Star team, and the rest of these guys might not even be big league talent.

Now I understand that Beckett had lost almost all of his trade value, but Gonzalez and Crawford most certainly had not. I’m still a bit hard-pressed to think that the Sox couldn’t have gotten something of more value in return for these guys. But at the end of the day, I’m increasingly comfortable with the trade because it wasn’t about getting anybody in return. The Red Sox didn’t absorb any substantial contracts from the Dodgers, which is great. They’re also somewhat lucky that they found one team willing to absorb three monster contracts. Freeing up payroll will allow them to make the moves they need to – this deal was not about personnel moves. Couldn’t we have packaged up Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lackey as well?

7) Let’s not get all hot and bother over James Loney – To be honest with you, I didn’t know a whole lot about James Loney prior to this trade. Once thought of us an untouchable prospect, Loney’s best year was likely 2008 when he hit .289 with 13 home runs, 35 doubles, and 90 RBIs. He’s a very solid defensive player, and apparently he’s genuinely psyched about heading to Boston. That’s really all there is to say about him – he’s simply not that exciting and we’ll have to see how the Sox can further his development. Looking for an upside?  He’s 22-63 (.349 AVG) in his postseason career.

8)Rubby in the rough? – It’s still very much speculation, but several sources tend to believe that 23-year-old Dominican pitcher Rubby De La Rosa is one of the “players to be named later” in this deal. If that’s the case, he’s at the very least an interesting piece of the puzzle. Although he underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2011, he’s since returned. Prior to surgery De La Rosa had appeared in 13 major league games, sporting a 3.71 ERA. As a starter he throws a 95-95 mph fastball, but has hit 102 when throwing out of the pen. He also features a change-up, slider, and curve.

9) Bobby Valentine is still here… – While this trade is essentially the Red Sox organization jumping up and down screaming “time to rebuild!” it seems incredibly apparent to me that a big part of the problem remains – Bobby Valentine. I understand that management often has a hard time admitting to mistakes. I understand that ditching Valentine after a single season could be seen as creating even more instability. Whatever the front office’s take is, even they can’t deny that many players have cited Valentine as a problem. They’re certainly not doing anything resembling rallying around him, and for a team with a highly positive run differential yet a losing record the writing would seem to be on the wall – Bobby Valentine has gotten about as few wins out of this team as humanly  possible.

10) The Red Sox commitment is unwavering – Believe it or not, this move is reassuring to me in the sense that I fully believe the Red Sox organization is committed to putting the best product on the field that they can. Ben Cherington harped on this endlessly during his press conferences. “As we look forward to this offseason,” Cherington said, “we felt like the opportunity to build the team that we need, that the fans deserve, required a more bold move to give us the opportunity to really reshape the roster, reshape the team.”

While my criticism of Larry Lucchino may never die, I’ve never seriously questioned the others in the Red Sox ownership group. I continue to feel as though they’re fully dedicated to the team, and I see this trade as them giving Ben Cherington the flexibility he needs to do his thing. Cherington was named the Red Sox GM largely due to his prowess in evaluating talent, and now he’s got the ultimate opportunity to do just that right in from of him.

I for one am looking forward to what should be a tantalizing offseason for Red Sox fans. I’d brace for a slew of what I call major-minor signings – deals involving prospects that don’t seem that thrilling but might be a few years down the road. I’d also expect the Red Sox to target Jacoby Ellsbury, although with Scott Boras as his agent they may not pony up the money required to keep him. Cody Ross will get signed. And once again, David Ortiz will seem a multi-year deal. It’ll sure be interesting to see who’s out there on the field in 2013 as Ben Cherington begins building what we all hope will be the next Red Sox championship team.