If you think the front office is making your life rough with their budget this year, next year will be no picnic either. Making some conservative assumptions, next offseason will be as rough as 2011-2012.

For this roster we'll assume: David Ortiz, Bobby Jenks, Dice-K, Cody Ross, Kelly Shoppach, Andrew Miller, Darnell McDonald and Cody Ross are not retained, Kevin Youkilis has his option picked up and becomes the DH and backup 1b/3b, the left side of the infield is taken over by rookies WMB and Iglesias, Bard is the #4 starter, Lackey returns as the #5 starter and the bullpen does not get blown up by injury/ineffectiveness/trade. These are not to be taken as predictions but as the natural flow of things if the front office stands by and does nothing.

Projected team for 2013 using only players under contract:

LF Crawford $20.8 mil

CF Ells $11 mil (projected as arb3)

RF Kalish (min)

1b A-Gon $21.8 mil

2b Pedey $10.25 mil

3b Middlebrooks (min)

SS Jose $2.06 mil

C Salty $4.25 (projected as arb3)

Bench/DH:

DH/1b/3b Youk $12 mil

INF Aviles $3 mil (projected arb2)

INF Punto $1.5 mil

C/DH Lavarnway (min)

OF Sweeney $3 mil (projected arb3)

SP1 Lester $11.63 mil

SP2 Beckett $17 mil

SP3 Clay $5.75

SP4 Bard $3 mil (projected arb2)

SP5 Lackey $15.9 mil

Cl Bailey $5.25 (projected arb2)

SU Melancon $1 mil (projected arb1)

SM Aceves $2.2 mil (projected arb3)

MR Albers $2 mil (projected arb3)

LR Tazawa $800,000 (projected arb1)

LH Morales $1 mil

LH Doubront (min)

This totals $167.8 million without being adjusted for AAV for luxury tax purposes (which by the way is $178 mil for 2013). Also keep in mind the approximate value of benefits/medical/40-man is $11 mil.

https://twitter.com/#!/Ken_Rosenthal/statuses/156217881208700928

The 32-year-old had a 6.03 ERA in 97 IP with Colorado last year. He has only tossed 200 innings twice (2006, 2008) and 150 four times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009). Bob McClure was his pitching coach from 2002-2005 with the Rockies.

Rosenthal says he will compete for rotation spot in the spring. So if the Sox do nothing else and Bard doesn't make it as a starter, Aaron Cook and Carlos Silva are your back-end. C'mon Ben! Thoughts?

As the first few rounds of cuts go down in Red Sox camp, many exciting names have and will be sent packing.

What are the future plans for these players? Some have a clear path to the majors. Some are blocked but we have good faith they will be successful. And a third group will have to fight for the right to call themselves big leaguers.

1. Clear Path:  

OF Ryan Kalish - Widely seen as the heir to right field, could end up in center if Theo and company decide Ellsbury's skills are redundant now they they have Crawford and decide to make a move. Probably won't be the first called up if someone is has a minor injury. Will be first called up if someone goes down long-term (see: Drew, J.D. and Ellsbury, Jacoby).

SS Jose Iglesias - The defense is stout. The offense is coming along (if this year's spring training is any indication). Terry Francona said he thought the youngster was pushing too hard. Good thing for him, the way the team is built for the foreseeable future allows for it's shortstop to be a light hitter. Marco Scutaro is gone after this year and what and who Jed Lowrie is is still in flux. He should solve the revolving door at the 6. 

2. Blocked, but high upside

LHP Felix Doubront - The word "prized" gets thrown around a lot about this lefty. Theo thinks he is a Major League reliever in 2011, or a Major League starter in 2012 and beyond. With the rotation locked in for both this year and next year contractually, Doubront will have to prove Dice-K is truely expendable (or worth giving up on) or he'll have to be flexible. Either way, he'll be in the majors in 2012 barring major injury or complete failure.

RHP Alfredo Aceves - Always liked him, even as a Yankee. Seems to be a diamond in the rough as far as signing an injury project. Should see time in some form in 2011 and could hook on for beyond with good MLB success.

RHP Andrew Miller - Low-risk, high reward. It's become cliche but Theo may have done well here. There is rush as they got him on a minor league deal. This figures to be another Aceves-type call-up. If we see Miller have a good April and May, you can expect him to see Fenway in June and July.

LHP Rich HIll - His new motion has given him 7.0 innings of no-run baseball in the spring. It has been said he needs more time to become consistent, but he is exactly what the teams needs moving forward as both depth and a specialist.

C Mark Wagner and C Luis Exposito- Depending on what happens to the Salty/Varitek combo in 2011, this is an intriguing pair for the future. If all goes well, Salty makes both of these guys solid trade chips. The depth at catcher in the lower levels makes them good insurance as the bridge if Salty falters. If Varitek retires (not planned) or Salty hits .200 (hey, it could happen) then these two could fight for one or both slots in 2012 as Wagner is the defensive minded receiver and Expo is the slugger. They both fall into this category because they are still on pace to debut in their respective timelines.

3. Fighting for a Spot

RHP Michael Bowden - This would feel really good for Sox fans if Bowden panned out. He's been inconsistent in the MLB but effective in the minors. If he still has his tail, it's time to work it off.

OF Josh Reddick - See above. Reddick needs to take a walk and figure out his slumps to become anything more than a bench player.

OF Daniel Nava - Similar to Reddick, but Nava has been nothing but positive both every team he has played for. With the outfield stacked around him at both levels, expect either a brief callup to fill an injury or a trade down the road.

OF - Juan Carlos Lineres - Francoa loves him. He has come on as of late and could see time in the Boston OF in 2011. 2012 is more realistic but don't forget about him.

SP Junichi Tazawa - Injuries hurt, but you have to battle back. Still waiting on the rebound to see if he'll end up like Kei Igawa and Dice-K.

See too: Lars Anderson and Yaminico Navarro

Thoughts?

I've always found myself a fan of plugging holes with minor leaguers instead of paying for free agents. However, I understand the need for what has transpired this fall/winter. NESN's ratings, the losses of two sluggers, payroll room, etc.

But, here's a question to debate: how comfortable would you be with the current minor leaguers if they had to step in mid-2011 or at the start of 2012?

Assuming each player learns and grows at their same rates, where do they stand to end up as a part of the Red Sox in the big leagues?

Here are the players projected this year or next year and my predictions:

Ryan Kalish: Starting right fielder for Boston in 2012, multiple stints in 2011

Josh Reddick: 4th OF for Boston in 2012, a stint or two in 2011

Daniel Nava: OF depth in Pawtucket in 2012

Felix Doubront: Lefty in bullpen in 2011 with spot starts, 5th Starter for Boston in 2012

Lars Anderson: Backup 1B for an NL team in 2012

Luis Exposito: Catcher for Pawtucket in 2012

Michael Bowden: One or two stints in Boston in 2011, bullpen for another team in 2012

Kyle Weiland: Late 2011 spot starter, 2012 Justin Masterson role

Jose Iglesias: Starting shortstop for Pawtucket in 2012 with a few call-ups to see him hit MLB pitching

Thoughts?

Theo Epstein is a a creative man. Give him credit for blowing our minds more than one time in the last eight off-seasons with unexpected signings and trades.

Here lies a thread to flesh out some realistic--as in this could really happen--trades we could see that would be fair for both sides. All players have to be players deemed available by their teams.

Rosterbation? Maybe. 

Here are a few possibilities to start off:

-Red Sox send Dice-K, Ellsbury and Doubront to Chi Sox for Carlos Quentin and Gordon Beckham.

-Red Sox send Felix Doubront and PTBNL to Brewers for Casey McGehee.

-Red Sox send Jacoby Ellsbury to San Fransisco for 3B/C/1B/DH Pablo Sandoval

-Red Sox send AA prospect to Angels for C/1B/DH Mike Napoli

What else?

Check out this funny video from the guys over at DoubleTakeSports.com. They dressed up as KSU fans and went around the tailgate in Manhattan. They asked various questions to the fans and they could not have been more wrong. Looks like KSU fans had the wrong idea about this particular Thursday night game! The call by Greg Sharp makes this video. And the KSU fan who says "suck it".

Bye Bye Kansas State (via DoubleTakeSports)

The Red Sox and Dodgers both have interesting off-seasons coming up. What if they helped each other out? They matchup in a couple of places. Take a look:

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