Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy were in studio for Sports Tonight to talk Red Sox and what they should -- or in this case shouldn't -- do this offseason.
Boston has been linked to Mike Napoli and Nick Swisher. Ryan doesn't want the Sox to make any major longterm signings, but if the Sox are going to sign somebody, he'll go Swisher.
"If you're going to go and err on the side of we need someone, I would give it to Swisher on the basis of versatility, number one, he's clearly more versatile, and I would just go there if you're going to do it. Napoli has suddenly be elevated because of his play against the Red Sox, they think he's like Frank Thomas or somebody. Wait a second."
Lou Merloni is on the same page as Ryan.
"With the signing of David Ross, I agree with Bob, I think Nick Swisher has more versatility because you have two holesfirst base and outfield," Merloni said. "You don't have a hole at catcher, you have enough of them. So right now I'm not so sure I'm interested in Napoli."
And just in case you didn't know -- or you're in denial -- Ryan makes it perfectly clear where the Red Sox are currently at.
"The run is over. The era is over of automatic contention. We are retooling, resetting, whatever it is. This is not going to be the year, it's not going to be much of a year, so don't waste your money overspending on anybody. Save the money until there's a reason to use it properly, and accept who we are now. Can people do that?"