The Boston Red Sox are World Series champions and after the season ended, they have a number of questions moving forward, as players like Mike Napoli and Jacoby Ellsbury are free agents, while Brian McCann looks like he will be a top free agent target for the team in the winter.
Ellsbury is one of the top free agents on the market and McCann is the top catcher of the group of free agents and they each could be in Red Sox uniforms next season. One player that already is in Dustin Pedroia will have thumb surgery this offseason according to ESPN.com. Pedroia could be out for two months, but any issues are not expected to linger and he should be ready for spring training after playing through pain during the playoffs and the World Series.
The report from ESPN.com says that Pedroia needs to fix a ligament in the thumb and that he should be back for the spring. Pedroia had another solid season for the Red Sox and now he could have some new teammates, including someone like McCann. Ellsbury is expected to get top dollar on the market after going for 52 stolen bases and hitting nearly .300.
McCann's numbers have been trending downwards over the past few years, but he is the top catcher on the market and with Jarrod Saltalamacchia a free agent, he could be a potential replacement.
"I guess because I played with [the injury] the whole year, it's made it a little tougher," Pedroia explained. "If they do the normal surgery, there has to be some good endings [of the ligament] to re-attach it. If there's not, we have to do it a different way."
