Sox and Yankees wage offseason chess match

It has been an exciting last few weeks, to say the least, on the baseball hot stove. Things may get even more interesting at next weekend's winter meetings -- that is, if John Henry and George Steinbrenner don't sign or trade for every decent player in the major leagues, leading all the teams to end up like Baltimore, with players the caliber of Jay Gibbons as their best player.

Boston's trade for Curt Schilling put the Yankees on the defensive for once. The Yanks countered, of course, by trading for former Expos ace Javier Vazquez, one of the few players available who was in Schilling's league.

But what happens if the Sox take the war to the next level and acquire Alex Rodriguez from the Rangers? At that point would Steinbrenner just pick up his toys and go home? Would he sign Bartolo Colon AND Kevin Millwood AND trade for Kevin Brown? Who knows, but it will certainly be exciting.

Vazquez gives the Yankees something they badly needed, a young ace who can anchor their staff in future years. Yet, by acquiring Vazquez, the Yankees created a new hole for their team. In order to acquire Vazquez, New York had to give up first-baseman Nick Johnson, a stud in the making.

Johnson, only 25, posted a .420 on-base percentage and played exceptional defense last season. Now that he is gone, when Jason Giambi's knees finally disintegrate, the Yankees will be in deep trouble. New York will also need to find a designated hitter to replace Johnson's production. Still, Vazquez was one of the few players valuable enough to warrant giving up Johnson.

But the Yankees have also more than made up for the loss of Johnson with various other acquisitions. Because of the Steinbrenner spending spree, the Yankees bullpen is now stacked beyond belief. Mariano Rivera is getting older but is still nasty, while Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill give the Yanks an impressive setup tandem that will be even better if Steve Karsay is healthy. Even Grady Little wouldn't be able to screw up a group that talented.

Unlike the Vazquez trade, the Red Sox did not have to pay as high a price for Schilling. The Diamondbacks asked for only unproven pitchers Casey Fossum and Brandon Lyon as well as minor leaguers Jorge de la Rosa and Michael Goss.

Fossum and Lyon have a little bit of potential, but neither will ever be anything close to dominant. De la Rosa, a left-handed pitcher who pitched as high as AAA ball last year, has a chance to be the best of the bunch, but he's still no sure thing. Goss is fast, and that's about it. He posted a measly .622 OPS (on base + slugging percentage) in low A ball, and that's all you need to know.

Despite a vastly improved rotation, the Red Sox still have a number of questions, the most important of which is "who's on second?" Epstein has done a fantastic job so far, but his one major mistake was to trade second-base prospect Freddy Sanchez to the Pirates for Jeff Suppan, who did his best impression of John "way-back" Wasdin, giving up one mammoth home-run after another while with the Red Sox. There are not any obvious choices on the free agent market to fill the gap, so Boston will likely explore trade possibilities.

The Red Sox could also use another solid reliever or two. There are a number of options available. Eddie Guardado and Keith Foulke could provide stability at the back of the pen, while there are number of cheaper, serviceable relievers like Steve Reed on the market.

And of course, there is the A-Rod situation. Will he be shipped to Boston for Manny Ramirez? There have been rumors of such a trade for weeks, and they are starting to intensify.

The trade would make sense for both teams. Texas would gain some payroll flexibility and the Red Sox would get one of the best players in the game while unloading the talented but controversy-ridden Ramirez. Once A-Rod arrived, the Sox could trade Nomar Garciaparra to Los Angeles or Anaheim and receive some prospects that could re-stock the near barren Boston farm system. Trading Garciaparra would also free up some money to address the second-base situation.

A lot of these questions will likely be answered at the winter meetings, but we know one thing right now: the Red Sox and Yankees are not going to stop battling until one of them is taken down hard like a charging Don Zimmer.