Wakefield considering retirement

There is a rumor floating around on the Sons of Sam Horn message boards that Wake's shoulder has been bothering him and that he is seriously considering retirement.

This is the same injury that forced Wake to shut things down in 2007, causing him to miss the playoffs and World Series:

Due to recurring shoulder problems, Wakefield said he spoke with Red Sox management and the club’s medical staff, and the decision was made to shut it down. It is believed that he will not need off-season surgery, but he will undergo extensive testing at season’s end, including an arthrogram MRI where dye is injected into the shoulder. It’s not known at this point whether it’s a rotator cuff issue or a torn labrum.

According to Wakefield, the injury began with inflammation in his posterior shoulder and back.

So what does this all mean?

If the rumor is true, it means that Theo and Co. could be more serious about signing AJ Burnett or Derek Lowe than we first thought.

Wake has averaged 12 wins per seasons over the past 7 years, so it really is time to hang up the cleats, the Sox will need some one to fill that void. Burnett (31) is certainly capable of picking up 10-15 wins, but only is he's healthy - and that has to be a concern for the Sox, despite the 221 innings he pitched this year. The Yankees and the Blue Jays are also bidding for Burnett's services, so the price will be high... If Wake doesn't ride off into the sunset, he's a much more economic option at $4 million.

Lowe is another guy that is capable of 10-15 wins, but he's 35 and Boras is currently asking for a "Barry Zito like contract", and I don't think the Sox are going to shell out $126M over 7 years for Derek - no matter how much he wants to come back to Boston.

The Sox have plenty of other options of course, and some of the other rumblings may suggest that the Sox could lean on the kids again this season. The decision to Trade Coco to the Royals for RP Ramon Ramirez could mean that the Sox plan to shift Justin Masterson back into the rotation. As good as he was as a reliever, Masty was a solid 4-3 with a 3.67 ERA as a big league starter in 2008.

Peter Gammons also recently reported that the Sox were not interested in trading Clay Buchholz or the combination of Justin Masterson/Nick Hagadone/Michael Bowden for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia... and since the Sox could really use a catcher, this makes me think that the Sox might be using Bucky, Masty and Bow...dy (sure why not) as their fall back plan.

Names like Paul Byrd (8-2, 3.46 after the break last year) and injury-prone Brad Penny (16 wins in '06 & '07) have been thrown out there as well, but I think the aforementioned kids have just as good a chance of posting 10+ wins in 2009 as these guys do. See the full Free Agent list - here.

The Sox would probably prefer to give it shot with Wake (hence the $4M option), but they know that he could go down at any time... but they also know that they have enough arms in the farm to make them cautious about handing over a huge contract to a risky Free Agent. That said, we need only look at Julio Lugo's contract to see that the Sox aren't afraid to throw around the cash... and mabrowndog points out on the SOSH board, the Sox have cleared over $30M off the current payroll and could have as much as $64M in which to use for Free Agents...

So far, they've culled nearly $34 million from their $134M payroll. They'll probably wind up owing around $10 million in salary to the aribtration-eligible Youkilis, Papelbon, Lopez (and Cash if he returns). Meanwhile they're only obligated to pay a little over the $392k MLB minimum to their 7 youngsters (Pedroia, Lester, DC, Ellsbury, Aardsma, Buchholz & Lowrie), or around $3M, but let's go ahead and call it $5M just in case they're feeling generous and benevolent with Pedroia and Lester after their stellar seasons. The rest of the holdovers (Drew, Lowell, Ortiz, Beckett, Lugo, Daisuke, Bay, Crisp, Okajima & Wake) are due about $85M, bringing the team's total to about $100 million -- or $96M without Wake.

The luxury tax threshold for 2009 is about $160M. That leaves $64M of dollar-for-dollar flexibility, so if they chose to they could certainly absorb payouts to the likes of Teixeira, Lowe, and Burnett. And opting for Penny/Sheets/etc in lieu of the pricier Burnett would be a slam dunk in terms of feasibility.

Personally, I hope all that new found money goes towards Mark Teixeira - who I feel is the future of the Red Sox and will take $108M for 6 yrs with 2 option yrs - but we're talking pitchers here.

Bottom Line: It will be a sad day when Shaky Waky retires, but the Sox have the kids and the cash to fill the void whenever it happens.

Tip of the cap to Joy of Sox who had the rumor - here.