who is a better prospect, Kila or the guy in Boston blocked by A-Gone?
Lars Anderson. Not to be confused with the Lars Andersen auto museum in Boston, which is really cool. Lars the ballplayer is probably a better "prospect" than Kila because he's 4 or so years younger, has good natural power, and has shown some plate discipline even in his down year (2009). Kila is more proven and has shown his minor league numbers for OBP aren't fluky. I'm sure Billy Beane would prefer Kila, but I think Rizzo would be a Lars guy if he had to choose. Lars is not agile or a good defender, so Rizzo might not think highly of him.
Beckett has 4 more years under contract (signed extension last April, otherwise your memory would be right), Dice-K has 2 @ $10MM and$10MM. That said, the Red Sox have over $55MM coming off payroll next year, with about $21 - 23MM likely to go to Gonzalez. Figure Ortiz, Drew, Papelbon, Scutaro, and Cameron are over $50MM between them, plus Wheeler, Varitek, Wakefield are another $6MM or so. So they have payroll flexibility below the luxury tax threshold, which they are usually around. I'll guess they want to avoid the 40% tax.
