A tidy pre-Winter Meetings Sox roundup

- Though I don't believe anything is official yet, it looks like neither Jo Jo Reyes or Charlie Morton will be coming to Chicago. That sucks because I think both would be better than Jeff Marquez, but it probably would have been too much to ask for a high upside catcher and a young, major league ready arm. Still, I like the haul the Sox got for Javy, and everyone seems to agree it's a much better package than what they got in return for Swisher. For info on everyone the Sox are getting back in the deal, check the always awesome SoxMachine.

- Of course Vazquez, for all his faults, is a far more valuable player than Swisher and will not be easy to replace. Only four guys struck out 200 batters in the AL last year and Javy was one of them. He was also quite durable for the Sox, pitching over 200 innings all three seasons he was here. Say what you will about Javy - and we have - but durability is pretty much everything when it comes to starting pitchers, and the Sox were able to count on Vazquez to make every start.

- So what does the rotation look like now? Here's the best I could do:

Ace: Danks
2: Buehrle
3: Floyd
4. Richard
5. Marquez

Aaron Poreda, a first round draft pick from a couple years back and by far the Sox' best pitcher on the farm, could be in the mix for one of those last two spots as well, but he's still really young. Poreda actually looks like he could be good, so I'd rather not rush him, even it means having to endure a horrendous back end of the rotation for a year.

- That being said....there is no way the Sox go into next season with Richard AND Marquez in the rotation. It's not happening. Kenny Williams just cleared 12 million off the books with Vazquez, and the Sox won't be paying Crede, Uribe, or Toby Hall next year either. Whether they do it via trade (JD?) or with a free agent, I'd be shocked if the Sox don't acquire another starter.

- The Sox should at least take a look at Ben Sheets. It's a risky investment - starters don't tend to suddenly become more durable after age 30 - but the Sox have some money to play with and Sheets has the most upside of any free agent pitcher. The big sticking point with whomever signs Sheets will be years. If he'll accept a three year deal, maybe the Sox could work something out for about $13ish million a year. Put a healthy Ben Sheets in that roto above and the Sox may have something.

- It seems like JD is headed somewhere different every day. First it was Cinci, now it's New York. The Mets rumor is extra juicy: Dye and Jenks to the Mets for super prospect Fernando Martinez, who you may remember because I thought he'd be part of the reason the Sox might be able to pry away Carlos Beltran. Martinez, a 20-year old center fielder, would be better than anything the Sox have in an increasingly solid farm system, but Dye and Jenks is heavy price to pay.

If that deal goes down, and I don't think it will, I'll be a pissed, and so will lots of Sox fans. Dye is one of the best hitting right fielders in baseball, and Jenks is a 27-year old closer with a four year track record of success. But while I wouldn't be favor of the deal, I'm not positive it would turn out to be a disaster.

The Sox have two options with Dye: either trade him now or try to resign him to a two or three year extension (to take over at either DH or 1B) during the summer. While everyone here loves Dye, he is 34 years old, and his value will almost certainly never be higher than it is right now. If it was Dye for Martinez straight up, I guess I could live that if the Sox admit they're going into full on rebuilding mode. But with Jenks?

There's a chance that the Sox have already got the best years out of Bobby Jenks already. They'll have to pay him soon, and as his velocity and strikeouts are not what they used to be. Check out Jenks' K/9 innings the last four years:

05: 11.44
06: 10.34
07: 7.75
08: 5.55

Not good. But Jenks was still really effective last year, only giving up three homers, and finishing with a 2.63 ERA and a juicy WHIP of 1.10.

I'm not totally opposed to trading Jenks, (particularly if the Sox are going into full on rebuilding mode, there is no reason for your one of your best players to be a closer. For the record, though, I don't think that's what Kenny is going to do), but I think the Sox could do better trading he and JD separately.

- The real begins Monday at the Winter Meetings (Dec. 8-11). Last year was action packed for the Sox, what with the under the radar Quentin deal and the subsequent misfires on Torri Hunter and Miguel Cabrera, and I'd expect more of the same this year. Kenny Williams is just getting started.