Fallout From the Santana Trade

Several Red Sox players and fans emerged from the limbo they were in when Santana was traded to the Mets yesterday. For Lester and Ellsbury it had to be great news; both of them have played in the World Series and both seem very happy to be staying in Boston. As soon as the trade was announced Jacoby had this to say: "I'm happy with what happened. I'm happy to be a Red Sock. I'm happy that I wasn't traded at his expense, and it's nice to know where I'm going heading into the season." Lester has overcome cancer while being a member of the Red Sox and looks to be a major part of the organization for years to come. For the fans it was both good and bad new; they get to keep the young players who have such great potential but they also missed out on having the most dominant rotation in baseball in recent memory. Boston can now decide what to do with Coco Crisp. There has been talk of keeping him as a 4th outfielder but do they really want to pay $4 million a year for a backup, all the while watching his trade value decline? Bobby Kielty will not know his fate until the Sox make a choice on Coco but the Sox could have him at half of the price of Coco. The Red Sox will be over the luxury tax line next season so they may want to unload Coco for that reason alone. The Santana trade has opened the door for Boston to make the few remaining moves they need to do before spring training. They enter the 2008 season with the best rotation in the American League and they know that Santana is not on the Yankees. Things could be much worse for the Red Sox.