The Red Sox and Royals have had some discussions about a trade centered around Jon Lester and Wil Myers, and that's not the only trade possibility for Ben Cherington to consider in the week leading up to the Winter Meetings. Here are the details from Boston…
- Friends of Cody Ross believe the Red Sox are in the lead for the outfielder, ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports (on Twitter). Ross seeks a three-year deal and hasn't had new talks with the Red Sox in the last few days.
- Mike Napoli appears to be Boston's top free agent target, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald reports (on Twitter). In the words of Lauber's source, everyone else is "1A" behind Napoli.
- The Red Sox haven't had discussions with Lester about a possible extension, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. The left-hander has one guaranteed year remaining on his contract with Boston. He'll earn $11.675MM in 2013 and his contract includes a $13MM option for 2014. Lester has said in the past that he'd be open to discussing an extension if the Red Sox are interested.
- Rival teams say the Red Sox are open to dealing Andrew Bailey, Olney reports (on Twitter). However, the reliever’s trade value remains low, so it doesn’t appear likely that the Red Sox will move him. Olney reported last month that the Blue Jays considered acquiring Bailey for manager John Farrell.
