It goes without saying that this is not a normal March in the baseball world after the lockout froze transactions for more than three months. By this point on the calendar teams are all but set, with some moves left to be made around the margins but not much else beyond that. Right now, though, there are still plenty of big names left on the free agent market and it’s fair to say we don’t have a clear picture of what the league landscape will look like even by the weekend, never mind Opening Day on April 7.
Even so, it’s good to take stock of where things stand right now and how much the Red Sox may need to improve if they want to get into the newly expanded playoff field.