Josh Beckett & Victor Martinez...Two Musts For The Future of the Boston Red Sox

There are two big question marks surrounding the 2010 Boston Red Sox. They concern the future and they center on Josh Beckett and Victor Martinez. In my opinion, the Red Sox MUST come to terms with them before the 2010 season is over. If not, the two are eligible to become free agents. If that happens and Joe Mauer resigns with the Twinkies, VMart will be the best and most sought after catcher available. That's a certainty. Here is his agent speaking on the subject...

"It's nice that Victor says he wants to stay with the Red Sox,'' agent Alan Nero said, "but in reality it doesn't really change anything. The reality is that the Red Sox are going to have to want him. They're going to have to be willing to pay for value to get value.''

And here's the man himself, the full-time catcher for the Boston Red Sox, now and hopefully in the future...

"Maybe the Red Sox want to see me play a full year as catcher, but remember this. My whole career is as a catcher,'' Martinez said in the interview. "Everything I've done is as a catcher. If they want to see it, they're going to see it. I've got nothing against that. But I don't know what's going to happen. Like I said, I don't really want to be a free agent. If they give me a chance to be a free agent, I don't know what's going to happen."

Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein, who did a tremendous job of improving the club in the off season, had this to say...

"With both him and Josh, the two guys we've been asked about, we're going to stick to our policy of not talking about it,'' Epstein said. "The more clubs talk about free agents-to-be, the less likely they are to get a deal done."

So mum is the word, a standard practice for the Red Sox. Maybe that's smart. It probably is. But deep down I hope that both players will be signed to multi-year contracts before the upcoming season ends. Am I being worried WAY too soon? No way.

Thanks for popping in. You can click on this post's title for Sports Illustrated's complete Olympic coverage and as always and forever, BE WELL.