Yanks acquisition of Stanton has parallels to A-Rod; How should the Red Sox respond?

Does any of this sound familiar?

The Red Sox kick the tires on the game’s best and most powerful hitter and determine the cost it too high. Soon after, the arch-rival Yankees sweep in and pay the price.

It happened before – albeit under slightly different circumstances – in 2003-04 when the Yankees beat the Red Sox to Alex Rodriguez. And now, it would seem, it’s happening again with Giancarlo Stanton, who is reportedly on the verge of being traded from the Marlins to Boston's biggest rival.

Sure, there are significant differences. In late 2003, the Red Sox actually had a trade in place for Rodriguez but didn’t want to assume his contract in full. When the Players Association failed to sign off on the contract restructuring Rodriguez and the Red Sox agreed upon, the deal was voided.

A month or so later, Aaron Boone blew out his knee, the Yankees stepped forward and worked out their own deal for Rodriguez.

Thirteen years later, the scenario has changed. The Red Sox never got serious in their talks with the Miami Marlins regarding Stanton. And we’ll likely never know whether Stanton would have agreed to a deal to Boston.

But the end result is the same: the player the Sox missed out on will soon be wearing pinstripes and making life miserable for the rest of baseball.

So, two questions for now:

How much blame should the Red Sox assume here?

Again, this is difficult to determine. Maybe the Red Sox had the understanding that Stanton, who held a full no-trade clause, wouldn’t have given his approval for them and decided not to pursue a deal.

That much seems unlikely, however. Remember: Stanton only turned down the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants after the Marlins had deals in place. It’s highly unlikely that he would have eliminated a contending team in a hitter-friendly ballpark at the outset.

Initially, the Red Sox balked at the Marlins’ demands to assume most – if not all – of the remaining $295 million on Stanton’s contract plus a collection of good, young players. But that was before Stanton’s refusal to be dealt to St. Louis or San Francisco greatly reduced the Marlins’ leverage.

Could the Red Sox have gotten back into the picture in the last 24 hours? At the very least, their presence as competitors for Stanton could have forced the Yankees to improve their package players or force them to take on more of the money.

Perhaps by then, with the Yankees and Marlins already deep into negotiations, it was too late.

Again, we’ll never know.

What do the Red Sox do in response?

The logical answer, actually, is ... nothing.

It’s a mistake to respond to something your competitor has done just for the sake of responding. That can lead to an overreaction and a short-sighted move, done out of panic.

While fans want countermoves and responses, the most disciplined (and most successful) teams stick to their plan and aren’t swayed by public sentiment.

Further, it’s dangerous to try to “win the winter’’ with a flurry of flashy offseason moves. Often times, moves that look good on paper do not translate as well on the field. Red Sox fans only have to go back to the off-season of 2010 -- when the Sox signed Carl Crawford and traded for Adrian Gonzalez – to see how acquisitions in December don’t always look so good in the middle of summer.

The good news for the Red Sox is that there are solutions to their needs. The Sox need pop for their lineup, and there are players available who won’t cost prospects or young players in return.

J.D. Martinez is an elite power bat and wouldn’t cost the Sox so much as a draft pick in return. And if the Red Sox really wanted to splurge, they could have Martinez DH and still sign a first baseman (Eric Hosmer, Carlos Santana).

That would likely represent an additional 60 homers to the Red Sox offense, effectively matching Stanton’s output (59 homers) from last season.

Problem is, Martinez specifically, will now become more expensive, thanks to Stanton’s refusal to go to the Cardinals and Giants.

Had Stanton been traded to either team, such a move would have eliminated one competitor for Martinez. (Both teams would seem set at first base with Brandon Belt in place for the Giants and Matt Carpenter at first for Cards).

But the Giants, having finished dead last in both homers and runs scored in all of baseball, are in worse shape offensively than the Red Sox and are desperate to land a big bat. And the Cardinals, competing with the Cubs in the NL Central, need an offensive upgrade.

Could the Sox conceivably go big and sign both Hosmer and Martinez? Sure. But it would cost upwards of $400 million and add as much as $50 to the payroll for 2018, thereby not only blowing past the competitive balance tax threshold at $197 million, but also, the next threshold at $237 million. That would cost the Sox 10 slots in their draft positioning and another $500,000 in international bonus pool money.

There’s a sense that the Red Sox’ window for a title is starting to close, with Craig Kimbrel, Drew Pomeranz and, potentially, David Price eligible for free agency next winter, and Xander Bogaerts and Chris Sale the winter after that. Maybe an all-in approach is what’s called for – regardless of what the Yankees have done.

But one reminder: that A-Rod pick-up, the one that sent Red Sox fans into apoplexy 13 years ago?

The Red Sox won not one but two World Series before the Yankees won their next one.