Hot Stove Lunch: As New Year dawns, roster holes still exist for Red Sox

It's officially the New Year now and Red Sox pitchers and catchers report for spring training six weeks from today.

That's good news for baseball-starved fans stuck in wintry New England. But it's also a reminder there's still some work to do for the front office.

Even after re-signing Steve Pearce and Nathan Eovaldi -- and Carson Smith for that matter -- the roster is far for complete.

With a month and a half to go, the Sox still need to:

• Land at least one if not two established late-inning relievers. It's possible that they plan to give the closer's job to either Matt Barnes or Ryan Brasier, but even if that's the case, that opens up some high-leverage vacancies in the bullpen. It now seems highly unlikely that the Sox are going to spend big on a free agent reliever (Craig Kimbrel, Zach Britton). But there are still some experienced arms that could be had for lesser money.


• Alleviate the overcrowding at the catching position. Days after the World Series concluded, Dave Dombrowski noted it would be difficult for the Sox to retain three catchers on the major league roster again. Indeed, that proved a cumbersome fit last year. It's possible the Sox could wait until the start of spring training and see if another club suffers an injury at the position, but that could be a risky strategy, leaving them with little leverage as the start of the season draws closer.


• Fill in with some middle infield depth. Yes, the Sox have Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez lined up should Dustin Pedroia not be ready at the start of the season. But last season demonstrated Nunez isn't a good fit at second and Holt is better deployed as a utility man off the bench rather than an everyday player. It doesn't have to be a major league deal -- in fact, it almost certainly won't be -- but the Sox need someone to provide insurance at second.