Who needs a General Manager?

There are still more than three months to go before baseball's opening day, but this much we know is true: The Red Sox will open next year with a completely different infield than the one they had last year. And unless they sign some more players, they're going to have an infield 75 percent comprised of third basemen.

I won't recap each move here (that's what these guys are for), but I will make a couple of observations about the incomplete 2006 Red Sox squad.

First up, I guess having a general manager is overrated. The Sox have been able to get a premier power pitcher and one of the top prospects in baseball by using a GM-by-committee approach. So far it is more successful than the failed closer-by-committee experiment of 2003, but I'm not holding my breath. Hopefully the deals aplenty this offseason will not convince team CEO Larry Lucchino to consolidate the general managership into his duties.

As for the brand new infield, I'm not opposed to this idea at least in theory, considering the paltry power production the Sox got from the corners last year (10 HR from Bill Mueller and 9 from Kevin Millar). But I can't help but think the Sox gave up on Edgar Renteria too soon, especially given that they're eating $11M of the $29M remaining on his deal.

So who will play shortstop? The Sox traded their best SS prospect Hanley Ramirez in the Beckett deal. Minor league 2B Dustin Pedroia isn't ready for the big leagues at second, let alone at short. The free agent market is pretty thin save Royce Clayton and the good Alex Gonzalez.

There is one notable name still available though, a two-time batting champ who still has a place in town: