A few months ago, I was on the bandwagon big-time for signing Tomas. Then the Sox traded for Cespedes and Craig, and signed Castillo, and Betts proved he could play big at the MLB level (well, it sure appears that way, anyway). So they went from, really, zero offensive-capable OF to four of them (assuming Craig gets back to his normal level of production, which of course may not happen). So whither Tomas?
I still say: sign him. Acquire talent. As much as possible. I know the cost doesn't really "fit" by adding him. But he has a ton of talent, very high ceiling. And this is one place the Sox can go add talent that most other teams may have trouble matching. Stash him in the minors for a year, which gives you time to sort everything else out. The guy has major power and the Sox sure could use that. He instantly becomes a top, top "prospect".
Sign Lester.
Trade for Beltre.
Sign Tomas. Put in AAA.
Starting OF: Betts, Castillo, Cespedes.
Craig backs up OF and 1b - gets 350 or so AB that way.
Lineup:
LF Betts
2b Pedroia
DH Ortiz
3b Beltre
RF Cespedes
1b Napoli
SS Bogaerts
CF Castillo
C Vazquez
Suddenly, that team has a lot of thunder and some dynamic speed (Betts/Castillo). Very RH-heavy, but oh well.
Craig, Holt, veteran C lead the bench brigade.
Rotation: Lester, Buchholz, RDLR, Kelly, Ranaudo
Bullpen: Webster, Workman, Layne, Tazawa, Mujica, Uehara (could use another LHR)
Tons of prospects still heading north in 2015-16: Owens, Barnes, Cecchini, Tomas, Johnson, Hembree, Swihart, Rodriguez, Escobar, etc. (some will be gone after dealing for Beltre)