This column originally ran in The Standard-Times on Nov. 18, 2006.

By Nick Tavares

The hot stove season is starting to boil. And to many baseball fans, that makes this one of the best times of the year. Watching general managers cooking up trades and contracts while agents pit team against team in an effort to get the best possible deal for their player.

The drama, the surprises and the backstabbing keep fans and writers riveted. Everyone loves the hot stove season.

Except me. I can't stand it. The posturing, the false reports, the speculation, it all drives me nuts. As a baseball fan, winter couldn't flash by faster for me. Until pitchers and catchers report, baseball should be a non-issue.

However, it is. To say it isn't would be to ignore reality. And so, here we are.

And with all that, here's how the Red Sox are working to improve themselves at the plate, coupled with what they probably should do in order to get better.

At shortstop, Alex Gonzalez is publicly seeking a multi-year deal, and after his outstanding season in the field and above-average (for him) play at the plate, it seems like a no-brainer to try to re-sign him.

But the Sox front office has been enamoured with Dodgers free agent Julio Lugo for some time now, and seem dead-set on finally grabbing him.

Lugo had his best year in 2004 with 75 RBIs, but the .275 average and the .338 OBP really doesn't make him stand out that much. Add in the fact that he's dipped to 57 and 37 RBIs in the past two seasons, and it's really hard to see why Epstein and Co. are so high on him.

Is he a good player? Sure. But there are plenty of good players in the league, including one who is a year younger and would very much like a three-year-deal to stay in Boston.

In the outfield, reports from all over the place have Boston close to inking J.D. Drew to a contract soon, which is a good thing for Sox fans. Drew would be a tremendous upgrade to Trot Nixon at the plate, while his defense has always been stalwart.

Some Sox fans might cringe at the thought of Drew donning Nixon's no. 7 and manning right field in his place, but the truth of the matter is that Nixon is no longer a marquee player, while Drew still has the capacity to be, never mind the fact that he's two years younger.

The other pesky issue, of course, is Manny Ramirez. ESPN's Buster Olney wrote recently that in light of the bigger deals and huge contracts being thrown around, the two years remaining on Manny's deal doesn't seem like a whole lot for teams to bear anymore. A deal could be just a day or two away to finally ship the left fielder out of town.

But, it all begs the question &

Why? Why move him? The thought of a 3-4-5 of Ortiz-Ramirez-Drew would at the very least equal Matsui-Giambi-Rodriguez in New York, and would allow Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek to settle in lower in the order where they're both more comfortable.

As far as not wanting to be here, well, he hasn't wanted to be here for a while, and while they're in contention, he hits. Last season, for all the grief he took for not playing while hurt, he still hit 35 home runs and 102 RBI despite only playing 130 games.

Besides that, the matter of backup catcher probably won't be solved until spring training, where George Kottaras, who the Sox acquired from the Padres in the David Wells deal, will likely be given every chance to win the job. And the very, very pesky matter of the bullpen looms, too, but that's another story for another day.

Sign Drew, keep Manny and Gonzalez, and pray the bullpen comes together, and you could be looking at 2007's A.L. East champions.

And in the meantime, try watching hockey. Or basketball. It'll make March roar in all the faster.

Nick Tavares is a columnist for The Standard-Times. Contact him at ntavares@s-t.com

Date of Publication November 18, 2006 on Page B09