Quote:
The Red Sox would like to upgrade their rotation, and while the 26-year-old Holland is not the ace starter they desperately need, he does represent a durable and effective left-hander who is under affordable team control through as long as 2018.
Holland, who was 16-5 with a 3.95 ERA in 2011 before slipping to 12-7 with a 4.67 ERA this year, signed a five-year, $28.5 million deal in 2012 that will pay him $3.25 million in 2013 and increase his annual salary to $5.4 million in 2014, $7.4 million in 2015 and $10 million in 2016. He has team options of $11 million and $11.5 million in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
If that's all it takes to get Ellsbury, you'd think the Reds could be in on the action. I'm not sure how healthy Ellsbury projects to be next year though.