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Now begins the intriguing case of Jason Bay, a man whose contract negotiations with the Red Sox are, in some ways, unprecedented. Players have continued to come and go during the current Red Sox administration. Yet now the Sox are faced, perhaps for the first time, with a potential fight for a player they truly want to keep.

One day after the 2009 World Series concluded, baseball’s offseason officially began yesterday with the first day of the free agency filing process. Bay was one of the players who immediately declared his freedom. Most everyone agrees that Bay and outfielder Matt Holliday (who also filed) are the best positional players available on the market this offseason, and both are obvious fits for a Sox club that has both a gaping hole in left field to go along...