Krause: Now it’s time to figure out where Sox go from here

This is sports in the 21st century. Nobody gets to enjoy anything. Not even a World Series title that proved cathartic for an entire city.Nope. The Red Sox were still cleaning dried-up champagne off the clubhouse carpets when agent Scott Boras was talking about 11 teams have already made inquiries into Jacoby Ellsbury, who became a free agent when the season ended.This is the reality of the business today, but it’s also a shame. Somewhere along the way, this business of sports stopped taking into consideration that it exists thanks to the fans whose passion and interest fills up the cash cow.It would have been nice had Boras waited at least until after Saturday’s parade to start peddling Ellsbury around the Major Leagues, but that’s not how Boras operates. This is the guy who, with one out to go in the 2007 World Series between the Red Sox and Colorado Rockies, broke in with the news the Alex Rodriguez was going to opt out of his contract with the Yankees.But since the genie is out of the bottle, let’s discuss what happens next. The Big Four due to go on the market are Ellsbury, Mike Napoli, Stephen Drew and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Matt Thornton and Joel Hanrahan are also without portfolio as of now too, but, seriously, who cares? It’s mainly the first four who will draw the interest and cause all the angst.The consensus is that Ellsbury is as good as gone. Boras will make sure he extracts mucho dinero from whichever team the speedy center fielder joins. And since Drew is also a client, it’s possible Boras could work a package deal to kill two birds with one stone.Actually, the suspicion is that Boras did exactly that when the Red Sox overpaid for Stephen’s brother, J.D., at the same time they were trying to reach a deal with Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007.Drew played some fantastic shortstop this year, but didn’t hit in the post-season. It’s pretty obvious that Xander Bogearts is the shortstop of the future, and the Red Sox have the luxury, now of throwing him in there next year now that they’ve won it all.As for Ellsbury, losing him will hurt. He is a major force. But is he the type of guy who can carry a team? I say he’s not. Yet, he’s going to be asking for the type of money where there will be those demands and expectations. This could spell trouble.It may be a tough decision, but it says here the Red Sox will let him walk. They may take some grief for it, but if their reasoning is that he’s not worth top-tier superstar money, then I can’t say I disagree.We all saw enough of Saltalamacchia to be, at the same time, surprised at the progress he made offensively and exasperated by some of his flaws (such as throwing the ball to third base). And he was obviously in enough of a tailspin that he was benched for the last three World Series games in favor of David Ross.But … not so fast. Catchers don’t grow on trees, and if the Red Sox thought Ryan Lavarnway was their catcher of the future, they’d have eased him in a bit more than they have. Of the four, Saltalamacchia might be the one who stays.Finally, Napoli is not a Boras client, and he says he loves playing here. This isn’t to say he’d take “hometown discount” to stay here, but in his case it’s worth pursuing. Like catchers, power hitters don’t grow on trees either. He did far better than they expected he would, his hips held up well, and he was certainly a presence in the lockerroom.Of the four, I expect Saltalamacchia to say … I hope Napoli does.