If Rovin doesn't want to read that answer and you lack the intelligence to comprehend it, that's not my problem. It's not at all about Ellsbury, but thanks for bringing him up again for no reason at all. Remember folks, I'm the troll...
For Rovin's benefit, however, name all the players on the Red Sox roster at the beginning of 2014 who were sitting on the bench waiting for a turn to play when Bradley failed who would be equivalent to having Brock Holt, Will Middlebrooks, and Garin Cecchini on the bench waiting to step in if Marrero fails at the beginning of 2015 (since you could either leave Bogaerts at 3B and put Holt at SS, or move Bogaerts back to SS and put Middlebrooks back at 3B).
For the same reason, I'll have no problem when they hand a rotation spot to a rookie instead of signing a veteran to replace Peavy, because if that rookie fails they can try any of 4 other ones who are nearly identical in MLE space.
It never has been specifically about Ellsbury, it's about having no one other than Bradley. Because, even though Bradley is hitting reasonably well now, he's still a human being, and like all human beings, he could break his leg tomorrow or get hit on the wrist and break it or foul a ball of his foot and miss 8 weeks. They have absolutely no protection, NONE, against either nonperformance or injury to Bradley.
And, if they actually wanted Drew back, nothing was stopping them from meeting Boras's asking price. A price that dipped as low as $10 million when they bit. Presumably, the had the chance at some prior date probably early in spring training to reextend the QO at a time it would be accepted, were the QO a since expression of a desire to have Drew back.
