After they lost Jason Bay to free agency last winter, Boston’s offense looked about as dangerous as a ball-pit in a kid’s indoor playground. But after trading for Adrian Gonzalez and signing Carl Crawford to a massive seven-year contract, the BoSox have suddenly become the team to beat again in the AL East.

Gonzalez finished the 2010 season with a .298/.393/.511 batting line, 31 home runs and 101 RBI over 591 at-bats. And he posted those numbers at spacious PETCO Park, so one can only assume that he’ll have plenty of success hitting at smaller Fenway.

Crawford, who inked a whopping $142 million contract with the Red Sox late Wednesday night, battled .307 with 19 home runs and 47 stolen bases for the Rays last season. He immediately adds speed, defense and a little pop to Boston’s much-improved roster and should do incredibly well hitting in the same lineup as Gonzalez, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis.

Considering the Yankees have major pitching issues, the Red Sox have to love what they’ve been able to do this offseason. After they lost Victor Martinez to the Tigers, fans were worried that Theo Epstein may strike out this winter. Instead, he’s answered with the best offseason of any club and it’s not even the middle of December yet.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Red Sox and Padres have a greed to a deal that will send first baseman Adrian Goznalez to Boston in exchange for several top prospects.

The team flew in Gonzalez, who had surgery Oct. 20 on his right, non-throwing shoulder to clean up the labrum, for a physical examination Saturday. While there was no official word on the physical, a team source told ESPNBoston.com’s Joe McDonald that Gonzalez “looked good.”

The Red Sox continued Saturday night to work on a long-term contract with him, a source, who indicated that the negotiation window will close at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, told ESPNBoston.com’s Gordon Edes.

In exchange, the Padres would receive three prospects in pitcher Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and outfielder Reymond Fuentes, according to a baseball source. The Padres also would receive a player to be named later, a source told Edes.

This deal works for all parties involved. The Padres couldn’t/wouldn’t pony up to pay Gonzalez, so they needed to get something for him before he hit the open market in 2012. The Red Sox desperately needed to add another middle-of-the-order bat and Gonzo fits the bill. He should love that short porch in right field at Fenway, although this guy can hit it out to all sides of the field. (He should love hitting in that wind tunnel that the Yankees call a ballpark, too.)

The only thing that’s unfortunate is that the Padres’ offense was about as explosive as wet tuna last year and now they just traded away their best hitter. This is a club that relied heavily on pitching last year and they’ll have to do it again this season because their lineup is the definition of weak.

Of course, maybe management knew that their success last year was more fluke than anything and decided that it was now or never when it came to trading Gonzalez. They didn’t want to hang onto him just to finish fifth next year (I’m not saying they would have – I’m just delving into the thought process of San Diego’s brass) and lose out on the chance to acquire Rizzo, Kelly and Fuentes. So they made the trade and will now deal with the fan outcry.

Buster Onley is reporting that the Yankees are engaged in conversations with free agent outfielder Carl Crawford. But what isn’t clear is what the Bombers’ intentions are.

It’s assumed that the Yankees’ primary target in free agency is Cliff Lee. They need pitching (whether Andy Pettitte decides to retire or not) and Lee is the best arm available on the market.

But if they lose out on Lee, is Crawford their backup plan? If they can’t get the pitching they need and want, will they decide to add to their already stacked lineup in hopes that they can out-slug teams throughout the year and then hope for the best in the postseason?

Or are they just trying to drive up the price for the Red Sox? They know that Boston is smitten with Crawford and if the Sox are willing to pony up, he would make their entire offseason.

The Yankees don’t really need an outfielder. Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher are entrenched at two of the starting positions and Brett Gardner is a nice role player at the bottom of the lineup. If you were to rank the Bombers’ offseason needs, outfield would certainly not be at the top of the list. (That said, they could find room for a player of Crawford’s talents.)

But part of Brian Cashman’s job is to drive up the price for their competition. Thus, even if the Yankees aren’t truly serious about giving Crawford an eight-year, gazillion dollar deal, they must ensure that the Red Sox have to pay top dollar for the player they want.

Let the chess game begin.

Apparently Boston GM Theo Epstein is out of his slumber and ready to make some moves. Losing yet another middle-of-the-order bat like Victor Martinez will do that to a GM.

According to Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, the Red Sox have stepped up in their pursuit of free agent outfielders Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford. Epstein met with Crawford in his hometown of Houston, Texas and apparently came away “very, very impressed” with the meeting.

Crawford is a favorite of the organization and why shouldn’t he be? He hit a career-high 19 home runs last season and battled .307. He also drove in 90 runs, swiped 47 bases and plays outstanding defense.

Werth falls right behind Crawford in terms of best available outfielders this offseason. Werth has better overall power numbers than Crawford, plays a solid right field and would be cheaper than the former Rays’ outfielder. But if the Sox are looking for the complete package, Crawford is it. The only question is whether or not they’ll commit to Crawford (who is reportedly seeking an eight-year deal and $20 million per season) and if they do, whether or not the Yankees will step in at the final second and steal him like they did Mark Teixeira). (I guess that’s two questions.)

The Red Sox have yet to make an offer to either player, but one may be forthcoming soon.

It’s official: Victor Martinez is no longer a Boston Red Sox.

The Tigers signed Martinez to a four-year, $50 million contract that wasn’t confirmed until Wednesday. With the signing, Detroit adds a middle of the order bat to their lineup and a player that hit .302 in 538 plate appearances last year for the Red Sox. He also earned a trip to the All-Star Game for the fourth time in his career.

The Red Sox had hoped to re-sign Martinez but it was clear that they weren’t going to break the bank for him. They offered him a choice of three years and $36 million or four years and $42 million, but in the end Martinez opted to go where the money was greener. The downside for Boston is that it lost even more power in its ever fleeting lineup but the Sox pick up a high draft pick as part of their compensation for losing him via free agency.

The Orioles were also reportedly interested in V-Mart and offered him a four-year, $48 million contract, while the White Sox tried to lure him to Chicago with a three-year, $48 million deal.

But the Tigers won out in the end. They’ve been arguably the biggest players in this year’s offseason, committing $39.25 million to Brandon Inge, Jhonny Peralta and Joaquin Benoit.