Boston Red Sox say nothing’s close

When free agency hits in major league baseball, fans expect their team to make big moves immediately. The Boston Red Sox have been one of those teams in the past, but now that a couple of players have signed, the world champions don’t appear to be in any rush to make a move this offseason.

“We kind of thought that might be a position that moved quicker,’’ Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington told Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston. “There seemed to be a set of teams and a somewhat equal set of players, that musical chairs would start. That leaves us still talking and interested in a small handful of free agents. We also talked to a couple of teams about trades.”

The Red Sox have several free agents of their own, including outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, first baseman Mike Napoli and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

The Red Sox looked at replacing Saltalacmacchia with Carlos Ruiz of the Philadelphia Phillies, Geovanny Soto of the Texas Rangers, Jose Molina of the Tampa Bay Rays and Brian McCann of the Atlanta Braves, but the first three chose to re-sign with their teams and McCann signed a five-year, $85 million deal with the New York Yankees.

“We also think we’re in a pretty strong position long term with the catching we have in the organization,” Cherington said. “We’re in a position to be a little choosy, a little selective. If we can do something there, we’d like to.’’