SOX LOOK TO FUTURE

BOSTON We spoke to the offending parties - the Red Sox players - after they were swept by the Angels in the AL Division Series Sunday. Now we'll turn our attention to the thoughts of Sox general manager Theo Epstein, who a day later conducted a 39-minute interview alongside manager Terry Francona in front of a record 31 voice recorders, a dozen cameras and a roomful of media. Seems like this Red Sox collapse is big news. Turns out it was to Francona and Epstein, as well. "Probably a little unfulfilled," was the way Francona described the feeling. "It feels like it ended prematurely," Epstein said. The problem is, how does he become fulfilled once again? For all their bright points this season, the Sox have tons of work to do, deficiencies to correct, players to sign, re-sign and send packing, which might explain why Brian Anderson was getting Daisuke Matsuzaka's autograph on a Baseball. "There are a lot of different ways to get better," Epstein said. "I think you probably start with your weaknesses because there's the greatest room for improvement there. If you look back at this year's club, I think we weren't the defensive club that we wanted to be. So there's room for improvement with our overall team defense, our defensive efficiency. And then offense on the road - we didn't really hit on the road at all this year (.284 home vs. .257 on the road). We'll take a look at seeing if there's a way to improve that a little bit. Those are probably the two biggest things that stand out for me." Individually, Epstein has plenty of work to do, including the pursuit of a new contract for Jason Bay, among other things. He said the Bay negotiations have been "unusual," but then, for a team with so much talent, this quick exit was also unusual. Other issues he must deal with include: David Ortiz. The designated hitter batted only .238 and didn't hit a home run until May 20. "If he's going to be the DH on this team," Epstein said, "we need him to be a force and we're a different team when he is that force. There will be conversations about what he thinks he needs to do to get back there, but it's important to this club for him to be that force as the DH." Shortstop. Alex Gonzalez is approaching free agency and Jed Lowrie continues to have wrist problems. "I think the position was in flux a bit this year," said the GM. "We'll do a little bit more in-depth analysis of supply and demand and try to figure out what the market might look like before we decide on Alex's option for next year. I think we'd all be comfortable having him back here under the right circumstances. Lowrie is an important factor for us, as well. We have not seen the type of player he can be yet at the big league level because he's been playing hurt the entire time. At some point the player has to get healthy to be able to show what he can do and to be able to help the organization. I don't think we can hand a job to him because he hasn't proved his health yet at this point." Daisuke Matsuzaka. "We want him to have a really productive offseason and come into camp in the best possible shape, both with his conditioning - make sure his core is strong and make sure that we can notice right away that he's had a strong offseason of workouts - and then also with his shoulder, that he does the shoulder program to such an extent that he's ready to go out and throw 200-plus innings. And those are things he didn't accomplish last year. He did accomplish them in a condensed offseason that we had in late summer, but that's not the time to do it. The time to do it is throughout the winter. That's been clearly communicated. There will be follow-ups and our strong expectation is that he shows up in fantastic shape on day one of spring training this year. I see it as a necessity, not really an option." Tim Wakefield. "He's going to have surgery probably this week. Wake is someone that is in our plans and we hope he makes starts for us next year, as well, and is a member of the rotation. Obviously, we want to see how the surgery goes and then both sides will sit down and talk." Catching. Epstein says that Victor Martinez was everything he expected, and that he will be the starting catcher next year. He's not so sure about Jason Varitek. "I haven't talked with Tek yet. There are decisions that need to be made on both sides and I don't think it's fair to discuss those publicly before we get to sit down and talk about it." Jonathan Papelbon. "I think he set the standard so high for himself that any chink in his armor is magnified. He was dominating, but if you look at his numbers he wasn't quite as dominating if you compare it to some years past." Mike Lowell. "From talking to the medical staff, I think they're confident that he will be better than he was this year," Francona said. "I probably was too aggressive with him, didn't help him. He'll grind it out every day, but at what point does it become a hindrance to his performance? I think we all feel, including Mike, the medical people, and us, that he will be better situated next year." Francona added a caveat: age could be a factor. The duo talked about just every aspect of the team. They also confirmed that the club had received a call from the Astros inquiring about coaches Brad Mills and Tim Bogar. They will be given permission to speak to the NL club about their managerial job. Meanwhile, John Farrell has told the Sox that he wants to remain as pitching coach, and will not consider the Cleveland managing job. Reach Mike Fine at mikefine@ledger.com. Read more of his Red Sox coverage in his Dirty Water blog at PatriotLedger.com/sports