I thought Ross was a good fit since the beginning of the offseason. Smart of Cherington to wait so long (his asking price was originally something ridiculous like $15M/3). I'd say $3M is a steal for him, and I'm assuming its cheap enough that the Sox are not done spending the Scutaro money.

He's a really good match for our needs. He should start the season sharing some time with Sweeney, but he can become a full-time starter or a platoon/backup player depending on the performances of everyone involved. He has severe platoon splits (career .912 OPS vs .727 OPS), is a good defender in right and is capable of playing CF.

Now, if the Sox go out and grab Oswalt for cheap, I'll be ready to forget all about the Scutaro salary dump.

ADD:  This doesn't mean the end of McDonald yet. He's certainly staying on the roster until Crawford is healthy, and even then, I figure he's the favorite for the 4th bench spot. Don't know who else is competing for that spot. If Ortiz/Salty/Shoppach are healthy at the end of spring training, it'd be a waste to let Lavarnway sit on the bench. Considering their weakness at SS, they could go with a middle infielder instead, but we don't want Iglesias to sit on the bench either, and I don't think Spears/Emaus/Thomas are really SS's.