Get ready for a fascinating offseason.

The Red Sox may be slinking toward the finish, essentially having been knocked out of the race in late August, when their season started to turn to ruins. Fenway Park is little more than a burial ground of spring dreams that have all turned to dust.

So it's time to look to next year.

Which is going to look different, if nothing else.

Trot Nixon figures to be gone, the 'ol dirt dog, deemed expendable at age 32 (33 next April), a free agent-to-be who no doubt is going to be seeking a fat new contract. Coco Crisp also could be gone, given that he was someone the Sox were throwing out as trade bait in July, the same Coco Crisp who has been a disappointment, wilting under the memory of Johnny Damon.

That's two-thirds of the outfield, and we haven't even gotten to Manny yet, the same Manny they try to trade every year. Will they try again? Why not? Especially now that he essentially shut it down for the last month of the season. Was he really hurt? Who knows anymore. But no one can be surprised if the Sox try to move him, for the simple reason that they're always trying to move him.

That would leave the Red Sox with a whole new outfield.

Mark Loretta is no lock to come back at second base, even though he has had a good year, the quintessential pro. Nor is Alex Gonzalez, even though he's as good defensively as there is. Still, the Sox seem to have an endless fascination with Julio Lugo, now with the Dodgers.

Take away Gonzalez and the Sox could come back next year with five new position players.

And with Jonathan Papelbon figuring to start next year, there's going to be the need for another closer, no small thing considering that one of the reasons the Sox played so well in the first half of the season was Papelbon's brilliance. That's not even getting into the rest of the bullpen, which ultimately betrayed this team, and leads to this question: Will Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen to be ready to be significant contributors next year, or are they still going to be a work in progress? And if they're not ready, then what?

The point is, this team is going to have a big makeover, regardless of the specifics.

Which puts pressure on Theo Epstein, no question about that.

Or, if you have the second-highest payroll in the game, you're not supposed to be spending September chasing teams in the wild-card race.

The current spin is that this was a transition year, one between the world title of 2004 and a golden future that's going to be anchored by homegrown pitchers -- Papelbon, Hansen, Delcarmen and Jon Lester -- a year that ultimately crashed and burned due to too many injuries.

This is the party line, anyway, the supposed reason the trading deadline came and went as silent as a graveyard, while the Yankees retooled and ran away with the division. The subtext to the party line was that it was just one of those lost years, no one's fault, merely the vagaries of the game.

However it's spun, though, the Red Sox will end this season with a slew of questions, not the least of which is a pitching staff where three of the presumed starters are coming off injuries, and Lester has lymphoma.

Can we expect Curt Schilling, at 40 next year, to be as effective next year as he was this year? How about Tim Wakefield at 40? Matt Clement coming off this year's meltdown? Is it realistic to expect a whole lot out of Lester next year?

All legitimate questions.

Right there with Josh Beckett. Can he ever be the kind of front-of-the-rotation pitcher he was brought in here to be, and can Papelbon's success as a closer carry over to starter?

Especially in an American League that's gotten better.

Gone are the days when the wild card seemed to have the Red Sox' name on it, when being in the playoffs seemed part of the schedule. The American League Central Division used to be a wasteland. Now the White Sox, Tigers and Twins all are for real. The Angels and the A's are proven teams in the West.

Also gone are the days when there are a lot of pitchers on the free-agent market, quick fixes for big-market teams. Now, the trend is to sign your young pitchers early, don't let them get to free agency.

The result?

It's tougher to transform your team.

Which brings us back to this upcoming offseason, and the need to significantly overhaul this Red Sox team.

Make no mistake. If next year's Sox end up like this year's, the luster will run off Theo like rain off a duck's back. This year's swoon took everyone by surprise. A similar one next year will bring out the venom.

breynold@projo.com / (401) 277-7340