The Red Sox started Friday 10 1/2 games back of the Yankees

General manager Ben Cherington's ideal swap won't be for a rental.

"I guess we have to be prudent, factor in where we are, factor that in the risk-reward of any deal," Cherington said Friday, four days before the Trade Deadline. "But if there's a way to improve the team this year potentially and beyond, then those are deals we want to pursue. We'll see what happens. We'll work as hard as we can."

That doesn't mean Cherington, whose last-place Red Sox started what should be a telling three-game series with the first-place Yankees on Friday, thinks Boston is out of playoff contention this year.

The Red Sox started Friday 10 1/2 games back of the Yankees in the American League East. Their expected win-loss record, calculated using the number of runs they've scored and allowed, has them a better team than that -- as the second-best team in the AL East, in fact. The Orioles (52-47), in second place, entered Friday with 53 more runs allowed than scored. 

Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler

But if Houston is willing to commit that much to Lin, perhaps close to $15 million in the third year, the Knicks could have trouble matching the offer, given their limited future cap space. Already, Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler are set to make more than $14 million each in the 2014-15 season.

And the Knicks also want to re-sign the unrestricted free agents Steve Novak and J. R. Smith.

"They are all valuable players, and we're going to try to keep all four of them," General Manager Glen Grunwald said last week.