Boston Red Sox

Even with the injuries last year, the Red Sox had plenty of opportunity to walk away with the East but never did. Their 95-67 record won them the Wild Card and a quick playoff exit at the hands of the eventual champs.

Pitching

On paper the rotation should be as good as any with Curt Schilling, David Wells and Matt Clement joined by newly acquired Josh Beckett but Schilling and Beckett are serious health concerns (Wells too but in a different way) and while Clement was awesome in the first half of last season he was awful in the second and that might be an understatement. Elsewhere Tim Wakefield can log good innings but if Schilling and Beckett go down again then he and Jon Papelbon aren’t really capable of picking up the slack.

Whereas the bullpen imploded in on itself last year they have worked hard to patch it up but much still relies on the health of Keith Foulke who missed a large chunk of time due to injury and wasn’t that effective when he was healthy. The form of Mike Timlin helped the team cover for the loss of Foulke and he is one of the few who returns and with the likes of David Riske, Craig Hanson, Rudy Seanez and Jon Lester the club is now much better prepared if injuries hit.

Defence

The Red Sox infield defence hasn’t been good for a while and that includes their World Series winning team but that should change after a drastic makeover with Gold Glove winners Alex Gonzalez, JT Snow and Mike Lowell all coming in and along with Mark Loretta and Alex Cora there is no shortage of quality glove work on the roster. Throw in club general Jason Varitek behind the plate and you have more than enough to make any pitcher feel secure.

The addition of Coco Crisp to the outfield also improves the defence from last year and with Trot Nixon safely patrolling right he can more than cover for Manny Ramirez and his eccentric outfield play.

Offence

Manny will always be Manny and he came under a lot of scrutiny after saying he wanted to be traded but if it effected his performance then he is much better than I ever thought with his 45 homeruns and 144 RBI again proving he is as good a run producer as has played the game for decades and combined with David Ortiz and his 47 homeruns and 148 RBI and you have a problem if you’re the pitcher facing this team.

The team may have lost Johnny Damon at the top of the order but whereas Coco Crisp might not have Damon’s eccentricities and profile he doesn’t fall too far off in terms of talent and posted similar numbers to Damon despite a slow start and Crisp is coming into his prime. Mark Loretta is also adept at getting on base in the second spot and is a versatile bat handler who has lots of quality at bats.

There are fears that Boston’s offence has taken a hit over the off season but if there was one team in MLB who could afford to maybe loosen the belt it was Boston and they still have good hitters all the way down with Jason Varitek and Trot Nixon consistent performers and Mike Lowell will be eager to put last year behind him. Boston should once again score plenty of runs.

Wily Mo Pena seems to have walked out of one outfield logjam and into another but he will provide plenty of pop when he’s playing. He has been begging to be given more playing time and maybe he’ll get it in a league with the DH.

Rookie Watch

Boston sacrificed a lot of high ceiling prospects in the off season and most their better farmhands are a year or two away (not that they are a team who build from within). Craig Hansen has the best chance of cracking the line-up and having an impact. He will one day be the teams closer but will likely be used in set-up duty. He’s only had a year of professional ball but he already has one of the nastiest sliders in the minors and it complements his mid-90’s fastball well.

Management

Does anyone really know what happened to Theo Epstein? He disappeared for a few months and the team started haemorrhaging talent left right and centre and since he decided to come back he has frantically tried to piece together guys to plug the holes in the side. There are few more aggressive GM’s in baseball and he usually finds a way to get what he wants but his sabbatical hasn’t helped his team.

Terry Francona has had great teams to put on the field in his time with Boston and he has done a good job of not interfering and keeping things simple and just allowing his players to do their jobs. He maye doesn’t have the depth of talent he might have gotten used to so we shall see how he fares if injuries start to hit his more brittle stars.

Outlook

As goes the pitching so goes the Red Sox. Beckett, Schilling and Foulke need to be healthy for the majority of the year and producing for this team to be what the fans have come to expect. It won’t take much to get this team stumbling.