The rumor is that the Sox, having lost out on the Teixeira sweepstakes, are looking for a young, prime-of-his-career position player to bolster what they feel is a wanting lineup. They made a play for Hanley Ramirez. No dice. Where they go from there is anyone's guess. Honestly, off the top of my head, I can't really think of anyone that would fit the bill. Are the Reds going to hand them Joey Votto? Not likely. Are the Rangers looking to dump Josh Hamilton? No way. Perhaps the Sox could work a blockbuster deal with the Padres to get both Jake Peavy and Alex Gonzalez, but it seems unlikely, even with the Padres trying to save their owner's yacht and summer house as he gets divorce-raped by his soon-to-be ex. For now, the Sox don't seem to have any real irons in the fire, so we will go on the assumption that Hanley is not returning to Fenway and we'll look at what they will probably have come spring training.
Lineup - Jacob Ellsbury (CF), Dustin Pedroia (2B), David Ortiz (DH), Kevin Youkillis (1B), JD Drew (RF), Jason Bay (LF), Mike Lowell (3B), Jeb Lowrie (SS), Jason Varitek.
Okay, I lied. I will assume that Tek is back because a.) I can't see anyone else wanting him and b.) his leadership skills are actually valuable for the Sox.
The first thought I have when looking at that lineup is that there are a lot of question marks but also a lot of positives. The good things? Pedroia, Youkillis, and Bay are bonafide big time players, and a full season of Bay in the outfield should provide plenty of offense. Drew proved that he could be a solid contributor to the offense last year, putting up respectable numbers, and there is some decent speed sprinkled here and there in the likes of Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Lowrie.
The question marks? Is Ellsbury the star-in-the-making player the Red Sox thought coming in to last year, or a mediocre player with a lower than expected OBP that makes him a less than ideal leadoff man, even with his speed (Ellsbury's OBP last year was around .340 for most of the season. That's not good enough). Is David Ortiz healthy? In all honesty, this is probably the biggest question mark for the entire club. If Ortiz is healthy, he can still be as potent a batter as there is in the game, but wrist injuries are tricky. Hideki Matsui has never looked the same after breaking his wrist in the 06 season and we all know how different Nomar Garciaparra was as a player after his wrist was broken. Ortiz's hand didn't need the type of major surgery those players required, but it was still obvious that he wasn't what he once had been. Was that because Manny wasn't there to protect him? We will see. Is Lowell healthy and happy? No one has seemed to want to mention the fact that the Red Sox were obviously ready to jettison Mike Lowell at the earliest convienience if they were able to sign Teixeira. Even with that possibility gone, the Sox still seem ready to bring another bat in to the fray, and would certainly be willing to deal the former WS MVP. That can't make him all that happy.
Overall, however, this lineup is still very potent. If Ortiz is healthy and Ellsbury takes a step forward rather than a step back, there is enough run producers to make like miserable for any pitcher, especially in the friendly confines of Fenway.
For everyone proclaiming that the Yankee lineup is far and away the best in baseball now because of Teixeira, I would argue that the Sox are still their equal, with both teams possessing as many question marks and big time players.
Defense - Jason Varitek (C), Mike Lowell (3B), Jeb Lowrie (SS), Dustin Pedroia (2B), Kevin Youkillis (1B), JD Drew (RF), Jacob Ellsbury (CF), Jason Bay (LF).
This is a very, very good defensive team. Varitek (if he is back) may be losing a little bit, but every other position on the field has either excellent or very good defense. Ellsbury has the chance to be special in center, Bay and Drew are solid at the corner positions, and the infield defense is terrific, especially if Lowell is healthy and Lowrie hits the way he did last year, solidifying himself at SS. This should really help the Sox pitching staff.
Rotation - Josh Beckett, John Lester, Dice-K, Tim Wakefield, Justin Masterson.
This isn't as deep or impressive as the Yankee rotation. Beckett, Lester and Dice-K have the ability to match up with anyone in the league, but one of the dirty little secrets of the Sox team is that Beckett has not been what you would call the most productive regular season pitcher out there. In his first year with the team he had an ERA over 5 with only 158 strike outs in 204 innings. Last year, he only had 174 innings and had an ERA of 4.07. He also had 10 losses. Look, we all know how dominant Beckett can be, but his regular seasons have been mediocre at best. Overall, he cannot be compared to the likes of Sabathia or even Wang in terms of consistency. Get him in the short series, he is better than almost anyone. Over the long haul, he just isn't an elite pitcher.
Lester, however, showed himself to be a terrific pitcher and is probably the team's number 1 now because of how consistent he is on a day in and day out basis. Dice-K is a human tight-rope act, but he seems to get the job done. But, after that, Wakefield and the youngster Masterson are HUGE question marks overall.
Clay Buchholtz may end up being the most important pitcher on the Sox staff as, if he were able to step up and perform at a high level, and Masterson were able to provide a spark, the rotation could be a plus, but right now I think the Sox rotation would probably rank third in the AL East.
Bullpen - Jonathan Paplebon, Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez.
This is a nice bullpen with exactly what you want: power arms. Don't be surprised to see Delcarmen move ahead of Okajima in this bullpen. He has electric stuff and showed a toughness down the end of the year. Of course, the change up of lefty, righty is as good as it gets. And, of course, you have the little creep Paplebon, the least-likeable guy in the world, anchoring the pen, and as little as we all like the guy, he's pretty damn good.
So, how good are the Sox?
I think this is a very interesting year for Boston. I still believe they are, overall, one of the top two teams in this league, but they could easily get picked off this year because of how thin their rotation may be this season. While Theo and the crew are looking at their lineup, it is their pitching that will ultimately tell the tale. Any major injury or underperforming season by one of the big three (Beckett, Dice-K, Lester) would mean disaster. But, unfortunately, this team has earned the right to be a favorite until the prove to be out of their element.
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