Power Outage

Yes, I know that any deal involving Ellsbury and Buchholz for Adrian Gonzalez is just rumor and speculation, flavored liberally with wishful thinking, but if it comes to making that choice, the Red Sox really need to go for it. It would be tough to lose these young players, especially Ells, who has put on a show on the basepaths. However, with the loss of Jason Bay, the Sox absolutely need a power bat in the middle of that lineup. The pitching got better with the addition of Lackey and the defense improved by adding Cameron, but a successful team needs to be strong in all three areas--offense, defense, and pitching. Lack of run support just puts pressure on the pitching staff, as well as on the defense, to be perfect in every pitch, every play. There's no room for error with an offense that can't consistently put up at least 4 runs per game. By not replacing the production Bay provided, the offense is significantly weakened, especially if the Sox lose Lowell too.

There is much talk about Kotchman playing first and Youk moving over to third. Kotchman as a 1B may work on a smaller market team, but on a team that wishes to play deep into October, a 1B that can hit for power is necessary. A .280 average with HR totals in the single digits won't cut it in Boston, not at a power position like first base. John Lackey came to Boston because he wanted to win. He'll need more run support than this lineup can consistently give him. Same with the rest of the rotation.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!