Now who's ready for this season to get started already? It seems like the off-season has gone on forever. It's going to be very interesting to see how this season plays out. The 2010 Red Sox are an overall improved team from the 2009 Red Sox. The defense last year had more holes than Swiss cheese and the back end of the rotation required a warning label from those prone to indigestion or high blood pressure. The offense was feast or famine. They backed into the playoffs and the Angels made quick work of them.
Faced with some tough decisions after the season ended too early in October for their (and our) liking, the Red Sox went into the long, baseball-less months with their work cut out for them. All three aspects of their game needed some work and they needed a plan. First priority was to try to sign Jason Bay, who hit 36 HR and 119 RBI last year. Bay and the Red Sox couldn't see eye-to-eye and the team headed in a different direction with a signing that no one saw coming. John Lackey, who held the Red Sox down in Game 1 of the ALDS, decided to give the east coast a shot and signed on Theo Epstein's dotted line a week before Christmas. Lester. Beckett. Lackey. Talk about your 1-2-3 punch! Then, on the same day, a man who has managed to stay younger than his years in the outfield, one Mike Cameron, joined up as well. His bat will make us miss Flushing's newest left fielder, but having him, Ells and Drew in the outfield will help the defense greatly. He'll be playing his natural position, CF, while Ells shifts over to left.
Before Lackey and Cameron entered the fold, the Sox ended the dreadful shortstop-go-round, signing Marco Scutaro, who, at age 33, had a career year for Toronto in '09. Even before then, his numbers had been steadily improving for the past couple of years. After their epic Mike Lowell-to-Texas trade fail, the erstwhile Red Sox starting third baseman is resting his surgically repaired thumb and preparing to show he can still play some multi-million dollar ball for a club in need of a veteran presence. Meanwhile Adrian Beltre (who, I imagine, hopes to make Red Sox Nation forget about that other Adrian by knocking some dingers into the monster seats on a regular basis) will be flashing the leather with some killer D at the hot corner. I saw the video of his defensive highlights. The guy's an acrobat over at the third sack.
In other news, Oki's back for another year as the pen's #1 lefty and the Sox signed another lefty, 41-year-old Brian Shouse to a minor league deal. Shouse earns his keep when a lefty's at the plate, but, dear God, don't let him pitch to righties! The Boofster also hopes to make an impact out of the pen. Then there's that other Ramon Ramirez...
All in all, the 2010 team's going to prevent a lot more runs than they did last year. The question is, will they score enough, especially from the visitor's dugout of any park but Camden Yards.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
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