I'm Ready...

Truck Day is only 3 days away. Pitchers and catchers report for duty on Feb. 13, and the rest of the squad is due 4 days later. Workouts begin on the 15th for pitchers and catchers and on the 19th for the rest. The first game action happens on the 26th, with a split-squad doubleheader against Boston College and Northeastern and Grapefruit League play begins the next day.

Yes, my friends, Red Sox Spring Training 2011 is upon us and another year of Boston baseball is on the horizon. The offseason for the Sox was huge and the front office, of which I have been rather critical in this blog, really stepped up and made much-needed improvements to the team. They improved the offense and defense by bringing in the likes of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford and revamped the bullpen with Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler. There wasn't much they could do with the starting rotation, with five starters pretty much locked into their rotation spots.

On paper, the Red Sox look like the team to beat, at least in the American League. The Phillies, with their uber-rotation of Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, and Hamels could give them a run for their money as the overall best on-paper team. On paper doesn't always translate to on the field, however. Injuries, under-performance of key players, and various and sundry other factors come into play over the course of a 162-game season. Let's take a look at some of the potential strengths and weaknesses of the 2011 team:

Strengths: Provided everyone in the starting lineup stays healthy and performs to their ability, the Red Sox look to be a run-producing machine. They have speed in Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford, power in Papi, Youk, and Adrian Gonzalez, and tough outs in Youk, Crawford, Gonzalez, and Pedey, who each have the potential of hitting at least .300.

Defensively, with the addition they look solid in at least 3 infield positions. The outfield looks drastically improved with Carl Crawford in left, JD Drew in right, and a healthy (we hope!) Ellsbury in center.

Weaknesses: After Lester and Buchholz, there are a lot of questions in the rotation. Will Lackey bounce back from a disappointing 2010 where he had to adjust to playing in the AL Beast? Will Beckett ever return to dominance or did he jump the shark in his disastrous 2010 campaign? Dice-K isn't as much of a question mark as he is a continuing enigma. He is what he is and it's doubtful he will ever change his perplexing ways. Curt Young looks to be an excellent pitching coach (Oakland's problem certainly did not lie in its pitching), so there's hope he'll be able to at least straighten Beckett and Lackey out. If he can figure out Dice-K, he's a bona fide genius!

Another potential weakness of the 2011 team is the guy in the mask squatting behind the plate. V-Mart was an adventure defensively, but the idea of the unproven, oft-injured Salty as the starting catcher is about as scary as walking straight into a lion's den. It isn't the offense I'm worried about as much as the defense. Salty has a history of the throwing yips and that could make pitchers very nervous.

Could Go Either Way: The 2011 Red Sox bullpen going into Spring Training looks like this:

Closer: Jonathan Papelbon, who has a lot to prove since he's been on the decline of late
Setup: Daniel Bard and Bobby Jenks.
Middle Relief: Dan Wheeler
Long Relief/Spot Starter: Tim Wakefield
Lefty specialist: ????

Myriad lefties are competing for the lefty specialist role, including Hideki Okajima, Dennys Reyes, Felix Doubront, Andrew Miller, and Rich Hill. Oki is the only one with a major-league contract, but that doesn't necessarily make him the favorite. He, too, has to earn his way onto the team.

As is their nature, bullpens are hard to predict from year to year. The Sox made some good pickups in Jenks and Wheeler, but Pap has been struggling and the lefty role will come down to who does best in Spring Training.

All things considered, the Sox have fewer concerns than most teams going into the season. The Yankees have a questionable rotation after Sabathia. The Rays have lost many of their stars to free agency and have applied the Manny-Damon band-aid to their offense. The Angels flailed around during the off-season and missed out on many of their free-agent targets. The Rangers look pretty good, but they did lose Cliff Lee and they have to fill his rotation spot.

It looks to be an exciting season to be a Red Sox fan. Barring a bizarre rash of injuries ( a la 2010) the Sox should be contenders from game 1 through game 162.