As I write this blog, I am listening to the song that became somewhat of a theme song for the 2013 Red Sox: Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds". What started out as Shane Victorino's walk-up song caught fire in Red Sox Nation down the stretch and into the playoffs and came to symbolize what this resilient, bearded, determined team was all about. The 2013 Red Sox are a tough act to follow.
While the great majority of the team is returning (sans Ellsbury, Saltalamacchia, and possibly Stephen Drew), there are still a lot of questions surrounding the 2014 team. In case you've been living under a rock since August 2011, things have been rather mercurial around The Fens in the past two and a half years. First, the epic collapse of September 2011, then the ousting of Francona, the departure of Theo Epstein for the Windy City, the Bobby Valentine hire, the flotsam and jetsam that was the 2012 season, the Big Trade, and then, the phoenix-from-the-ashes rise of the Red Sox in 2013, capturing their third World Series title in a decade.
Going into last year, few expected the team to be a serious World Series contender, let alone win the whole shebang. The strategy Ben Cherington adopted was to build the team not with high-price, high-risk free agents, but with quality major-league talent that had the right mentality to succeed in the baseball-obsessed Boston market. Depth at the major-league level was key to Cherington and it paid off in the best way possible: A World Series title and the honor of being named Executive of the Year. Cherington also had to find the right man to lead the team after Valentine's catastrophic year at the helm.
The 2014 Red Sox have most of their team back, along with John Farrell and the rest of the coaching staff. They acquired some more depth this off-season, once again staying away from monster contracts or farm-gutting trades. How will the extra month of play affect the players, especially the pitchers? Will Jackie Bradley, Jr. earn the starting spot in center or will Grady Sizemore stay healthy long enough and perform well enough after two seasons away from baseball to keep the prospect in Pawtucket. How will Xander Bogaerts do at whatever position he ends up playing (hopefully, shortstop)? Can Will Middlebrooks improve his approach at the plate enough to become a middle-of-the-order righty power threat? Or, should we settle for a viable major-league third baseman out of him? Will all the age behind the plate (two 37-year-olds) catch up to them?
The Red Sox, due to their major and minor league depth, are in good shape heading into the 2014 season and beyond. If they can avoid too much regression from the likes of Victorino, Napoli, Nava, Carp, Lackey, and Lester, if Doubront can finally put together a consistently solid season and if Buchholz can stay healthy, they have a good chance to be in the playoffs again. Can they repeat? Anything is possible, but very few teams manage to go back-to-back (and even fewer that don't play their home games in the Bronx). 2013 was a special, magical, endearing, redemptive season for the Red Sox, but soon the page will turn to 2014. Let's hope some of that magic rolls over into the new season.
