It's never too early to look forward to next season!
Great season, but any that doesn't end in a WS win for me is disappointing. So now lets take a look for next season, which should be right on par with this year; meaning a chance to win it all again!
Pitching Staff:
1. Josh Beckett- Get healthy this off-season Josh, you're still an ace and a top 5 guy when you're right. Look for a bounce back year from Beckett, 17-20 wins.
2. Jon Lester- One of the best young lefties in the game today, proved he's going to be a stud for years to come. Should continue to ascend with the game's elite pitchers. 15-18 wins.
3. Dice K- A great guy to have as the number 3 starter. Gives me tantrums when I watch him walk 4 guys a game but you can't complain with a sub 3 ERA and almost winning 20 games. 15-18 wins.
4. Clay Buchholz- The wild card guy here, because I see Masterson staying in the bullpen. I like him as the set up guy long term because of his ability to throw 95MPH and use his sinker effectively. Buchholz still has loads of potential, and this year I believe helps him in the long run. I always want to see a young guy fail at some point so he has something to work on for the future. 12-15 wins.
5. Michael Bowden/Wake/Peavy/Burnett- First off Michael Bowden is future 2-4 type of pitcher. Pretty solid stuff but a great demeanor but he might be another year away from being an every 5th day major leaguer. Wake is always a guy that can be counted on to eat innings and get guys out. I think he's better served to be the 6th guy to make spot starts and pitch the mop up games. Now Jake Peavy has been dangled lately, and a few sources have listed the Red Sox as possible suitors. Personally I am not very high on Peavy with injury problems and some decline in velocity, but nonetheless he wins ball games and I would love to have him in Boston. AJ Burnett is a free agent to be and I have always been high on him. Guy just loves to throw cheese and have a big snuff in his mouth. Some injury problems but if they take a run at him and sign him he could give this team a potential 4th ace on the staff. 12-16 wins here depending on who they go with.
Bullpen: Timlin is gone, loved him his whole career but he's lost the ability to get guys out. Okajima is fine showing he can step up when needed, and Javier Lopez is still fairly effective. Manny Delcarman is inconsistent but can bring the heat and gets guys out. Justin Masterson is a great set up guy in the making, one of the guys I look for to be a member of the nation for life. Papelbon will be the closer for 15 years as long as the Red Sox remain a franchise, the guy is simply the best when it matters. The only new addition I see coming from within the organization is fireballer Daniel Bard. This guy is a Joel Zumaya waiting to happen. Fast ball 97-100 with a good curveball and a heavy slider. Next year should be his coming out party. It would be nice to add quality middle innings guy, or possibly go after Brian Fuentes from Colorado.
Lineup: I truly believe some changes needed to be made in Boston at some very key positions.
Catcher: Jason Varitek is one of the greatest Red Sox players ever... but no stat could ever tell you that. He is the ultimate leader and game caller, and has always been one of my favorite players in the league. However, his skills have declined to a point where he is now an automatic out in the lineup. His catching ability has also declined somewhat over the past few years, and was evident in the ALCS not only failing to throw guys out, but his pitch calling was very suspect in games 2-7. It's time to move on for Boston, unless Tek would be content on being the backup. So where to go from here? Kevin Cash is an ok option, George Kotteras showed some decent skills in AAA, but I really think they need to look outside of Boston for their next back stop. Some options are: Pudge, Kenji Johjima, Bengie Molina. I realize these aren't every attractive options, but Pudge and Bengie would provide a stable bat and throw out a high % of base stealers. Age with those guys is also a factor, but at least it would give Boston another year or 2 to find the long term answer.
1st Base: Kevin Youkilis is great on D and great with the bat, no change here is necessary. Sean Casey as a fine player for a season, but really makes no sense to keep him here another year. Mark Kotsay is a fun player to watch, and might be worth keeping him as a pinch hitter and situational starter every now and then. Lars Anderson is a future impact player for the Sox and I look for him to get a shot next season as well. Now lets talk Big Papi. He isn't even a below average fielder, because that would give below average fielders a bad name. He sucks plain and simple. His hitting skills have also started to decline for a few reasons. Number one is the injury bug keeps biting him, and when's not right he looks lost at the plate. Not having Manny behind him also had a huge effect on the type of pitches he was seeing. Don't get me wrong, Youk is a great hitter but does not provide the same protection Manny did. So what do you do with Papi? Keep him for now, but if somebody is willing to make a deal for him I don't see it being out of the realm of possibility to trade David Ortiz.
2nd Base: Dustin Pedroia, MVP, enough said.
SS: Jed Lowrie is a fine young player. Good in the field and reliable with the stick, no no need to mess around here. Alex Cora is a serviceable backup, and I'm not sure there is anyone knocking at the door as far as middle infielders are concerned.
3B: I'm a big Mike Lowell fan, and I think they can get another productive season out of him.... but I don't see it as impossible that the Red Sox brass might use Youk at third and let Lars Anderson get a shot at 1st base. If Anderson hits that lineup goes from being good to being great with solid hitters 1-9.
LF: Jason Bay is a good player, not great but steady and is fine and relatively cheap option there.
CF: Jacoby Ellsbury had a great regular season, but faltered in the post season. I still love his speed and future power potential, and I see no reason why he wouldn't be the opening day starter. Having Coco Crisp as an insurance policy is nice to have, he's a gold glove defensive player and ok with the stick.
RF: JD Drew is awesome, just a pure baseball player that I want Boston to keep forever.
So there you have it, Boston's 2009 World Series winning team is:
Ellsbury- CF
Pedroia- 2B
Drew- RF
Youkilis- 1B
Ortiz- DH
Bay- LF
Lowell- 3B
Lowrie- SS
Pudge/Cash- C
Beckett- P
10 comments:
Like the preview. Boston will continue to kick the Yankees arsh year in and year out if they continue to do what they have been doing. Build through their farm system and add pieces and depth when needed. That is why Theo Epstein is so good.
However, I have to disagree with you on a few things. that is what makes this page so wonderful.
- Beckett CAN be an ace WHEN he is healthy. But lets be honest, he is getting older and every year he visits the DL. Not a good sign at all. Plus, I was not impressed by his performance during the ALCS. Not as dominant as he was the year before.
- Varitek is the captain of the team and Mr. Red Sox. So, I do not believe that Boston will pay a back up catcher millions to sit the bench. It could happen but it is a stretch.
- Going after Peavy or Burnett is gonna cost Boston. they are looking for Millions and I think that Boston has enough arms in the farm system or will take a shot on a crafty veteran than to have more money bottled up in a starter. Think of the money already invested in Beckett and Dice-K. You will have to reinvest some of that into Lester and maybe Bucholtz so those big names are out of the question.
- Agree with Big Papi. However, trade him while you can to get the most out of the trade. If he starts out next year like he did this year, not gonna get crap for him.
- I like Drew as well. However, he is getting old too and like Beckett has a knack for hanging out on the DL too much. He may be more of a liability than anything else. he has the track record to prove it. Need to possibly look at filling that hole as well.
Overall, your Red Sawks will still make it to the post season barring any major setbacks. World Series is a maybe but I think the fairy tale ending has gone by the wayside after that loss last Saturday to the Rays. the magic may have disappeared FOREVER.
QUEER
As usual, an anonymous person backs up their quotes. Who is the QUEER now?
While I agree Beckett is getting "older", he is still only 29 which is right in the middle of his prime. His performance in the post season was down because of injury, and that's it. When Beckett is right he's the best there is.
Money invested in Beckett and Dice K actually isn't that much. Beckett makes less than 10mil a year, and Dice K's base salary is around 6million so that isn't a big deal. They have a plethora of young arms to use sure but they have 30million dollars off the books with Manny being gone. It's almost a guarantee that they will get Burnett, Peavy, Lowe or possibly CC.
That was Hirdler, he just called me and let me know.
I see the point on Beckett. His history does speak volumes though and yes they do need to get him healthy for them to be dominant.
I can see that they have money to spend but I am not sure they will aggresively go after any of those arms. If they do, I would say that Burnett would be the most likely choice as Peavy will stay in the NL, CC will get more than Santana. Lowe could be a possibility as well with the track record they have with him.
My concern still is what they will do to get another bat in the lineup. They have alot of money like you said and Manny's bat will be missed. he was clutch when it was needed most. I would like to see Lowell get healthier too and get his bat back. that may help a little.
Hirdler is QUEER!!!!
They will probably make a run at Mark Texiera, and I would be surprised at this point if they do NOT get him.
If they make a run at Texira, that may be what they are looking for.
However, that may pose another question. What do you do with any of these three names: Youkilis, Lowell, Ortiz?
- Youk is versatile in that he can play both 1st, 3rd and I thought some outfield as well. Obviously could DH.
- Lowell can only DH or play 3rd which would make him expendible if Texiera was added.
- Same goes for Ortiz. Since Texiera, Youk or Lowell can DH, Ortiz is the odd man out.
If Texiera does become a Red Sawk, look for Boston to move Lowell or Ortiz to free up their contracts. then again, they do like to keep vets around in case of injury or the like.
Lowell is the odd man out no question, he would become useless to the team if Tex is signed.
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