March 5, 2008 at 10:37 AM
5 reasons why the Red Sox will repeat in 2008
1. 99% of the 2007 Championship squad will be back for the 2008 campaign
The Red Sox have the right mix of talent, experience and depth that enable them to win in a number of ways: Power (Ramirez, Ortiz, Lowell), small ball (Pedroia, Cora, Youkilis, Lugo) and speed (Ellsbury, Lugo, Crisp). A 20-game winner in Beckett, two 15-game winners in Matsuzaka and Wakefield and a good mix of young talent and experience on the back end with Lester, Buchholz, Tavarez and Colon. They have the best closer in the game (Papelbon) and a solid bullpen with Okajima, Timlin, Delcarmen and Snyder. Oh, and a coach with two World Series rings...
Curt Schilling is the only missing piece and recent reports say the Sox are now considering surgery in an effort to get him healthy for the home stretch – where Schill happens to be at his best: 10-2, 2.23 ERA in the post-season.
Bottom Line: I don’t see any obvious cracks. 97-65, AL East Champs.
2. Pitching wins Championships
Josh Beckett is in the prime of his career and has entered camp extremely focused. He went 20-7 with a 3.27 ERA and just missed the Cy Young Award. He’ll get it this year and he’ll win anther 20 games in the process, but it’s his 6-2, 1.73 ERA post-season line that will enable the Sox to repeat... no other team has that kind of track record in their Game 1 starter and that will give Boston the edge in any playoff series
Daisuke won 15 games in 2007 despite moving to a new country, constant media pressure and struggling with a 5-man rotation. He’s stated that he is much more relaxed this season, and last year’s one-inning meltdowns proved that his composure is the key to his game. With a year under his belt and less pressure, I expect Daisuke to drop below the 4.00 mark and win 17 games – giving the Sox one of the best 1-2 punches in the league.
Veteran Tim Wakefield will anchor the middle of the rotation and plans to fight for 200 innings this season. At 41, Wake won 17 games in 2007 before shutting down with a shoulder injury. If he gets his 200 innings he’ll have another 15-win season.
Having three solid pitchers isn’t always enough to win a championship. Pitching depth is the key, and the Red Sox have that in abundance. Jon Lester will hold the No. 4 spot and could be a 12 game winner, while the No. 5 spot will likely be a committee consisting of Buchholz, Tavarez, Colon, Snyder and a few rookies like Masterson along the way. The Sox got ___ starts and ___ wins from the ’07 “committee” and this year’s group should do even better this year.
Bottom Line: Beckett wins the Cy Young, Matsuzaka win 17 games with a 3.80 ERA and Buchholz wins 10 games from the No. 5 spot.
3. J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo will rebound from a frustrating 2007
As I was writing this post, Tim posted his thoughts on JD Drew with J.D. Drew: Take Two, and did a great job covering Drew’s major issue from 2007: his loss of power and production.
Tim and I agree that Drew’s approach at the plate seemed to affect his power. Check out Tim’s post for a look at his hit charts. You can see that Drew has never been a pull hitter; he actually drives the ball well up the middle. The greatest example of that was his Grand Salami in the playoffs.
Personally, I think he simply fell into a funk and spent much of the season trying too hard to get out of it -- all while dealing with some serious family issues that know doubt hindered his focus.
Here are J.D. Drew’s stats for 2004, 2006 and 2007 (He only played 72 games in ’05):
2004 – 518 AB, 118 R, 28 2B, 31 HR, 93 RBI, .305 BA, 1.006 OPS
2006 – 494 AB, 84 R, 34 2B, 20 HR, 100 RBI, .283 BA, .891 OPS
2007 – 466 AB, 84 R, 30 2B, 11 HR, 64 RBI, .270 BA, .769 OPS
AVG – 492 AB, 95 R, 31 2B, 20.6 HR, 85.6 RBI, .286 BA, .888 OPS
Other than his 100 RBI in 2006, Drew has declined in all major categories, most notably in the power department. Yet, Bill James predicts Drew will improve on his ’07 numbers this season:
James’ 2008 – 510 AB, 90 R, 29 2B, 20 HR, 78 RBI, .278 BA, .857 OPS
Bottom Line: In 2006 he batted .296 with RISP. In 2007 he fell to .237. Since 2003 he’s averaged .275 w/ RISP, .293 if you take out the .218 mark from the injury plagued ’05 season... History tells us that Drew should be a 90/20/90/.280 hitter. His lack of production (65 RBI) was frustrating, but you have to assume that he and the coaches are working on a refined approach for ’08.
Interesting factoid: He lost his pop and couldn’t hit in the clutch, but Drew batted .291 in 337 at-bats in the 5th spot… he batted just .217 in all other spots and .156 when moved to No. 6, so you have to wonder how he’ll do if he’s officially lost the fifth spot to Lowell this year...
Strangely, Julio Lugo, the other big signing from the 2006 offseason, experienced an equally frustrating move to Boston. Lugo was the leadoff man for four seasons in Tampa Bay and tallied a .270 BA and a .335 OBP from 2000 to 2006. But in 2007, he struggled as the leadoff man, batting .224 in 352 at-bats. He eventually lost the job and finished the season at the bottom of the order, where he batted .305 and raised his OBP to .353 over 174 at-bats.
Lugo admitted to the Herald that he suffered from a stomach virus that zapped his strength and endurance for much of 2007.
“I never got my strength back,” Lugo said. “I started training in January and that only made it worse, and when I got to spring training, I wasn’t right.
“Last year I was sick before I came in. I was weak. I just couldn’t get my bat through the zone. This year I feel better. I’m in better condition.”
If that is true, it should be noted that Lugo still managed to score 71 runs and drive in 73 himself, despite the tummy ache and a .237 BA. He also seemed to get his strength back in the second half, where he batted .280, compared to a horrific .190 to start the season.
Lugo is clearly more comfortable in the nine spot and with Ellsbury likely to be leading off in 2008, the Red Sox will have speed at both ends of the lineup. Lugo stole 33 bases in 2007 while hitting ahead of the run producers. With more opportunities to run while in the 9th spot, Lugo could snag over 40 bags in 2008 (he had 39 in 2005).
Bottom Line: A healthy Lugo should have a 80/15/80/.280 line. Combine that with a 90/20/90/.280 J.D. Drew (and a career year from Manny, see below) could enable to the 2008 Red Sox to challenge the 2003 Red Sox for overall productivity (961 runs, 8 of 9 players w/ 80+ RBI)
4. Manny Ramirez will return to form
For the first time since 1997, Manny did not finish the season with 30 HRs and 100 RBI. He also missed most of September due to injury. Yet the Sox still managed to win the East and tally 96 wins.
Imagine what they’ll do with Manny in a contract year…
From ’98 to ’06 Manny Ramirez batted .320 and averaged 40 home runs and 127 RBI per season. In 2007, in 483 at-bats, he tallied just 20 HRs and 88 RBI while batting .296. But he did bat .348 with 4 homers and 16 RBI in the playoffs…
Bottom Line: Manny is a hitting machine. He’ll turn 36 in May, but with one more big payout on the horizon, you know he’s going to have a monster season. You don’t have to look too hard to see that players tend to rise to the occasion in a contract year: Mike Lowell, Jorge Posada, Torri Hunter...
5. The competition is good, but not better
The Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels look to be the best competition, with the Yankees and Mariners close behind.
The Tigers made a few big moves in the off-season signing Cabrera, Renteria and Willis. They will score plenty of runs this year, but the Yankees lead the league with 968 runs and still lost the AL Eats to the Sox (867) and the ALDS to the Indians (811). Why? Pitching. Bonderman fell apart last season (11-9, 5.01) and Willis is not the answer to a rotation that relies too heavily on Justin Verlander. Not too mention a bullpen with a number of question marks: Jones, Zumaya, Rodney.
The Angels signed a big name as well, adding Torri Hunter to the outfield in an effort to add more pop to a small ball line up. The Angels are actually the opposite of the Tigers: Solid pitching with Lackey, Escobar, Weaver, and closer F-Rod, but they had to scrape together 822 runs with Orlando Cabrera as their No. 2 RBI guy (82) -- and now he’s with the White Sox… Hunter is capable of adding 25+ home runs and 100 RBI to the offense, but despite making the playoffs 4 times this decade, the Angles have swept twice by the Red Sox and haven’t won a postseason series since their 2002 World Series victory.
The Yankees are always in the hunt and will feature a squad similar to the Yankees with lots of offense and questions marks in the rotation... But A-Rod continues to struggle when it matters most and Joba Chamberlain can’t fix the rotation and the bullpen situation at the same time. That said, the Yankees have similarities to the Sox in that they will be hoping for solid performances from aging veterans (Wake / Mussina) and inexperienced rookies (Lester, Buchholz / Chamberlain, Kennedy & Hughes)... so anything’s possible.
I think the Cleveland Indians present the biggest challenge to the Red Sox. They are almost as well rounded as the Sox, but Martinez and Hafner aren’t Manny and Papi, Sizemore might be the best CF in the AL, the rest of the OF consists of unproven players like Jason Michaels and Franklin Gutierrez. And a .268 team batting average needs to be improved upon if they want to stay ahead in the AL Central. Sabathia and Carmona are young and talented, and will be in the Cy Young mix again this year, but Westbrook and Byrd both have 4.35 career ERAs and closer Joe Borowski struggled down the stretch in 2007. The one place the Indians might have everyone beat is their bullpen. Betancourt and Perez will help the Tribe close out close games, but can this team rebound from a heartbreaking post-season flop in 2007?
Bottomline: The Red Sox are the team to beat in 2008. It will be a battle in the AL East with a young and talented D-Rays squad and a solid Blue Jays team, but the dismantled Orioles will give up more wins than they have in the past. In the end, the Sox are built for the postseason, while the other contenders have more question marks.
Prediction: Red Sox over Yankees, Red Sox over Indians, Red Sox over Phillies.
Read more from Bottom Line Rob at The Bottom Line blog.
Discussion
48 Comments on "5 reasons why the Red Sox will repeat in 2008"
#1
Posted by kevin r, March 5, 2008 10:40 AM
maybe I'm misinterpreting, but I read that last prediction line as "Sox over Yankees (in ALDS), Sox over Indians (in ALCS), Sox over Phillies (in WS)"... but the Sox can't play the Yankees in the ALDS. :)
#3
Posted by Sean O, March 5, 2008 11:38 AM
Yeah, Lugo will be better, but not by much, because he sucks. And the Tigers/Indians not being better? The Indians took us to the very end of the ALCS with a host of young kids who are only getting better (asdrubal, gutierrez, sizemore, garko), not to mention that Hafner somehow lost .200 points of slugging.
The Tigers, meanwhile, actually tried to solve issues both now and into the future, and are dramatically better. They have Cabrera instead of Inge and Renteria instead of Sean Casey.
Wouldn't it be nice if we tried to solve our problems.
#4
Posted by a guy who pops bubbles, March 5, 2008 1:08 PM
You are delusional. Every team in the AL East has pitching issues...unless Schilling is eating fistfulls of HGH he is not going to be effective. Or even see sunlight againt out of the Frankenstien lab.Wakefield will be injured this year. He is every year. Sabathia for the Cleveland Injuns is a playoff loser. Cleveland has two pitchers who I feel equal more than one Beckett and a possible.
If you think about depth and options the Yankees have more bats and arms thean they know what to do with. They are the only team with this at all. Face it friend, the Yankees have three YOUNG starters who are a cut above a very large portion of pitching at the major league level. As a matter of fact they have Rasner and Karstens...who are no slouches.
That is five youngsters. Does the Boston Becketts have that? Does Cleveland?No.
The Tigers have Kenny the Gambler Rogers...Who is old and sucks.....and DWI D-Train Willis Who just plain sucks....in the National League he sucked. Now he has to have the best lineups in baseball beat the crap out of him.Detroit made the mistake that Yankees did after 96 and got a killer lineup with crappy pitching....the odds are it wont work.
The Tigers have one ACE....Boston has one...maybe two....
The Yankees have one(Wang 19 wins is an ace) and maybe six. The odds that two of five highly trained pitchers will function at the MLB level is pretty good.That gives Three ACES. With competent backup.
The Bluejays banked on two carl pavanos to take them to the world series......they both look like they are 50 years old.Dude you are in for some serious upsets in your order of the world. Put your team loyalty aside and realize reality and logic.
#6
Posted by Tommy, March 5, 2008 1:15 PM
"Westbrook and Byrd both have 4.35 career ERAs"
Matzusaka had a 4.40 ERA and is penciled in as the Red Sox number 2 starter. Westbrook and Byrd are the 3rd and 4th starter for Cleveland. A 4.35 isn't wonderful, but it ain't terrible either
#8
Posted by Daniel Rathman, March 5, 2008 2:13 PM
Lester's looking much better today, so perhaps he'll come around and be a decent fourth starter. Most importantly: only one walk in three innings, and he got 6 groundouts versus one flyout.
On a more negative note, Ellsbury (not playing today) and Pedroia can't buy a hit right now...yet somehow, Kevin Cash is batting .600!
#9
Posted by Steven Roth, March 5, 2008 3:23 PM
Our good ol friend Joba just plunked some guy during the NYY-MIN game this afternoon. He gave up a 500 foot homer to some nobody and nailed the next guy. What a duche.
#10
Posted by Moshe Mandel, March 5, 2008 3:41 PM
Steven, were you watching the game at all? He hit the guy on the foot with a pitch that he clearly lost control of. If you were watching, he had major control issues throughout his outing, going to 3 balls on multiple hitters and bouncing several pitches. No one on the Twins gestured at him or said anything at all. You are trying to create something out of nothing.
#11
Posted by Ric, March 5, 2008 4:37 PM
"The Yankees have one(Wang 19 wins is an ace) and maybe six"
its true. first ballot HOFers, all of them. in fact, every Yankee minor leauguer is a sure future all star.
#12
Posted by BartoLoco, March 5, 2008 5:14 PM
Steven, that's what happens when you're mentored by Roger Clemens. I wonder what other lessons Joba learned from Roger...
#13
Posted by BartoLoco, March 5, 2008 5:17 PM
Moshe, do you think the back to back balls over Youk's head "slipped" as well?
#14
Posted by BartoLoco, March 5, 2008 5:18 PM
Sean O, who on the Red Sox doesn't suck in your opinion (other than Julian Tavarez who you love). You're a fan boy, you just like players for their personalities.
#15
Posted by Moshe Mandel, March 5, 2008 5:38 PM
BartoLoco, after the first pitch at Youk, I thought it slipped. After the second, it was obvious that it did not. Anyhow, your argument is a bit poor. Just because Josh Beckett has hit people on purpose at some point in his career, that does not mean each time he hits someone, it was a purpose pitch. Anyone watching the game today, specifically the Twins, knew that it was unintentional.
#16
Posted by Steven Roth, March 5, 2008 5:50 PM
Moshe the Yankee, my bad...my Pops was watching the game and gave me the play by play after it happened. It sounds unintentional the way you describe it but hey, Joba has a rep now. Joba is a punk and every time he hits someone people are going to be saying "what the hell's his problem" in the back of their heads.
If his control sucks, I'm a happy camper. Pap > Joba. Just don't get me started on the contract talks.
#17
Posted by BartoLoco, March 5, 2008 6:12 PM
Moshe, it may not look like he hit him on purpose to you, but you don't know. That's my point. And the way you describe it wasn't exactly accurate. He hit the guy with a fastball, which he wasn't having control issues with. In fact, he just had struck out someone on a fastball right on the corner. And he hit him higher up around the ankle. It's not like the ball was headed to the dirt and just happened to hit his toe or something. Joba was visibly pissed off after the home run and on the very next pitch he through a fastball right at the hitter.
Was it intentional? Who knows. It's kind of silly that pitcher would intentionally hit someone in Spring Training but what Joba did throwing the two pitches over Youk's head wasn't any less silly.
#18
Posted by Sean O, March 5, 2008 6:15 PM
Barto, you've made a few posts in this thread that didn't mention me, congratulations! But now I'm back, so you can return to your pathetic obsession.
At least the Yankees trolls are interesting, this new troll is just sad.
#19
Posted by Steven Roth, March 5, 2008 6:23 PM
"Joba was visibly pissed off after the home run and on the very next pitch he through a fastball right at the hitter."
Way to bend the truth Moshe...
#20
Posted by Evan Brunell, March 5, 2008 6:23 PM
The Indians took us to the very end of the ALCS with a host of young kids who are only getting better (asdrubal, gutierrez, sizemore, garko), not to mention that Hafner somehow lost .200 points of slugging.
Can't this be said about the Red Sox?
#21
Posted by BartoLoco, March 5, 2008 6:25 PM
*threw a fastball
Sean O, who's obsessed with who? I'm here to talk baseball, not to make fun of the team and anyone who disagrees with me.
#22
Posted by Mike, March 5, 2008 6:25 PM
Between Becket, Dice-K, Wake, Lester, Buchholz, Colon, Masterson and Tavarez, the RedSox shouldn't have too much of a problem with keeping a 5-man rotation going. With a contract-season Manny,... a healthy Ortiz,... an emerging Ellsbury,... and Drew & Lugo coming off confidence-building post seasons,.. Youk showing a power surge,.... Lowell and Pedroia remaining steady,... the Sox are going to bring a few more offensive weapons to the table in '08,...and the already-capable rotation will be the prime beneficiary ,,, The Yanks scored the most runs but the RedSox PREVENTED the most runs. Projected increased offensive output by the Sox this season will only shore up their rotation. They will indeed be the team to beat. Strange things can happen in the playoffs,,..... the RedSox could win a 100 games and then blow it with a glitch against the Tigers, eh? Superior pitching is what's supposed to prevent things like that from happening,... and the Red Sox have that superior pitching. If Boston isn't the favorite going in, then I need to see a resume of a team whose offense, defense and pitching stacks up better. There isn't one. The Red Sox are the elite, ... anything can happen in the playoffs,.... but the Red Sox are the best team in baseball.
#23
Posted by RetroDart, March 5, 2008 6:27 PM
Sean, not everyone who disagrees with you is a troll. I can understand why he's annoyed with you. Even you must realize that you can be obnoxious.
#24
Posted by Devine, March 5, 2008 6:42 PM
I agree about the Tigers...they are last year's Yankees, with the Indians playing the role of last year's Red Sox.
#25
Posted by Sam, March 5, 2008 6:52 PM
Lugo, Theo, Drew, Ellsbury, and Lester suck and I hope they all get injured or traded ... well you suck cuz you hate on everyone, you must be a Yankee fan ... shut up, stop obsessing over me you pathetic troll ... who obsessed with who? you're the one that can't stop hating on Theo ... well maybe I wouldn't if he actually did something once and a while............
uummmmm yeah ... Am I the only one who wishes it was Opening Day?
#26
Posted by Moshe Mandel, March 5, 2008 6:58 PM
Steven, not bending the truth. Let me ask you something simple. If the opposing team or player who was hit did not even give a second look at Joba, neither the umpire nor the opposing manager had any reaction, why would we at home have some better perspective as to what happened? Again, making something out of nothing.
#27
Posted by BartoLoco, March 5, 2008 7:14 PM
So what's your theory Moshe. Because the batter didn't charge the mound in a ST game, Joba didn't hit him on purpose? Just because the opposing team didn't make a stink about it, doesn't mean they didn't wonder if it was intentional. Don't try to pretend you knew what they were thinking because the camera didn't even show many of them.
#28
Posted by BartoLoco, March 5, 2008 7:22 PM
Sean O, that wouldn't be you behind a puppet name, would it?
#29
Posted by Moshe Mandel, March 5, 2008 7:24 PM
Come on, Barto. You know as well as I do that if they had had any visible reaction, the cameras would have shown it. And I didnt expect anyone charging the mound, but no reactions, no mention of the HBP in the game recaps, seems like much ado about nothing.
#30
Posted by BartoLoco, March 5, 2008 7:56 PM
Moshe, it's a spring training game. How many cameras do you honestly think they have? Again, just because as far as we know the opposing team didn't become visibly upset, doesn't mean Joba didn't do it on purpose. That logic is a little flawed.
#31
Posted by JK, March 5, 2008 10:02 PM
6 possible aces? weren't you talking about how sabathia stunk it up in the playoffs when.. sabathia BEAT chein ming likes wang AND chein-mings era in the postseason was more than my age.. 19.06... POSTSEASON ACE!!!!!!! oh joba he threw away a game in the alds oh and rasner and karstens are not good at all be realistic
beckett is an ace, dice-k has ace potential, clay has ace potential, lester is a potential no.2 when all we need is a 4 and wake is one of the most dependent pitchers in the game
#33
Posted by Mostly Running., March 5, 2008 10:54 PM
Where is Old Towne Glory? He could clear all this up with one swell foop. Oh right, he's Bartolistically out of here.
You need accountability in comments and or the season to begin. I'm betting the season starts first.
#34
Posted by Daniel Rathman, March 5, 2008 11:58 PM
Actually, Rotoworld seems to say that the Twins were in fact upset:
"[Joba] gave up a two-run homer to Garrett Jones today and then drilled Matt Tolbert on the ankle with his very next pitch, earning himself some nasty looks from the Twins dugout."
Does it really matter, though, in the grand scheme of things? Joba seems like a great guy, and I'm not convinced this reputation he's developing is completely fair. From what I can gather, this was a frustrating outing for him, and if it was a purpose pitch, it was probably just him venting. He could definitely stand to learn to control himself a bit more...but at least he didn't throw at Tolbert's head...
BTW, what will it take for Javier Lopez to pitch himself off the team? I know Ginter's error was untimely, but that outing didn't exactly inspire any confidence. I honestly might prefer Jon Switzer (if not Breslow) to Lopez at this point.
#35
Posted by Tristan Quigley, March 6, 2008 1:09 AM
You said that the Angels haven't won a playoff series since 2002. You're forgetting that very sweet victory they had over the Stanks in the 2005 ALDS. We got swept by the other Sox but Randy Johnson got torched by the Halos. So sweet.
#36
Posted by Sean O, March 6, 2008 1:33 AM
Tristan is right. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Ervin Santana because of that series.
Still, you have to be at least a little bit confident when the Sox head into a playoff series versus the Halos, considering how it's gone since Hendu's blast.
#37
Posted by Anonymous, March 6, 2008 3:32 AM
"Does it really matter, though, in the grand scheme of things?" - Daniel Rathman
my favorite quote of the day ... well said DR ... but I don't suppose anyone was paying attention ... they're too busy searching for some other unimportant subject to bicker back and forth over ... whatever ... I guess I shouldn't get into it ... just gets old sometimes
#39
Posted by Moshe Mandel, March 6, 2008 6:04 AM
DR, I stand corrected. Maybe it was a purpose pitch. ANd I agree about Joba getting a bad rap- that incident with Youk was the only time he ever displayed any sort of hotheadedness on the mound.
#40
Posted by Doug Fischer, March 6, 2008 1:10 PM
although 'pitching wins championships', schilling has health problems, and its only a matter of time before wakefield does as well... its also going to be very hard for josh beckett to have the same year as he did a year ago... that said, as always- it will be a classic battle between the yanks and sox til the end
#42
Posted by Bottomline Rob, March 6, 2008 1:24 PM
Wow. Lots of jibber jabe here... Sorry it took so long to respond.
I will admit that I wrote this poste with extreme optimisim. The bottom line is that the Sox won it all while overcoming an injured Schilling and Manny, a useless Lugo Drew and Crisp.
Sure Wake could go down. Sure Lester and the guys in the 5th spot could suck. Sure Drew and Lugo might continue to suck.
But to tell me that Kennedy, Joba, Hughes and rest of the gang are all potential aces in the same breathe sounds equally optomistic. Check back when Mussina stinks it up, Rivera finally breaks down or Matsui and Damon stay healthy for more that a week at a time...
It takes just as much luck as it doesn talent to win a WS. The Yanks could do, the Indians could definitely do it... but I think the Sox will do it.
See you in October
#43
Posted by Bottomline Rob, March 6, 2008 1:25 PM
worst typing ever!
but i think it's readable... sorry.
#44
Posted by Travis G., March 6, 2008 7:10 PM
if there's any team that shouldn't complain about batters getting beaned, it's the sox. they lead all of baseball in hitting batters over the last 10 years. nuff said.
#45
Posted by Gerry, March 6, 2008 10:39 PM
Daniel, I am afraid that Breslow followed Lopez's lead today. Good thing it is only ST. Aardsma impressed, and Corey but less so. And Wake is still . . . dependable. Who would be surprised if, assuming health and hitting and only pitching at parks where his knuckler works, if he did 17 again . . . with fewer losses because of Tito's bigger hook this year.
#46
Posted by RollingWave, March 7, 2008 5:16 AM
Rose colored glasses for the win!
by this post's logic the Red Sox should project to go around 130-34 this year ;)
#47
Posted by James Baker (from work), March 7, 2008 7:56 AM
Anyone who thinks the Sox AREN'T the team to beat this year are kidding themselves.
The Sox are stacked, losing Schill won't hurt them that much as they should have the offense to back it up.
To me the only real question marks are Ortiz and Manny. Last year we saw some decline from those two and Lowell really picked up the slack and was the unsung hero - nationally anyway.
Manny and Ortiz strike me as guys that could get real bad real quick. Ortiz especially, that seems to be an illness of the big man in sports their bodies just start breaking down.
I may be an Orioles blogger (keep your comments to yourself) and I DO hate Red Sox nation with a white-hot passion of a thounsand suns (but not in a malicious way :p ) I know that the Soc are the team to beat and they should pretty much sleepwalk through the season to 90 wins.
#48
Posted by Mike, March 8, 2008 11:09 AM
Nothing succeeds like success, and the Red Sox have had that in abundance. Even without Schilling, they will be better this season,.. primarily due to improved offensive output. Manny's gonna come back for at least one more super season, and Jacoby's gonna blossom into the game's next superstar. If Lester and Buchholz get anything close to their presumed potential, then the Sox repeat.
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