I have been asked to serve as the Red Sox's team expert from now through spring training for HEATER magazine. This will help you figure out how the Red Sox look from a fantasy baseball perspective.
Read on to view the first week's predictions such as projecting Julio Lugo to play half the time (getting roughly 300 at-bats, which is a lot for a bench player) and who would replace Jonathan Papelbon at closer should Paps get hurt.
The Boston Red Sox revealed today that Mark Kotsay underwent surgery Jan. 29th to remove a displaced disc fragment (H/T Extra Bases). This makes the Brad Wilkerson signing yesterday (minor league deal) make more sense. Wilkerson is likely ahead of Jeff Bailey, Chris Carter and Jon Van Every for a bench spot.
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Jason Varitek, you ended my dream. It may have been a long shot, but it's over. And although having you back at least fills the backstop, it does crush my desire to have nine league average hitters in the Red Sox lineup.
Was this a longshot? Yes. Having nine hitters be either average or better than average probably isn't likely. Had the Red Sox acquired a catcher via a trade, they would have been counting on three young players to achieve their goal.
According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Red Sox have signed OF/1B Brad Wilkerson to a minor league deal with roster and playing time incentives. Last year, he split time with Toronto and Seattle by hitting a combined .220/.308/.326 in 309 plate appearances and fighting nagging shoulder and back injuries.
Although he may only be 6th or 7th on the outfield depth chart, Wilkerson provides solid depth if his shoulder is healthy. He's always been a solid player when he's been on the field. He's only a year removed from hitting 20 home runs, gets on base at a decent clip, and possesses the rare ability of being a left handed hitter who hits lefties better than righties.
What does the return of Varitek mean for the club? Does it mean "more of the same?" No, I don't think it does. The actions of management over the last year have shown that the club is intent on shaking the psychological hold that Varitek holds over the team.
Varitek is a great leader, "The Captain," renowned for his hard work. But no one can defeat time, and if the Sox are to weather the transition from Varitek into another catcher, the team has to be weaned off 'Tek and how much he means to the club.
When comparing Varitek to similar catchers of his caliber and taking todays economy into effect, this is just bad management on the Sox part. However, this is no longer here nor there, and I think every rational Sox fan agrees with this. The real question now is, how do the rest of the catchers stack up after this?
Not to belabor an already conspicuous thought, but with the games played incentive that was so generously added by Mr. John Henry & Co. and Tito Francona's persistence on sticking with his veterans, one can safely presume that Varitek will get the vast majority of the at-bats coming from the catching position. So now the question becomes even more interesting, who gets the other fraction of the at-bats?