Pitchers and Catchers report to Ft. Meyers Florida for the first day of Spring Training on Thursday, and there will be plenty for Red Sox Nation to keep their collective eyes on from Now until Easter Sunday when the Beantown Boys open against the 2010 Season against the New York Yankees.
The Sox made a substantial splash in Free Agency this off-season signing former Anaheim Angels Ace, John Lackey, to a five year $82.5 million contract...to be the third starter and shore up an above average staff. The signing of Lackey brings several questions to the forefront in terms of the rotation. Who is the odd man out? Conventional wisdom says it is the Sox elder statesman, Tim Wakefield, who may be a spot starter, or assigned to the bullpen for mop up duty. The Sox now have one of the more formidable rotations in Baseball with Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, and Lackey. As it appears now, Clay Buchholz is most likely to be the fourth starter with Dauiske Matsusaka coming off an injury plagued 2009 as the fifth starter. Dice-K has already shown up to camp in great shape, and appears ready to be a good soldier and fall into line, after pushing the limit last season with his injuries blaming the Sox brass for not letting him do his own health regiment.
The Lackey signing also has brought the Josh Beckett contract status to the forefront. If Beckett is to sign an extension to stay in Boston, is it going to be for Lackey money or not so much. It remains to be seen what shape Beckett is going to show up to Ft. Meyers in, is he going to resemble the Josh Beckett that went 20-7 with a 3.27 ERA in 2007 or the inconsistent Josh Beckett who went 17-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 2009 who was a pre-season Cy Young favorite. Beckett should be a favorite again for the Cy Young this season if he can stay healthy. Expect to see Beckett be the clear cut ace of this staff by May.
The last question in my mind goes back to Buchholz, will he be the fourth starter, or featured in a trade for a bat to replace the departure of of slugger Jason Bay who signed with the Mets on December 29th. The Sox did sign some notable position players this off-season including Mike Cameron to roam the lawn, and Marco Scutaro to bring some semblance of stability to shortstop, and both of those players are past their offensive prime, but add a some defense to aid the staff. But the Sox proved last year with the Brad Penney/John Smoltz experiment, you can't have too much depth on the hill. So I am not certain the Sox have enough to replace Buchholz in a trade, and god forbid an injury to one of the top starters at the same time. It will be
Monday, February 15, 2010
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