A NEW season........a FRESH start

Well Baseball fans its now down to 5 days until Opening day! It is going to be a very hard season for our hometown team but I feel pretty good about our chances. Last years team was only ONE win away from making it to the World Series and we are coming in with that same team but with better additions.

Here is a run down of the key pickups and releases.

Key Trade of the off season: Center Fielder Coco Crisp for RP Ramon Ramirez

Starting Pitching

Returning Players:
RH Josh Beckett
LH Jon Lester
RH Daisuke Matsuzaka
RH Tim Wakefield

Key Addition:
RH John Smoltz
RH Brad Penny

Key Release:
RH Curt Schilling (retired)
RH Paul Byrd

Studs to watch for?
RH Clay Buchholz
RH Michael Bowden
RH Jenichi Tazawa

Ballgame Buzz
We have some great arms down on the farm so don't be surprised to see Brad Penny or Tim Wakefield be on a short leash. Also John Smoltz wont make his first start until a few months even though he is saying he is feeling better then he has the past few years. Watch out for Justin Masterson to maybe make the jump to starter.

Bullpen

Returning Players:
RH Manny Delcarmen
LH Javier Lopez
RH Justin Masterson
LH Hideki Okajima
RH Jonathan Papelbon

Key Additions:
RH Ramon Ramirez
LH Takashi Saito

Key Release:
RH Mike Timlin
LH Julian Tavarez

Studs to watch for?
RH Daniel Bard
RH Charlie Zink

Ballgame Buzz
Watch for Takashi Saito to become the sox new setup guy to take some of the load off of Hideki Okajima. Also cant wait to see Daniel Bard make his way up to the big league, during spring training he was hitting triple digits on the radar gun....

Catcher

Returning Players:
C - Jason Varitek
C - George Kottaras (Called up last September played in 3 games with 5 atbats batting .200)

Key Addition:
Resigning Varitek

Key Release:
Kevin Cash

Ballgame Buzz
Biggest mistake this year? Not making a move for a better back up. Look for Theo and the boys to pursue making a trade for our future catcher using hometown boy Manny Delcarmen as trade bait.

Infield

Returning Players:
1B - Kevin Youkilis
2B - Dustin Pedroia
SS - Jed Lowrie
3B - Mike Lowel

Key Addition:
None

Key Release:
2B Alex Cora
1B Sean Casey (retired)

Bench:
SS Julio Lugo
IN/OF Mark Kotsay

Stud to watch for?
1B- Lars Anderson

Ballgame Buzz
Watch for Julio Lugo to get games in at short while Jed Lowrie moves over to third to give the ailing Mike Lowell some nights off.

Outfield

Returning Players:
LF - Jason Bay
CF - Jacoby Ellsbury
RF - J.D Drew

Key Addition:
CF Rocco Baldelli

Key Release:
CF Coco Crisp

Bench Players:
LF Chris Carter
CF Jonathan Van Every
IN/OF Mark Kotsay

Stud to watch for?
OF Josh Reddick

Ballgame Buzz
Even though Coco was a fan favorite we got a great deal on Rocco. He has had some health issues but doctors say they have figured them out so maybe we got a good player at a cheap price.

Designated Hitter

Returning Player:
DH David Ortiz

Key Addition:
None

Key Release:
Sean Casey (retired)

Ballgame Buzz
David Ortiz came into training camp looking slimmer then normal but not weaker. The wrist injury might have taken some pop out of papi's bat but maybe losing some weight will help him beat out some doubles. Look for Theo and the boys to make a mid-season trade the the big bat papi needs.