Originally Posted by
Jiraiyah
Sketchy? At BEST? You crazy man?
Beckett and Lackey are the only question marks on the starting staff, and both give more reason for optimism than pessimism given track records. Lester and Buchholz will both be in cy young talks all year. Diasuke will likely be the best 5th starter in all of baseball.
The bullpen isn't the same as last year's either. Papelbon, Jenks and Bard to finish your games. All of which could be top-notch closers if they weren't all on the same team. Dubront and Wheeler are solid mid-releavers. Wakefield will give more quality innings than probably any reliever in baseball (which is a highly valuable commodity). The rest of the holes can be filled with some very promising young AAA pitchers coming from the best player development system in the majors. All we need is a lights-out lefty but the postseason isn't over yet.
The offense is, of course extremely good. If I may make a bold prediction, I believe the 2011 Red Sox will shatter the all-time record for doubles in a season by a team. But what you're not giving these "stars" credit for is their defense. Gonzalez, Pedrioa and Youkilis have gold gloves (though Youks will be moving to third where he's barely above average, I'll give you that). Lowrie has made 2 errors at SS in his entire career (98 games at SS) and hit .381/.526 last season.
Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury and JD Drew are all GG winners or GG capable centerfielders. Crawford will be the best Left Fielder in the AL. Ellsbury can run 470 mph. JD Drew, quietly, is one of the best defending right fielders in the game. This will be the best defensive outfield the Red Sox have put out in our lifetimes.
The weakest position is catcher, where it's very difficult to judge. Both Saltalamacchia and Varitek have poor records throwing people out but both have high reputations for game-calling and are sure-handed behind the plate. Salty has break-out potential and is cut in Varitek's mold. Tek will be spending the season mentoring him. It's more likely Salty will be Varitek 2.0 than a total bust.
In short, that's an A rotation, B bullpen, A+ offense and A defense (A+outfield, A- to B+ infield) And this is just for 2011.
In 2012, over $60millin AAV comes off the books while Jose Iglesies comes up (projected to be the single most can't miss prospect in a very long time in that he is virtually assured to have above average value with his defense alone. At worst, he'll be a light hitting GG-caliber SS (and still extremely valuable). At best he'll be Ozzie Smith). The Sox have Pedroia, Lester, Bard, Youkilis, Crawford, Beckett, Lackey, Iglesies, Ellsbury, and Buchholz locked down for years while the best and most expensive player development system in the major leagues gets restocked from the plethora of draft picks picked up in this very deep 2011 draft. Gonzalez is highly likely to sign an extension during the season for around 7 years, so you could throw him in as well.
The Boston Red Sox are going to be an absolute powerhouse of a team for the next decade, basically, is my bottom line. Very good chance at seeing 3 championships in NE this year, too.