State of the Sox

I will start off by saying that I am a fan of the recent moves. I love Jason Bay, but not at the dollars and contract length being bandied about. I’m a huge Matt Holliday fan, but not at Teixiera-like money. And I’ve always been a big fan of Mike Cameron (power pat, good OBP, great defense), so I’m happy to see him join the Sox.

I’m a little mixed on John Lackey. He’s definitely a good pitcher, and I think he should still be good in 5 years. But $80 million good? I’m not sure. To me (like Beckett), he’s really a No. 2 pitcher who sometimes moonlights as a No. 1. But Lester is the No. 1 in Beantown, and Beckett and Lackey will be Nos. 2a and 2b.

I discussed my view of the Scutaro signing in my last post.

So how do the Sox look if the season started today?

Position Players
C Victor Martinez (+ offense, - defense)
1B Casey Kotchman (- offense, + defense)
2B Dustin Pedroia (+ +)
3B Kevin Youkilis (+ +)
SS Marco Scutaro (+ +)
LF Mike Cameron (+ +)
CF Jacoby Ellsbury (+ +)
RF JD Drew (+ +)
DH David Ortiz (-)

Bench
C Jason Varitek (- -)
INF Jed Lowrie (- -)
Jeremy Hermida (- +)

I’ve read a lot of naysayers say how much worse this lineup looks without Bay. I don’t see it that way. Cameron is an awesome defender, Bay wasn’t very good. Yes, Bay is the superior hitter (better on-base skills), but the difference is not that drastic.

Still not sure what Varitek is doing on this team. He’s a defensive liability, and he can’t hit anymore. Yes, he owns a catcher’s mitt, but I would have preferred a minor leaguer with an arm. Or at least a catcher who can hit.

Starters
Jon Lester
Josh Beckett
John Lackey
Dice K
Clay Buchholz

Bullpen
Papelbon
Okajima
Daniel Bard
R. Ramirez

The bullpen is still a work in progress, but the rotation is awesome! Dice K and Buchholz may become trade bait, but I’ll take the Boston top 3 over any group in baseball.

If you follow the hot stove rumor mill, Kotchman is unlikely to start the season at 1B (meaning the Sox will go after a 1B or 3B). I’m not a huge fan of any of the names being bandied about besides Adrian Gonzalez, who I don’t think is coming without parting with Ellsbury. Adrian Beltre is not much of an upgrade over a lineup with Kotchman, so I wouldn’t touch that.

What I do think the team needs is a bat or two for the bench. Hermida isn’t a great hitter. Not sure who’s a good fit, but there should be some bargain veterans that can fit that role between now and spring training.

I am very optimistic about next year. I am totally cool with the pitching/defense team model. The goal is to score more runs with the other team. Doesn’t matter if the score is 11-6 or 2-1. Let’s just knock the Yankees of that perch baby!