Red Sox 2006

Okay, we can whine and kvetch, or move on and prepare for the 2006 season.

The team needs to rebuild the infield, improve their overall defense, and get offensive production from first base. Without a great pitching staff, they will continue to need potent offense.

Projections:
C Varitek and Mirabelli (standing pat)...Shoppach on the block?
1B (I wouldn't trade youth, e.g. Hanley and Lester for Delgado, Konerko is the prize) Youkilis could be an option
2B Pedroia, Cora
SS Renteria
3B (Don't think Nomar will be coming back) Joe Randa a pretty good player (see Youkilis under 1B)
LF Manny
CF Damon (will eventually come back, but should have Hanley Ramirez working out in CF)
RF Nixon
DH Ortiz
OF Kapler (?injury recovered), Dave Roberts is out there and could replace Damon if they reallocate money to go for a Konerko, Preston Wilson strikes out a lot but has pop
U - need some other potent RH bat, B.J. Surhoff a great character guy,

P Schilling
P Papelbon
P Wakefield
P Clement
P Wells

(move Arroyo, as he may have some value)
RP Delcarmen
RP Lester (give the kids an opportunity)
RP Hansen
RP Kyle Farnsworth (Free agent) or Hasegawa
RP Myers (B.J. Ryan is out there)
RP Foulke (trade value not high enough now)

The Sox seem to have more pitchers close to being ready (Delcarmen, Hansen, Lester) than position players. We can only hope that to create payroll sanity, that they hang onto most of their top prospects.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Here's a realty check.You lost the big game to the Yanks so you finished in 2nd place again.Chicago whupped you.Maybe next year you can try for another 1 year dynasty
4:39 PM
Anonymous said…
Sorry, buddy, but I'm going to assume that you are a Yankee fan, because they seem to be the only ones who irrelevantly go on Red Sox sites and attempt to taunt Sox fans like myself. So, you asked for it. The Yanks lost too, and they haven't won since 2000. The Pats didn't even make tyhe playoffs the year after their first Super Bowl win, and then they came back and won the next two Super Bowls. They are now considered a dynasty. By your logic, they are not, even though they have been the diminate team in football the past four years. Explain that.
6:38 AM
Anonymous said…
doc-
None of the young guys, aside from Jonathan P., are ready or will they be ready for awhile. Most baseball types are saying middle '06 at the earliest.
Sox must sign a solid reliever (your suggestion, Ryan, would be nice) and a Millwood.
12:30 PM
Anonymous said…
I agree with the fellow above. Papelbon is ready for the bigs, but none of the others are...yet. You have to have a veteran relief corps in place by spring training (see: 2005 Sox) and then break in the kids slowly as need arises. Instead of throwing Lester and his potential into the fire too soon, let the kid develop his pitches at AAA instead of destroying his young psyche by rushing him. And Delcarmen hasn't been nearly as impressive as the fans seem to think. He's the one rookie pitcher that I would trade given all the hype. Also, Youk has absolutely no power; trade that guy too and keep Olerud. I think Adrian Beltre could be had if the package was right, so that solves your 3b prob. I love the idea of Roberts coming back and a trade of Arroyo is pretty much iminent at this point.
2:02 PM
Anonymous said…
Papelbon will be a good reliever but we do need another solid one. maybe we can get someone good for arroyo
3:51 PM
Anonymous said…
Here's a great place to make your Super Bowl pick - they'll pay for your party!

Super Bowl XL
9:56 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mistakes by the Lake?

Let the second guessing begin. The Red Sox haven't even heard "Play Ball" and the controversy has already been teed up.  The Sox have overcome instability in the rotation and the bullpen and to a lesser degree the hole at the Hot Corner. Pablo Sandoval gave way to Travis Shaw (post All-Star break .194/.259/.360/.619), who is now supplanted by Brock Holt (post All-Star break .253/.318/.367/.685).  Any talk of the Panda Postseason was premature speculation at its most disheartening.  Sox skipper John Farrell has slotted Holt in the two spot in the order while dropping Xander Bogaerts (post All-Star break .253/.317/.412/.729) to sixth. Oh, the horror!  Who's going to win? Legendary hoop coach Don Meyer would answer, "It's not who you play, it's how you play."  Baseball isn't a sport where elevating your intensity level translates to improved performance. Getting over 'jacked' won't translate to more 'jacks'.  The specul...
Read more

The Hot Stove League Begins

The Red Sox announced that about 81 percent of existing ticket prices would remain unchanged for the 2007 season. I'm sure that relieves many of our anxieties that tickets could actually get expensive. "America's Most Beloved Ballpark" already had the highest price tag for a family outing of four, currently only requiring a second mortgage, a downgrade to regular from high test, turning the heat down to 60 at night, and buying only generic turkey hot dogs for weeks. If I can find my Game 1 ticket stub from the bleachers in 1975, I think it will show $4.75 for attending a World Series opener. Now that's almost the price for a bottle of water. Well, water is the commodity of the 21st Century, and I'm sure that Mr. Henry will confirm that, although a lot of other commodities haven't treated him so well in the recent past. Of course, that also means that 19 percent of ticket prices will rise. I guess I'd like to sit in the Monster Seats someday, and that...
Read more

Wednesday Reversal

I'm sure that John Henry would remind us that Wednesday is the most significant 'reversal day' on the stock market (really). So it must be in Chicago also, with the Battle of the Crafty Lefties. Will it be Wells Swell or Buehrle's ' Hub Reels' (almost a clever anagram, eh)? The Red Sox threw the playoff-starved Pale Hose a bone yesterday, massively building up their overconfidence after a five year drought. So the Chicagroan's (pun intended) have the home field advantage, better starters, and a more consistent bullpen. They don't have no stinking trophy do they? The football guys always have their 'Auto Dealer' keys to the game. Why use auto dealers, especially U.S. ones, that are finance companies that loan people money to buy cars to pay off pensions because the car sales don't make any money? Well, baseball is simpler-score more runs than they do, win game. Ugh. Cave Man get on base and Surfer Dude hit him in, Red Sox win. Could the Red So...
Read more