P.E.D. Overhang

The Red Sox don't have a performance-enhancing drug problem, until they do. We don't know whether any current or former Red Sox are on the positive test list, but it's reasonable to presume that some are.

Surely we can all think of some players whose physiques "emerged", although we can only speculate whether they became gym rats or laboratory rats. But we'll surely admit a 'wink-wink, nod-nod' culture existed, and the pair of Giambi homers in Game 6 of the 2003 division championship aren't coming back.

So far for the Sox it's Camp Tranquility, with the New Guys blending seamlessly into the picture, Theo and Tito holding court, and players looking forward to the routine and marathon.

What are the question marks?

• Can Tim Wakefield hold a spot in the rotation?
• Will Jason Varitek resume a modicum of offensive production?
• Is Big Papi the Papi of old or becoming an older bigger papi?
• Will the muscled Julio Lugo compete for time against Jed Lowrie?
• Is an extension going to happen for Jason Bay?
• Will Ellsbury deal with the fastball down and in?
• Will health problems nag J.D. Drew?

Baseball involves the sum of run production and run prevention, with the vicissitudes of 'fortune', that determine (along with relief pitching) the outcome of one-run decisions. And who can know the seeming randomness that explains the underachievement or outperformance that explains how .220 hitters can hit .280 and .300 hitters hit .26o?