...It Begins Again


Spring Training 2007

Say whatever you would about the groundhog. The true harbinger of spring in these parts is when a fleet of trucks departs from the Fenway area bound for Ft. Myers. Spring training is nigh and Red Sox watchers worldwide will have their eyes and ears tuned into every boring event. Every year there’s always some dramatic undercurrent and this season’s no different.

With the imminent arrival of Matsusaka-san, the Japanese media will be swarming about, turning the mundane into a circus atmosphere. Then, there’s the annual “Manny Watch” where sportswriters breathlessly await his arrival. Will he arrive on time? Probably not, and who cares anyhow. As long as he shows up when it counts and delivers is all that matters. But that won’t stop the “Knights of the Keyboard” from creating some sort of controversy. They’ll have even more fodder with Schilling’s recent announcement that he intends to play in ’08 and is seeking (demanding) a $13MM contract extension from the team.

Spring Training is more a rite of spring for the fans than it is actual practice for the players. Compared to two-a-days in football camp, Spring Training is a veritable picnic. The boys run around in the sun for a few hours then hit the links or do whatever it is that ball players do with their off-time. There’s no heavy lifting and everyone seems to have an enjoyable time out there. After a week or so of “training”, the teams begin their “Grapefruit League” or “Cactus League” schedules. These usually involve the starters playing an inning or two before giving way to guys who wear unusually high numbers and will never get as much as a sniff of the majors. Sometimes the team plays “split squad games” where one bunch plays at home while another takes an interminably long bus ride up US Rt. 27 through endless rows of orange groves and strip malls. There’s always a young pup who tries to make his way to The Show with a phenomenal spring and an aging vet who discovers the end of the line.

This edition of Red Sox is an intriguing bunch. There aren’t many spots up for grabs. On paper, they have a nice team. The middle infielders are new as is the rightfielder. The starting pitching is about as solid as any Red Sox team I’ve ever seen, and the bullpen…well, Theo’s Achilles Heel appears to be a work in progress.

After the last six weeks of the ’06 season, not everyone’s drinking the Kool-Aid. There are a lot of holes on this team, and the competition for playoffs will be tough. There will be six or seven teams fighting over four spots. At the moment, there is no “Plan B” in the event that Varitek goes down again. Sure, they picked up a promising catching prospect from San Diego in the Wells trade, but the sands of time are running out on the Mighty Cap’n and it seems as if the team has failed to make the grooming of his successor a priority. During the offseason, the team signed a number of veterans for the bullpen, but there is no one who has been a proven closer. Foulke wore out his welcome in Boston has mercifully left for Cleveland together with fan favorite Trot Nixon. Doctors diagnosed Papelbon’s shoulder injury last September as having been caused from overwork and have recommended that he be slotted into a starter’s routine to promote long term health.
As for the starters, in addition to the question marks surrounding Papelbon, every spot in the rotation appears to carry some degree of risk. Schilling’s been an innings-eating horse over the years, but he’s forty years old, which in baseball years makes him ancient. Tim Wakefield and his mystifying knuckler has been a good pitcher for Boston since ’95, but one can never count upon the knuckleball with a reasonable degree of certainty. What if the aforementioned Matsusaka-san fails to live up to the hype? He’s been used to a six-day rotation and now not only has to learn Baseball, American Style but also will be losing a day’s rest from his customary routine. Jon Lester has made an incredible recovery from non-Hodgkins lymphoma but whether his body can endure the strains and stresses of pitching in the big leagues can only be determined with time on the mound. And what about Beckett? Can he ever learn to effectively throw an offspeed pitch? Last year batters were sitting back waiting for the high heat and took many a Beckett fastball out of the park.

Turning to the projected everyday starters, again there are a lot of questions. Behind the plate, Varitek seems to be on the back nine of a very good career in Boston. He’s integral to the team’s success and needs to be used effectively. When he went down, the Sox went into the tank. The decision to re-sign Mirabelli (after having reacquired him last spring in a disastrous trade with San Diego) defies logic. Don’t count on anything above The Mendoza Line with this guy. As Red Sox fans discovered last year, catching is a precious commodity and they really need a veteran presence for 40-50 games. Fortunately, Javy Lopez will not be reprising his cameo role from last year. At first base, Youkilis seems to have been handed the job. There will be no veteran backup like an Olerud or Snow who filled a hole as in years past. The rumored Helton deal collapsed (for the time being), so Youk needs to stay healthy. At second, the Sox had no interest in re-signing Loretta and have handed the job to rookie Dustin Pedroia. He is reminiscent of David Eckstein in size and attitude. If he can only play as well as Eckstein then the Sox will have discovered someone special, if not, than Alex Cora will be seeing a lot more time out there than anticipated. Turning to the revolving door at shortstop, the Sox finally got the guy they’d been lusting after for years in Julio Lugo. Last year, Alex Gonzalez played the most beautiful shortstop anyone younger than 75 had ever seen in Boston. Offensively, he couldn’t hit his way out of a paper bag, but he wasn’t brought in to be Nomar The Next. When the Sox were unwilling to meet Gonzalez’ demands for a long term deal, he headed off to Cincinnati. The Sox tried on several occasions to acquire Lugo when he was in Tampa. He provides a decent bat and speed at the top of the order. Defensively, let’s say that he’s no Alex Gonzalez. At third, Mike Lowell returns. Mike had a good year in Boston in ’06. He started off really well and tapered off as the team unraveled late in the year. The Boston fans really enjoyed and respected his efforts last year. He’s a consummate professional and a first-class individual. But he’ll be gone after this year and the Sox really need to develop someone at third for the future.

In the outfield, the enigmatic King Manny comes back for his seventh year with the Sox. As long as he remains healthy, he’s good for 35 homers and 125 RBI. The questions about Manny will always remain. He went down in August with “patellar tendonitis” in one of his knees. He was accused in some parts of having quit on the team. That’s the same sort of media-driven nonsense that’s been playing in Boston for a hundred years. None of this appears to have any affect of Manny, unlike Ted. Boston fans would be better off by just enjoying watching the guy hit rather than figuring out how the marbles roll around in his head. Manny’s a once-in-a-generation power hitter. Enjoy his prodigious home runs and forget about everything else. ‘Cause when he’s gone there will be a humungous hole out there in left field. In center, the Sox are hoping that Coco Crisp can stay healthy. There’s no denying the kid can play. He broke a finger in the first week in Baltimore and his bat never untracked all season. When he gets on he’s always a threat to steal. There’s no question regarding his speed in the outfield or his ability to track down balls headed for the gap. In right field, the Sox committed a bundle of dough to J.D. Drew for the next five years to replace the oft-injured Trot Nixon. If he plays with the same degree of intensity that Nixon brought to the table, he will quickly become a fan favorite. Drew’s track record suggests otherwise. Not only has he been brittle, he’s also developed a reputation as someone who will not play injured. Drew has all the makings of a disaster out there, and if he fails to perform like a $14MM Man, things could get ugly in a hurry. He needs to get dirty out there right quick. The fourth outfield spot will be held down once more by Wily Mo Peña, who arrived last spring from the Reds in exchange for Bronson Arroyo (who subsequently made the NL All-Star team and recently signed a lucrative long-term extension). Wily Mo can hit tape measure shots but tends to strike out with much greater regularity. He appeared to have became somewhat more patient as the season played out, but still seems to be years from realizing his awesome potential. But he works hard and has become a good student and can only benefit from being around Manny and Big Papi. Last year, the Big Man smashed the Sox’ single-season home run record by hitting 54. Should he stay healthy and happy, there’s no reason why he cannot remain among the most feared hitters in baseball.

All in all, the Sox have enough elements to put forth a highly entertaining and competitive team. However, as we learned last year, one or two injuries to key players can derail a season. Time will tell. For now, it simply feels good knowing that baseball’s on the horizon.