Thread: Sports: MLB
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Old February 10th, 2008, 12:04 PM
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I disagree. Other than resigning Lowell and Schilling (hindsight on Schill) there really wasn't much the front office needed to do. Nobody's bench is ever that great, there's a reason these players are back-ups.

Casey though I think is a Huge upgrade over Hinske. He's a career .300 hitter and he'll be giving Youk a regular spell in order to try and avoid his normal 2nd half dip (though he did come back huge in the post season). And with Coco still on the team you'd be hard pressed to find a better #4 outfielder in the majors. Granted he probably won't break camp with the team but any trade is either going to bring in a guy to take his place or will put another arm in the pen.

Speaking of the pen, what else was there they could do? Paps is the closer (arguably the best in the business right now), Okajima and Timlin are the 7th and 8th inning guys. I don't expect the same season out of Oki, can't expect that same season, and Timlin may not have much left in the tank, but Delcarmen is primed (IMHO) to take over one of those two spots this season. The rest of the pen is decent (no worse than any other back end in the league).

As for the rotation: Beckett stud, Matsuzaka I expect big things from this season, the adjustment period is over and he has a full year of training for what it takes to last a full MLB season under his belt. The #3 spot is going to be a mix of Schill and Wakes, if we can get 10-12 wins from there it will be fine. I agree the jury is still out on Lester, but pitching in the #4 hole and with the offense the Sox have behind him, he'll have to be REALLY bad not to get 10 wins this season. Which leaves the crap shoot that is the #5 spot in every rotation in the majors. With Schill on the shelf I expect Tavarez to start the season in the rotation (and the #5 is never needed right away) and then Buchholz will probably take over (if Schill isn't back) by mid June.

Yes the Sox have question marks and they need to stay healthy, but their prognosis for the season is leaps and bounds better than most teams at the moment.
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