big_papi34

well i had to do it. i thought after watching the team at full strength i might as well predict the outcome, so lets get it started before i do what i always do and ramble on....oh no i'm doing it again...

anyway, the sox, who finished 3rd in the AL east in 06', the first time since 1997 that Boston did not make the playoffs. a lot of this can be placed on the pitching. we were obviously quite under-prepared for a bulstered east and it showed with pitchers going down like the french on a battlefield.

i think we put a heap of pressure on the older arms, schilling, boomer, clement, foulke, wakefield, and didn't have enough faith in the younger arms until they were all we had. beckett i believe did well in his first season at fenway after coming over from Florida. his problem was and i think we have all heard this before, he threw too many fast balls. you can't throw fast ball on the outside of the plate to players like vlad, arod, giambi and thomas, you're just gonna give up, well, 27 homeruns.

papelbon did amazingly well to come over from the starters job and be thrown into the closers spot in which he blew away for something like 2 months before over throwing and the pressure of having to see out games got to him. i can't wait to see how he goes in the closers role for a whole season.

i have no hard feelings for the offense, you guys did what it said to do on the contract, score runs, problem was, the other team was scoring them as well, damn pitching! papi was, well, papi. hitting 54 hr's and to not win the mvp is like winning 30 games and not getting the cy. manny was, how can i say this....manny. he did his job, 35 dingers, and then when he realised the playoffs were out of reach, he clicked into the manny ramirez everyone loves to hate with bad knees and crazy sicknesses, manny being manny was at its best. the smaller boys, youk, lowell, crisp, nixon and mirabelli all did their jobs, lowell especiallu in his first season, hit 20 homers and gave the big boys the support needed sitting in that 5 slot. trotter, what can i say, but thankyou for what you have done over the last 10 years and i wish we could have given you a propor farewell with some silverware but hey, thats baseball.

now to 2007:
new faces
what an off-season. no really it was amazing. everyone knew there gonna be some huge changes around the club, and im not only talking about the line-up, fenway got a re-decorating with about 15 hundred new seats and a new female toilet block out at left field, oo-la-la-la. december 22 will go down as one of the greatest dates in red sox history, and not only because it's my birthday, but also its the day RSN gotta new number 18, a little japanese pitcher known as daisuke matsuzaka (coolest name in baseball). we all remember flickin on the tv and seeing theo and dice-k holding up a brand spanking new sox jersey with '18' on the back - i had a tear in my eye.

we also added a very underrated right fielder in J.D Drew. he opted out of his contract with the dodgers and found his way to good ole beantown. if he stays healthy and knocks in the numbers he did last year he should be a handy asset.

a new shortstop ws also signed, this being the 87635829387643 in about 12 seasons, i think arod and jeter are the only ss's at the moment who havn't played for the sox at some stage. julio lugo who played for the rays and dodgers last year will be a very good aquisition after agon went to cinci. he doesent have the glove agon has, but his got more pop and is very quick between the bases.

the line-up:
1. lugo ss
2. youk 1b
3. papi dh
4. manram lf
5. drew rf
6. lowell 3b
7. tek c (C)
8. coco cf
9. pedroia 2b

to be honest i dont know why coco isent at 2, he has the right amount of pop to drive in lugo if he does get on base, and he is much quicker then youk, which could get him to second instead of first if it was youk and with papi, manny and j.d coming up after him, its a very handy position to be in. thats really the only thing i have wrong with it as the line-up has made no real change from last year except for loretta, agon and trotter not there

the rotation:
schilling rhp
beckett rhp
matsuzaka rhp
tavarez rhp
wakefield rhp

the bullpen:
papelbon (closer)rhp
snyder rhp
piniero rhp
romero lhp
okajima lhp
lopez lhp
donnelly rhp

i like the pen, and its a huge improvement from last years excuse from a group of paid pitchers. i have a good feeling about j-bon back as the closer, and with the heat he has he will be a very scary task for last inning hitters. i like the rotation except for tavarez. i give it a month or two before lester is ready and then he'll be brought up. i see piniero being sent down at some stage. he was signed as a closer and now j-bon is in that role hes just another reliever, and holds no real edge over any of the others. hes the guy who is going to make room for lester. a great signing of dice-k another power pitcher to anchor the rotation in the number 3 spot. will back up beckett and schilling and all 3 will bring in at least 10 wins. okajima in the pen is a great anchor. hes a very experience pitcher and watching him in the spring he showed some great stuff in high pressure situations. could be a back up closer.

outlook:
the east is about pitching, and with the sox having one of the best pens in the al at the moment, will without a doubt take second, hard to say if they will beat out the yanks but its too early in the season to say. papi will hit another 45 homers, manny will hit another 35 and beckett will have the most wins with another 16. schilling will have the lowest era, keeping it under 4.

now for dice-k. will win atleast 10 and will have a decent era, but playing in a hitter friendly park like fenway, will give up a few hr's if he doesent get that fast ball lower in the zone.

thanks for putin up with me for this long, happy posting
cheers!

p.s GO SOX!

__________________
TIME TO ROLL THE DICE-K BOSTON

JS03

Hey, I think the Jays had that much SSs as well.
anywaysss, gl to your sox