The Boston Red Sox not only ended their 86-year drought of not winning a world title last decade, but they also tacked on another one three years later.
Can they add to their trophy case in 2010? You have to think they will be one of the favorites to do so.
Boston is one of the biggest-spending teams in the leagues, and while they do have to battle through the toughest division in baseball, fans can rest assured that the Red Sox will do whatever it takes to field a winner.
Now let's see how they are going to stack up in 2010.
Pitching
This is one of the best and deepest rotations in the league. This offseason the team went out and signed John Lackey to the tune of five years and $82.5 million. He joins an already stacked rotation that includes Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.
Lackey has had three solid seasons in a row pitching for the Angels, posting a 3.78 ERA or better each year. Beckett was touched up a little bit in 2008 but bounced back last year to go 17-6 with a 3.86 ERA. Lester is a rising star who was 16-6 with a 3.21 ERA in 2008 and 15-8 with a 3.41 ERA a year ago.
The other two starters are Daisuke Matsuzaka and Clay Buchholz, but Tim Wakefield is also making a run to fill out the rotation. Dice-K was great in 2008, but health issues contributed to a disastrous 2009 campaign.
When the game is on the line, you don't have to worry about the Boston bullpen falling short. Jonathan Papelbon is a top-notch closer, and Daniel Bard is a young, hard-throwing setup man.
Lineup
Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia return as the major forces to be reckoned with on offense. Both guys are solid .300 hitters and gritty players that Red Sox fans love. David Ortiz had a terrible first half but still ended up with 28 home runs and 99 RBI.
In the outfield the Red Sox have the speedy Jacoby Ellsbury in left, new addition Mike Cameron in center, and the often injured J.D. Drew out in right.
A couple of other new guys round out the infield with Adrian Beltre brought in to play third and Marco Scutaro coming over from Toronto to play short. Neither is a world-beater, but both are pretty solid. The team held on to Mike Lowell, and he can fill in at first or third.
Prediction
This team's baseball odds show their over/under win prediction at 94.5 games. In my 2010 Boston Red Sox predictions I went into a little more depth about why I think this team goes OVER that number and has a good shot at another World Series. If you want to cash in this summer, take a look at the MLB picks offered on our site for the individual games.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments