As we start the new year and look forward to the 2009 baseball season, we first need to look back on 2008.
Considering the lofty standards set by the 21st Century Red Sox, 2008 could be considered a failure since the team didn't reach the World Series. But upon closer inspection, it really was a pretty good season.
On offense, David Ortiz and J.D. Drew each played in only 109 games each, Mike Lowell started and finished the season on the DL, Jason Varitek suffered through the worst season of his career, Jacoby Ellsbury took a step back from his stellar rookie season, Julio "The Pig" Lugo was a complete bust, and Manny Ramirez quit on the team, yet these guys found a way to score 845 runs -- second in the AL only to the Texas Rangers.
With the exception of Curt Schilling missing the entire season, the pitching staff was relatively healthy, but also suffered its share of disappointments.
Clay Bichholz was awful, had to be sent back to the minors and now there are questions as to whether he is a legitimate MLB pitcher. Much of the bullpen was inconsistent, especially Hideki Okajima and Manny Delcarmen, and Josh Beckett looked a lot more like the 2006 Beckett (16-11, 5.01 ERA) than the 20-game winning stud he was in 2007.
Yet, despite all the problems, the Sox came within one game of reaching the World Series and possibly winning their third title in five years.
The positives were plenty.
Dustin Pedroia became a legitimate star, winning the MVP award and doing everything the team needed and more. Kevin Youkilis was as good and could have been the MVP (he finished third). Jason Bay came over from the Pirates after the team was forced to trade Manny, and became an immediate sensation putting up Manny-like numbers in his 49 games. And Jed Lowrie came up with several key hits as he proved he belonged in the Majors.
The pitching staff was led by the incredible Jon Lester who tossed a no hitter and established himself as arguably the top lefty in the American League. Despite driving everybody crazy with walks and high pitch counts, Daisuke Matsuzaka was solid the entire season going 18-3 and coming up big when the Sox needed him most. Justin Masterson was a huge surprise as a solid starter when needed and bridging the gap between the starters and the closer as a set up man. And Jonathan Papelbon was once again one of the best closers in the league.
Probably the best part of 2008 was the demise of the Yankees. New York never really challenged Boston and finished a distant third as as the tampa Bay Rays established themselves as the new team to beat in the AL East and a budding rivalry between the Sox and Rays was born. I still can't believe the Sox lost to the Rays in the ALCS, but it was just one of those magical years for Tampa.
With the Yankees being a total embarrassment last season, you knew they would come out swinging this offseason and that's exactly what has happened with their signings of the two top pitchers -- CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett -- and the top hitter -- Mark Teixeira.
In typical Yankee fashion they threw around money like it was paper and basically gave no other teams a chance in the bidding for these guys. The Teixeira signing was particularly painful because was seemingly headed to Boston and would have been a perfect fit for the Sox.
But, it's not as bad as it seems. I'm looking at the loss of Teixeira similar to the A-Rod saga. We wanted him and needed him, but was he really going to be the right fit for the team. There's no arguing that Teixeira is a good hitter and great fielder but he's a selfish, me-first player just like A-Rod. It's no coincidence that neither player's teams have ever won anything, and I'm willing to bet they never will.
Also, if you take a closer look at the Yankees' moves, Sabathia -- who the Sox have always hit hard and may eventually eat himself out of the league -- is replacing 20-game winner Mike Mussina, Burnett -- who always seems to be injured -- is replacing Sox-killer Andy Pettitte, and Teixeira is replacing Jason Giambi -- who always seemed to come up with huge hits in huge spots against the Sox.
Add in that New York lost Bobby Abreu, and Mariano Rivera, Hideki Matsui and Johnny "The Traitor" Damon are a year older and on the downslope of their careers and the Yankees look a lot like last year's 3rd-place squad.
So what can the Sox do to improve? They signed Brad Penny and Josh Bard. Count me as one of those not very impressed by either signing.
I understand both moves. Penny is a low-risk, high-reward acquisition. He was a stud a few years ago and is only 29, but he was awful and was hurt last year and that was in the National League. If he pans out it will be a great move, but don't expect too much.
Bard is a decent backup catcher, but that's all he is. I wouldn't even call him a platoon player, but that might be what he becomes.
The core of the team is returning. We still don't know what Tek will do, but my guess is he will return and hopefully will be more productive than last year. If Tek and Bard are the Red Sox catchers, that will be a definite weak spot for the team.
There hasn't been any talk about Lugo, but there's no way they can make him the starting shortstop again. He's brutal and the team might as well cut their losses and eat his ridiculous contract.
There aren't a lot of options out there, but maybe they could bring back 2004 hero OC (Orlando Cabrera) and see if he can rekindle some magic. That would allow Lowrie to be a utility man which is the role he should be in right now. If not, I think Lowrie could be an adequate shortstop.
The other big hole is the cleanup spot in the lineup. How about Pat Burrell? He's not the typical guy the Sox go after -- he strikes out a lot and doesn't have a high average -- but he's got power to protect Big Papi in the lineup and would be a great fill in when J.D. Drew makes his annual trip to the DL.
(UPDATE -- About an hour after this post reports came out that Burrell is signing a 2-year deal with Tampa. Looks like the Sox got beat to the punch again and again within the division. If they don't sign a hitter soon the offense could look a lot like the 2006 team that didn't make the playoffs.)
Maybe the Sox should put Ortiz back in the cleanup spot like in '04 and then put Bay or Youk in the No. 3 hole.
At this point we still have to trust Theo, Francona and the rest of the front office that they will make the right moves. They've earned that trust and I'm still confident that they will bring in some more guys that will round out this team and make it a championship contender again.
The biggest factors for a successful season as always will be health. If Lowell and Ortiz can bounce back from last season's injuries and the pitching staff -- which is now the strength of this team -- stays healthy, the Sox will be tough to beat.
It's only about a month and a half before pitchers and catchers report. Damn that sounds good!
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