2012: 69-93 5th
in AL East
Where do I begin with the Red Sox, they’re a mess. Clubhouse
drama headlined the 2011 collapse in Boston, so they hired Bobby Valentine to
turn things around. Despite his efforts, he failed miserably, which was not entirely his fault. The 2012 Red Sox were plagued by injury and never seemed to fully recover. Nevertheless, Boston is now on their third manager in three
years and after their fire sale in the last trade deadline it looks like they are going to muss the playoffs for the third year in a row.
 |
| Dustin Pedroia |
Adrian Gonzales, Carl Crawford, Kevin Youkilis, Josh Becket
are all on other teams now and management has done little to replace these
superstars. They picked up Jonny Gomes to play the outfield, Mike Napoli to
play first and they will rely on home grown prospect Will Middlebrooks to
replace Youkilis at third. John Lester, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Elsbury are
all worth the price of admission, but their talents aren’t enough to carry them
pass all of the great teams in the East.
The Red Sox are obviously in rebuilding mode, so they don’t
quite have the firepower to be relevant this year.
So instead of talking about how they aren’t going to make
the playoffs this year, I am going to take the “half full” side of things and
talk about their future.
 |
| Will Middlebrooks |
Will Middlebrooks will start at third base this year, which
will be his first full season in the big leagues. He played really well in his
rookie campaign last year batting .288 with 15 homeruns in 75 games. Middlebrooks
had a lot of success in the minors, so it will be exciting to see his full
potential as he adjusts to major league pitching.
The Red Sox received a great pitching prospect in Rubby De
La Rosa who has been compared to Pedro Martinez. It isn’t fair to compare
anyone to Pedro, but the point is that he’s really good. At this point, the
knock on De La Rosa is his health, there are question marks whether he can be a
long term starter in the bigs.
Another great prospect is 22-year-old South Carolina star
Jackie Bradley Jr. He is lined up to be Jacoby Ellisbury’s replacement if he
leaves in free agency, but he is making a case to crack the Sox lineup much
sooner than expected. With Shane Victorino participating in the WBC, Bradley
will be getting a lot of reps in right field.
Allen Webster was a huge part of the Dodger trade and is making
a huge impression in camp so far. He is a groundball pitcher who has been
clocked at 99 mph, wow.
To sum it all up, the Red Sox won’t sniff the playoffs this
year but they have a great front office and a good core of prospects, so I
expect them to be competitive in the near future
Prediction: 75-87 5th
in the AL East
-Blake Dale Lepire
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