riverside sluggers

Damon, I know where you can put that quote of yours.

I like having Youk at 8th in the order, comparable to Mueller the stats prove that is where he is most comfortable. In 33 games (.297 avg) (.430 OBP!!)

just my opinion and probably others, but its better and healtheir to have optimism rather than expecting just about everyone new the roster along with youk to fail

Kap is the man to get off bumps such as the achilles tendon injury that was supposed to keep him out for like a year or more.

something you yankee fans will be having high hopes for I bet

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=citadel-2_490564_254&prov=citadel&type=story Here is his scouting reprt as it indicates he wiull open the season in lowell with the spinners in June after he is in spring training

Myself I see if one of the outfielders moving up our ranks has a great year, probably would then be Theo's prime candidate to take over for Trot.

Dont you worry, I can see a call-up for Dusty. Most likely Im thinking before the September call-ups. I cant wait for that

well of course "26 to 6" agrees with you, not much of a surprise right there

Hi there, yea that was me. I have a good memory and when watching a NESN report after the Crisp signing and they said "this is the projected lineup a source close to the Red Sox has said it will look like." It also had Cora's name instead of Gonzalez. I myself edited that since Gonzo was officially signing Besides I also noted later on that spring training could change the looks of that projected lineup. Last season saw Renteria move up from the 8 spot to the 2 spot EDIT: The Boston Globe has also given the same projected lineup http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/graphics/02_01_06_lineup/

Well thought out post as always. I thought Id pick up another point about Gonzo is that even during seasons of hitting .260 or less he has proven to have 30 or more doubles. Like newcomers Lowell and Crisp, he has a good shot of exceeding 40.

True as that might be, Foulke is the only, but big, concern the Sox have. The 4 setup men of the pen all had ERAs of under 4. At plan B, the Sox will also have promising young guns to call-up in Craig Hansen, Manny DelCarmen and Jermaine Van Buren. Long Innings- Bronson Arroyo or Jonathan Papelbon Lenny DiNardo Set Up- Rudy Seanez David Riske Julian Tavarez Mike Timlin Closer- Keith Foulke Thats a far cry from the opening day 05 pen

My key concern right now is Keith Foulke. Anything close to 2004 level, it will be cruise control for the bullpen

The infield, on paper, is a big step up from the opening day infield of last season. Heavily on the defense, and the offense as well

its cool that you still have that love for johnny, but I dont want you to get disappointed. Im gonna be at his first game, it will probably be hard to hear any clapping at all. The main concenus is that it will be one of the biggest booing events in recent history at Fenway Park. I might even boo to just vent out the aggression and shock I still have. Seeing him in person in pinstripes and buddying up with Arod will only fire up the Fenway faithful even more.

Myself I was expecting Shoppach to be traded, as a number of other posters on here and media commentators have talked about throughout this offseason. I just wouldve rather had him paired to a team that actually needs a starting catcher since Vic Martinez will be locked down for quite awhile. The kid is major league ready and would be blocked by Varitek who's signed through the next 3 seasons, giving Shopp the every 5th day treatment would hold down his power potential. I may have mentioned this before, but last season the Sox selected in their first round a 6'-2" 220 lb power hitting catcher named Jonathan Egan. I also have the scouting report if youd like to peruse it. He will be starting in single A Lowell this April. I'll be following his minor league career as he is now the favorite Sox farmhand to someday take over starting catching duties from the Captain. At 1st base, the tandem of Youk & Snow easily beats out Millar offensively & of course defensively. Gonzo is just a 1 year deal, gold glove caliber with potential 20 HRs especially in Fenway Park. This deal has been done to bridge the gap for promising prospect Dustin Pedroia. The Sox dropped off at 3rd? Mueller's my boy but Lowell just won the gold glove, his 2nd. And with Fenway's dimensions and Mr. green monster, he'll hit his fair share of doubles & Hrs. An offensive upgrade he is over Billy.

Or how about 5 or 6 hits in 1 inning against the Yankees = end result being 2 men easily thrown out and just 1 frigging run scored

That he does, Torre has set a good example on why to not overuse relief pitchers

100% agree, this goes along with the Loretta for Mirabelli trade as another steal for the Sox this offseason

Crisp did have the edge over Damon in extra base hits, and most of his games were in a pitchers park as well. Crisp- 62 Damon- 51

we realize that nor did we specifically mention that, but hey im more comfortable having him for the long term sense. Crisp is on the ascent right now, no denying it

We will see, this is just the projected lineup. Spring training will decide that. Whatever it is, Im pumped

I respect your opinion too. But that wasnt my own lineup I had envisioned. As I had said the Red Sox released this lineup that was reported on NESN. I like it, putting Lowell in between 2 proven 20 HR players

Wow "on paper" we certainly have jumped up to be one of the defensive teams in the league. Good chance of being at least the tops in the AL East A far cry from the 4th worst team last season

Recently after the Crisp signing the Red Sox had released the projected lineup through NESN 1. Coco Crisp cf (S) 2. Mark Loretta 2b ® 3. David Ortiz dh (L) 4. Manny Ramirez lf ® 5. Jason Varitek c (S) 6. Mike Lowell 3b ® 7. Trot Nixon rf (L) 8. Kevin Youkilis 1b ®/JT Snow (L) 9. Alex Gonzalez ss ®