RedSoxFan84

I don't know a huge amount about Bobby V at this point, but most of what I hear about him sounds positive. Regarding the bullpen, I'm fairly ok with it at the moment. Losing Papelbon sucks, but we have added an All-Star closer to replace him at a fraction of the price, and we also get younger. Speaking of youth, I like the addition of Melancon as well. He, Bailey and Bard give us some really nice young pitching talent. If Aceves doesn't start, he'll be a nice addition to the pen as well. The main worry that I have at the moment though is regarding the starting rotation. I'm happy having Lester, Beckett and Buchholz, but it drops off after that. As I said above, I think Bard is a really good young talent, but "young" is the key word there. I'm confident that he can develop into a quality starter, but we have no idea how he will go THIS SEASON while he learns the role. Matsuzaka isn't a terrible pitcher, but he's questionable with his health. Lackey can be ok, but I'd rather have enough depth above him that he can be used more as an insurance policy. Outside of pitching though, I wouldn't mind adding a R/H hitter to the OF. I like Sweeney and his defensive game, and (apart from last year) he seems to hit for a good average, but adding a righty, especially with some more power than Sweeney has, would help to mix things up a bit. Kalish sounds like a good young talent to me as well, but he doesn't seem to have a huge amount of power in his swing either. I'm also not overly happy with the SS situation at the moment. Scutaro doesn't completely suck, but he is certainly a weak link in this team in my opinion. I'd love to see Iglesias get a real chance. He'd add some more youth to the team, and is great defensively. The main concern with him is offensively, but with the rest of the hitters in the Sox lineup, I think we can afford to play a defensive-minded guy like Iglesias and let his offensive game come naturally.

Yeah mate, I'm a massive Carlton fan in the AFL. How about you?

Everywhere I look for a Boston depth chart, some of them have Beckett listed above Lester, and some are the opposite. I've been trying to compare the two in my own mind and can't make a decision, but after reading this thread, I'm glad to see that it's not just me who can't make their mind up. I agree with the statement that the start/#1 tag should go to whoever earns it leading up to the season.

Thanks for the warm welcome mate! I'm looking forward to finally having a place where I can talk about and learn more about the Red Sox.

Hey there, how's it going? I'm new to this site, and fairly new to baseball in general to be honest. I'm 27 and I'm from the state of Victoria in Australia. When I first took an interest in baseball years ago and needed to choose a team to support, I went with the White Sox because they are from Chicago like my favorite teams in the other sports, and (forgive me) the Yankees, mainly because they were one of the only teams I had really even heard of. After a while though, the Yankees started to annoy me, and I don't like the attitude that the team and a lot of the fans seem to have, as well as the way that they more or less just straight-up buy players. This led me to search for a new team, and I fell in love with the Red Sox. The history of this team is amazing, and it's great to support a team which has so much support from Boston residents and people all around the world. On top of that, Ted Danson's character in my favorite ever tv show (Cheers) pitched for the Red Sox, so that just made me like them even more These days, I basically never leave the house without wearing my Red Sox cap, and I've just ordered myself a Sox jersey online. I'm hoping to get a chance to pick up as much Sox merchandise as I can in coming years. So... a little about me: I'm 27 from Australia. My favorite teams in the other sports are Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bears. I've been accepted into a course to study to become a Personal Trainer this year, but I am also hoping to hear back regarding applications that I have made to join the Air Force or study Palaeontology, which I have wanted to do since I was a baby. My favorite bands are the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, etc. My favorite Sox player is Dustin Pedroia, but I love all the guys. That's about all that I can think of for now.