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Dec 20, 2010, 08:51AM

The Red Sox: The Team to Beat in 2011

If they can just get their lineup in order.

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Anthony Shea

As long as the Boston Red Sox are going to have the highest payroll in MLB next season—pending a blockbuster move by the Yankees—they might as well keep the wallet open. General Manager Theo Epstein had made some key additions, but there are still holes to fill and problems in the lineup that need to be addressed. The pitching staff is short on lefties while batting order is riddled with them. Boston’s current 25-man roster is the obvious favorite in the AL East—on paper—but there’s still the possibility of implosion. Principal owner John Henry, ever mindful of his franchise’s revenue stream, can’t afford to have his $180 million club sink to the middle of the standings again this year.

The Red Sox feature a ferocious batting order. The problem is that most of those strong batters are left-handed, leaving the offense open to strikeouts from late inning lefty specialists and southpaw starters. One more right-handed power bat would balance out the lineup; for example, Josh Willingham was a perfect fit for Fenway Park before he was traded to the A’s last Thursday, and now his bat will wilt in the endless, dark dungeon that is the Oakland Coliseum. The Diamondbacks’ Justin Upton also seemed like a genuine fit, but apparently Epstein was against including star reliever Daniel Bard in any potential trade. (The addition of Bobby Jenks may have changed his tune.) If the Snakes were willing to accept a package consisting of Jacoby Ellsbury, Bard, Felix Doubrant and few other prospects, Epstein should have jumped on the offer. Upton is still a young athletic center fielder with enormous upside, and players of his caliber don’t come along very often. He would flourish at Fenway Park and benefit from the deadly lineup surrounding him. As a righty, Upton also fills the immediate hole in an otherwise stellar lineup.

Although the team didn’t make it to the playoffs last season, Sox fans had a lot to be happy about, including Clay Buchholz’s breakout. In 173.2 innings he pitched to a 2.33 ERA and 17 wins, but held a 1.20 WHIP and only struck out 120 batters. The reduction in strikeouts is easy to live with if it means that fewer runs are allowed, but the 67 walks he surrendered killed his overall innings pitched. So far, Buchholz has had an up and down career, but it appears Epstein has total faith in him. But would it be all that surprising to see him regress to a 3.50 ERA and average only five innings a game? The Brewers are constantly looking for pitching, and rumor has it that they’re still in the hunt, even after acquiring Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke within the last couple of weeks.

At one time, Baseball America ranked Buchholz the best pitching prospect in the minors and now considers him one of the most promising starters in the majors. His skill-set isn’t in question: the general consensus is that he has the makeup of an ace, but does he have the mental ability to pitch adequately in Fenway Park? With five more years of team control left, his value is at an all time high, but he’s not always the most confident of pitchers. Milwaukee’s star outfielder Ryan Braun had a disappointing year—by his standards—and a change of scenery may suit him well. A Buchholz and Ellsbury trade for Braun matches up well for both teams. Boston gets a middle of the order right-handed masher with a team friendly contract and Milwaukee receives another young ace and a speedy and athletic, if injury-prone, center fielder. That said, the deal would lean towards the Red Sox side, so maybe a couple prospects would have to be added in, or maybe even Bard.

Epstein’s had a terrific off-season, dramatically improving the Red Sox, but with some more tinkering he can increase the possibility that the team goes wire-to-wire in 2011, leaving the Yankees in the dust.

Discussion
  • The Brewers would have no offense after that trade, they'd never do it. It doesn't make sense for Boston either, where would they play Braun? Crawford's their left fielder and it's not like Braun can play center or right. The Sox would need to get a new pitcher, and in this thin market, it'd be really hard to find a quality one. Upton sounds more realistic, though it probably isn't going to happen. Keep dreaming.

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  • Go Sox!!!

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  • What's with the overabundance of Sawx fans on this site? Do your hats still have the stickers and tags on them?

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  • Dan, you're a mean old grinch! I'm a Sox fan since '62, when I was 7. Some lean years, thanks. I came by Sox fandom via my dad, who grew up in MA, and never got to see them win the Series. One of my sons, Booker, who wrote this, has Sox blood in his genes. No pink hats, thanks. However, my wife and older son are both O's fans. No go back to bundling coal for Christmas morning!

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  • Russ, You and Booker no doubt come by it honestly, but the pink hatters annoy me to no end. I always gauge the credentials of a Yankee fan with this question "What position to did Alvaro Espinosa play?"

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  • I too am annoyed by the pink hats, and have been a BOSOX fan since the late seventies. But Dan, a litmus test? C'mon man. It's baseball, not some RINO test. One need not know the complete history of a team in order to root for and consider oneself a fan. For example, I live in Texas and don't have time between work and family to follow all things BOSOX (as you can imagine, we don't get much BOSOX news on a daily basis here). At the same time, I check weekly to see how they are doing and always try to catch a game here when they are in town. I beleive that qualifies me as a fan. If not, F.U., I'm still rooting for them and will continue to call myself a fan if not just to spite you.

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  • Woah there. I'm just railing against the bandwagon hoppers. Much like you I've been a Miami Heat fan since their inception (I have a weird fetish of rooting for terrible teams) but have never been to a game, though I do see them 8-10 times a year on TV. I was thrilled when they signed LeBron because I knew it meant more TV games. My real issue is with Yankee "fans" who really just wear the hat because it matches their jeans and wouldn't know Robinson Cano from Robinson Crusoe. The BoSox had quite a bandwagon explosion after 2004.

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  • Fair enough. Yankee fans suck! Happy Holidays to all and may the Jets or Steelers win the SuperBowl

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  • Don't get me started on Steelers fans. Merry Christmas.

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  • Nonsensical article. How can you right a "team to beat" article without a single mention of the Phillies? Sox fans can be hilarious though. Went to a game in Fenway in '07 against teh marlins that was maybe half full. Once they won that WS though, every1 had been die hard their entire life.

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  • Oh, and Go Rangers! (you know, that team with a payroll of about 25% of the big boys that made the WS)

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  • Love the Marlins despite their very strange ownership (John Buck for 3 years?) and can't wait till the new park opens in 2012. But I doubt you went to a Sox game in '07 that was 1/2 full since they've sold out every game since the middle of '03. Oh, and the Rangers, with their new ownership will be joining the big spenders.

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  • ^^^ you are correct. I meant '97.

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