An update!

It's been quite a while since I updated.

You know, life.

Now that the Sox' flurry of FA signings are complete, let's take a look at the entire team. First, I'm going to avoid the question of how much they paid Lugo, Drew, Matsuzaka and so on. The reason for this is that I'm of the opinion that we are in a "new era" of player salaries and the previous concept of "worth" that we had should be thrown out the window. Owners are confident in their revenue figures in light of the new TV contract and the new CBA, so they will continue to spend like this for a while. Is Drew "worth" $55 million? Matsuzaka $52 mil (plus $51.1 million)? We really don't know, but I would argue that the Red Sox, with the possible exception of Lugo, got the best deals of the offseason. Matsuzaka isn't Gil Meche. If they're willing to go over the luxury tax threshold this year, which it is likely that they will do unless they make some trades, then we should just evaluate the team they have. 2008 will be a cheaper team and is unlikely to break the luxury tax threshold again (which would increase the penalty) as Lowell, Clement, Schilling are coming off the books. So why not spend this year?

Starting 9:
Catcher: Jason Varitek
First Base: Kevin Youkilis
Second Base: Dustin Pedroia
Shortstop: Julio Lugo
Third Base: Mike Lowell
Left Field: Manny Ramirez
Center Field: Coco Crisp
Right Field: J. D. Drew
DH: David Ortiz

Bench:
Doug Mirabelli (C)
Alex Cora (2B/SS)
Eric Hinske (1B/3B/RF/LF)
Wily Mo Pena (OF)

Rookies that could help:
George Kottaras (C)
David Murphy (LF/RF)
Jacoby Ellsbury (OF)

I'm not a fan of either Alex Cora or Doug Mirabelli, and I think the Red Sox settled for too little in both these bench spots. When you have two sub-par bats on your bench (and they are VERY subpar), you'd better have a very speedy player or a solid defensive replacement as well, and the Red Sox as currently constructed don't have a base-stealer or a good-fielding outfielder from the bench. Both these problems could be solved by Jacoby Ellsbury, but he'll be in AAA for a while yet. They do have both a left-handed and right-handed bat, which is nice, but I have a feeling Pena is going to be in the starting lineup more often than not, either because of injuries to the starting outfield or because of a trade.

As for the starting lineup, it's solid. I would like better defense in the outfield, but Manny handcuffs you there. Hopefully Lugo will rebound to his 2005-first half of 06 form and Varitek will remember how to hit. Barring injuries, though, they should be able to put enough runs on the board.

Pitching Rotation:
Curt Schilling
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Josh Beckett
Jonathan Papelbon
Tim Wakefield

Swingman / AAA:
Jon Lester

Bullpen:
Julian Tavarez RHP
Mike Timlin RHP
Hideki Okajima LHP
Brendan Donelly RHP
JC Romero LHP
Craig Hansen RHP
Manny Delcarmen RHP

Obviously the bullpen is a weak point. I would have loved to get Eric Gagne, but I'm glad they haven't (yet) overreacted to not having a closer (leaving behind the "Paps should close" idea, which is certainly valid). Besides that, it looks like they are going with the "throw s--- at the wall and see if it sticks" approach, which can work. It will take some luck though, and also patience (remember what happened to David Riske and Cla Meredith last year after the Sox became impatient with them?), two things the Red Sox management hasn't shown much of recently.

I'm a big believer in the rotation, though. It might not look like it in ERA numbers, due to the tough division, league and stadium, but I think it has a good shot at being the best in the AL.