It's zero degrees out and there's snow on the ground. There's nasty wind chill, threats of blizzards, and freezing nights. But there's hope right around the corner because baseball is almost back. Even though the season doesn't start until April 11th in Cleveland, the Red Sox will report to Ft. Myers, Florida for spring training as soon as next week. Even though the Sox finished in last place four out of the last five seasons, there are some real reasons to have hopes and concerns about Boston' boys of summer.
Firstly, the new President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski, and new General Manager, Mike Hazen, went out and signed ace David Price and strengthened the bullpen by trading for closer Craig Kimbrel reliever Carson Smith. These address two of the 2015 team's major weaknesses as their starting pitchers ranked 25th in the league in ERA and the bullpen consistently struggled to hold onto leads in the late innings. With Price and second-year pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez leading the starting rotation and Kimbrel holding down the ninth inning, the quality of Red Sox pitching should improve dramatically.
I like the way the Red Sox's hitting lineup is set up for the upcoming season. If second baseman Dustin Pedroia can stay healthy, he'll take over his usual second spot in the lineup in between young stars Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts. With David Ortiz entering his final season, I think that he'll consistently hit well throughout the season. If Jackie Bradley, Jr. finally fixed his swing like he did at the end of last season, and catcher Blake Swihart can hit like he did in the second half of the year last season, they should lead a strong back of the order that will likely include outfielders Chris Young and Rusney Castillo.
Another strong part of the Sox is their youth. Betts, Bogaerts, Rodriguez, Bradley, Jr., Swihart, and Castillo headline a team who has a lot of talented players that are 25 or younger. Solid defensive catcher Christian Vazquez returns from elbow surgery, and he'll add good depth behind the plate. Late in the season, the Sox showed some real promise last year and all of the young guys will be great to watch as the season develops.
However, the biggest concern facing this team is Hanley Ramirez. He was a horrendous defensive outfielder, a bad influence in the clubhouse, and a mediocre hitter. And this year, instead of playing Travis Shaw at first base, who played well in the time he got at the end of the season, the Red Sox seem dedicated to playing Ramirez. I think that it'll be disastrous (as many people do) because he refused to work to get better as an outfielder last season. I don't think that it will be good for the other infielders, and it could lead to losses.
Even with the Hanley problem, this year's Red Sox team should be able to compete for a playoff berth. However, even if they don't make the playoffs, they won't finish last.
