The past week was a busy, yet promising one for Red Sox Nation. With each Spring that comes around, a new fresh breath of hope drifts over Boston and their beloved Red Sox, that this will finally be the year they climb the hump and topple the arch-rival Yankees.
Here's the scoop as we get closer to the games that really count. 1. Signing of JD Martinez This is the biggest, most obvious splash the Sox made this week. After many fans were ecstatic about the signing of the former D-Backs slugger, there was reason for fans to hold their collective breaths, as a reported "medical issue" held up the signing for quite some time. It was not a physical problem, perhaps more along the lines of something the Red Sox were just looking to protect themselves from that could be a potential problem a few years down the line. Head of Baseball operations, Dave Dombrowki, ultimately inked Martinez to a 5yr/$110M contract. The move serves Boston very well, and fills the desperate need of a power bat they've been missing ever since the retirement of franchise cornerstone, David Ortiz. Also, it allows much more flexibility within the lineup for first year skipper, Alex Cora. With Hanley Ramirez coming off a down year, and a log jam in the outfield, it will be interesting to see just how Cora elects to play his cards. Overall, this move certainly serves Boston well, and has the Yankees looking over their shoulder a little bit. 2. A healthy pack of arms One of the biggest storylines of the spring is the health of the Red Sox bullpen, as well as David Price, who finished 2017 on a tear coming in from the pen. Seeing where Boston is paying the southpaw $30M, it's incredibly unlikely they keep him in the bullpen. Now that Price should be back to full force, and Eduardo Rodriguez is back after blowing out his knee in Baltimore last May, Boston should have the fire power to match the monster bats in the Bronx. Tyler Thornburg (received in trade for Travis Shaw) and Carson Smith, will add depth to the Sox's already deep bullpen with Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel. If Boston has the ability to get a solid 5-6 innings out of their 3-5 starters, and Sale and Price can give them 7-8 the next two days when the rotation flips, look out. That's a scary combination. A winning combination, at that. 3. Bench depth Another thing that teams around the league should take notice of is just how deep Boston's bench is. Let's go down this list, shall we? Blake Swihart Tzu Wei-Lin Mitch Moreland Eduardo Nunez (when Pedroia is healthy) Brock Holt Sandy Leon Deven Marrero That is an unbelievably deep bench, and most, if not all of those guys, can provide a spark off the bench when an injury arises, or someone is gassed in the dog days of summer and just needs a rest. That alone, can provide Boston with critical wins down the stretch, that just might be enough in deciding who heads into October with the AL East crown. Keep your eyes peeled for more breaking news with the Red Sox as spring training rolls on. Keep up with all the latest news and follow, @bhowesports on Twitter.
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J.D Martinez is finally a Red Sox. Key word there is finally. Anyway, after a winter of speculation that the Red Sox may be entering 2018 with the same lineup lacking a big bat after the departure of David Ortiz, it's clear who their power source will be. Now, that leaves a lot of new questions unanswered that will be answered as Spring Training carries on. The Red Sox now have a log jam of outfielders, just as they did a few seasons ago. Mookie Betts Andrew Benintendi Jackie Bradley Jr. J.D Martinez Brock Holt (utility) That's five outfielders on the Boston roster with only 3 spots to fill. We know Mookie and Benintendi likely aren't going anywhere, so that leaves Bradley Jr. as the likely odd man out. Martinez will split time in LF with Benintendi on his days off from the field which will slide him into the DH spot, with Hanley on the bench. Now, this also factors in another player into a potential deal that's more likely than the Bradley deal. Mitch Moreland. With Hanley Ramirez likely seeing a lot of time at first base this season, it doesn't;t leave a lot of room for Moreland. There's a lot of ways Dave Dombrowski could go with this, but either way, it will leave manager Alex Cora with plenty of options. The projected opening day lineup could look something like this: Mookie Betts RF Andrew Benintendi LF Eduardo Nunez 2B J.D Martinez DH Hanley Ramirez 1B Xander Bogaerts SS Rafael Devers 3B Christian Vazquez C Jackie Bradley Jr. CF Cris Sale LHP Don't forget, Dustin Pedroia is on track to be back by late May-early June, which will make this lineup even more formidable. Of course, in this scenario, Moreland would be the odd man out. Here's another scenario: Mookie Betts RF Andrew Benintendi CF Eduardo Nunez 2B J.D Martinez LF Hanley Ramirez DH Xander Bogaerts SS Rafael Devers 3B Brock Holt 1B Christian Vazquez C Chris Sale LHP Now, in this scenario, Bradley Jr. is the odd man out, which would likely result in the Sox trading for a starter or extra bullpen arm. Whatever way Dombrowski decides to go with this team, doesn't matter. The Red Sox/Yankees rivalry is surely back. And it's going to be a wild summer. |