Sean Metcalfe
This article was originally published in March 2010, The Spectator



While the Northeast is being blanketed by snow and rain, the Boston Red Sox are in sunny Fort Myers, Florida preparing for the 2010 season. The focus this year is the Red Sox switch to pitching and defense, and to bolster the pitching staff and defense the Sox signed former Los Angeles Angels ace John Lackey, arguably the best defensive player in baseball. Boston also signed third baseman Adrian Beltre, upgraded shortstop by signing Marco Scutaro and three-time gold glove center fielder Mike Cameron.

The biggest acquisition of the offseason was the signing of John Lackey to a five year, 82.5 million dollar contract. He will join Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Mastsuzaka, and Clay Buchholz in what is arguably the best and deepest rotation in baseball. Lackey no longer has to be the ace he was with the Angels, he can now be part of the three headed monster along with Beckett and Lester. With Lackey the Red Sox get yet another pitcher that has a bull dog mentality and he will not shy away under pressure. While he was a rookie in 2002 he was the winning pitcher in Game Seven of the World Series and helped clinch the Championship for the Angels. His critics have cited his 2-5 record and 5.75 ERA at Fenway Park, however that was as a member of the Angels facing loaded Red Sox line ups. The 2010 Red Sox will look to their deep and talented pitching staff to take them deep into the playoffs.

The Red Sox decided to improve their run prevention by bringing in some of the game’s best defenders. They started by signing Marco Scutaro who came off a career year with the Toronto Blue Jays batting .282, 12 HR, 60 RBI, and he brings with him a very solid glove. The Red Sox are looking for Scutaro to provide some stability at short until highly touted shortstop Jose Iglesias is ready to play every day at the Major League level.

Their next move was to bring in three time gold center fielder Mike Cameron to replace all-star left fielder Jason Bay, who signed with the New York Mets. Cameron will play center field, which means young rising star Jacoby Ellsbury will switch to left. With Cameron, the Red Sox get a 37 year old center fielder that still is considered one of the best defensive outfielders, and averages 20 plus home runs and 70 to 80 RBI. The knocks on Cameron are he that strikes out to much and lacks contact with a career batting average of .250. Replacing Bay’s team leading 36 home runs and 119 RBI will not be easy but the Red Sox are hoping Cameron’s stellar defense will save some of the runs they lost with Bay.

The last major move the Red Sox made was to sign third basemen Adrian Beltre. Beltre is widely considered one of the best defensive players in all of baseball, and when healthy he can swat 25 to 30 home runs, drive in 80 to 100 RBI, and hit around .270. The Red Sox don’t need him to hit in the middle of the order and hit 48 home runs like he did for Los Angeles Dodgers in 2004. A sub plot to the Beltre acquisition is that third basemen Mike Lowell is still on the team after the trade to the Texas Rangers fell through. It will be interesting to see how Lowell takes to being the backup third basemen now that Beltre is the starter, but that could be a mute point if Lowell is traded or an injury occurs.

It looks as if Boston will have a lot more two to one games than sixteen to ten games, but sports are unpredictable and that’s why they play the games.

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