i guess the time has come

opening day for baseball is about 2 weeks away. i've remained almost silent about the upcoming season ever since the defector showed his true pinstripes. i've watched the roster dwindle & the Epstein drama come full circle. i was amazed & disappointed by the Mirabelli decision. i guess i've gotten discouraged by some of the things i've seen. but i can't ignore it for much longer because pretty soon it will be time to PLAY BALL.

Nichole has been chomping at the bit for me to get to this anyway so i guess i'll dive in...

i was looking at the Red Sox depth chart earlier today. it's so...different this year. so many unfamiliar names...

i am relieved that Varitek is still catching. not sure about this new guy, Bard. i hope he's comfortable catching Wake. we know that Varitek sure isn't. there are some other familiar faces left too. ones that also help to ease the uncertainty i feel going into this season. Big Papi. Trot Nixon. Manny. (oh Lord...can you believe Manny is actually easing my mind?? now i'm actually a little scared lol...)

i'm feeling ok about Coco Crisp (other than his name which i will likely never say without laughing...)--i've been reassured by another Red Sox fan that he is comparable to The Traitor with bat in hand & that in the field, he's young & will only improve, maybe even outshine his predecessor.

on the infield there's Kevin Youkilis (1B) who has been a Red Sox player his whole pro career (all 2 years of it). couldn't figure out why i didn't know the name. turns out he only played 44 games last year & 72 the year before. looks like they bounced him around a bit on defense. he hits ok. he's young. we'll see i suppose...

the remainder of the infield is comprised of new faces in Boston. Mark Loretta (2B) from the Padres: i checked him out--respectable & reliable in the field it seems; actually somewhat impressive at the plate. Alex Gonzalez (SS) & Mike Lowell (3B) both from the Marlins seem ok. Gonzalez doesn't have numbers that "wow" me but he can't be any bigger a let down than Renteria was last year right? and Lowell had a rough season in 2005 but if he can bounce back, he's a solid acquisition on both sides of the ball. and if the newest investment of Juan Gonzalez pans out & they bring him up to Boston, a batting line-up of Gonzalez-Ramirez-Ortiz (in any order really) has the potential to be intimidating--tough to pitch around that. hmmmm...maybe this isn't as bleak as i was thinking...

that brings me to my thoughts on pitching. which was a nightmare of huge proportion last season. so frustrating. so disappointing...

at the moment the rotation appears to be set as Schilling, Beckett, Wells, Clement, Wakefield, Papelbon. i'm actually pretty happy with the starters. Schilling is the man if he's healthy--we've seen it before. i like Josh Beckett--i think he'll be a strong #2 man in the rotation. Wells & Clement are decent. i always liked Tim Wakefield. and i think Papelbon has a lot of promise. i'm sorry to see Arroyo go. especially for an outfielder whose stats are mediocre as far as i'm concerned. it seems much wiser to keep a good pitcher on hand--in Boston i almost feel it's inevitable that the rotation won't make a whole season healthy. it looks good as is but i really feel like one injury & the pitching is going to find itself unstable. Arroyo would have helped balance things in my opinion, add a little more security. but *shrug* what do i know huh? and the bullpen...always makes me nervous. i feel like we never really know what we're getting there. maybe they can prove themselves to me this year. (ha! like that's high on their list of priorities for 2006 huh?) we will see what we shall see.

but i'm sticking with this updatedprediction: maybe this year will turn out better than i thought it might.

in other amusing news:
Posada suffers broken nose in today's game against the Red Sox--i know it's mean to laugh but i can see how that nose would get in the way...lol...
seems like the Yankess spent a lot of money on someone who is not in tiptop shape--maybe there's a reason Boston let him walk away without blinking ;-)