| 06 February 2009
Let the 2009 Previews begin!
Joy of Sox predictions from The Sporting News. Here's how they see the AL East shaking out:
Yankees - 94
Red Sox - 93 (wc)
Rays - 92
Blue Jays - 74
Orioles - 65
Looks like a heart breaker for the Rays this year... click over for some good Scout analysis.
Ump Bump is gradong the offseason work of all 30 MLB teams with their "Hot Offseason Action"... here's what the had to say about the Red Sox:
Grade: B+
This isn't so much because of Mark Teixeira - though I admit, they could've used him. This is really because of concerns about the catching situation. Boston really needs to get that resolved, long-term. Ideally, they would have signed Varitek, let him take a backseat role, and traded for a new catcher. I am, I admit, concerned about shortstop and third base. Julio Lugo is - annoyingly - still on the team. Mike Lowell is - unavoidably - still going to be an injury risk. Jed Lowrie at shortstop doesn't worry me, but a left side made of Lowrie and Lugo does. If that ends up being the case, depending on how Lars does in AA, I wouldn't mind seeing him in Boston come September, manning first, and having Youk slide over to third. I'm also worried about Josh Beckett and David Ortiz, and anxious to see what happens with Clay Buchholz. Though it's true that last year's injuries were likely to blame for failing to repeat as AL East champs and the failure to get to the World Series, the Rays themselves suffered their own raft of injuries, and actually had off-years from several key players. So while Boston made a lot of good moves this winter, this will be a 162 game playoff race with no room for error.
Chad Finn at Touching All The Bases has 10 quick hits about Boston sports - No. 1 Nomar Garciaparra is a better short stop than Derek Jeter... right now, not 8 years ago.
Ben Sheets is considering elbow surgery with the hopes of playing for someone in the second half of the '09 season... MVN's MLB Notebook looks at a few teams that might be interested - The Yankees, Phillies and Angels are on the list.
Amalie Benjamin has a great interview with Red ox "super prospect" Lars Anderson and his family.
That's all I have this weekend, but be sure to check back next week, we have alot of great stuff coming.
Here's your Saturday Morning Cartoon - this week we have video!
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