2007 red sox a season of question marks

A disappointing and turbulent 2006 season left Red Sox Nation ready, willing and eager for a fresh start in 2007. After finishing third in the AL East (86-76) behind New York and Toronto, it became evident that there are serious problems with this ball club that needed to be addressed.

General Manager/Vice President Theo Epstein and the Red Sox brass have answered the call, dishing out over $200 million on just three players alone: Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, shortstop Julio Lugo, and outfielder J.D. Drew.

If the following six questions amount to some level of moderate success, the '07 edition of the "idiots" should be one for the ages. Are we still using that term by the way?

Too much for Drew and Lugo?

A $70-million, five-year pact with J.D. Drew is insane, plain and simple. He's been an injury-prone malcontent his entire career. Is there talent here? Of course there is! He is an exceptional athlete, but again, will the pressure of the Boston media get to him? Drew, in my opinion, has become the wild card in the lineup. With longtime mainstay Trot Nixon gone to the Cleveland Indians, Drew will be expected to man right field. He'll adjust well, as he's got the ability to hit 20-30 homers, drive in at least 90 runs and hit at least .280, all contingent if he stays healthy.

I've always liked Julio Lugo, put that domestic assault case behind him already, it's time to move on and play some ball. Lugo will be expected to do one thing and one thing only: get on base. His yearly average numbers hover around .280, with 10-12 homers, 70-85 RBI's and 25-40 stolen bases. Sorry my friend, you're going to have to do better than that in Boston if you want success as a solid leadoff man in this town.

Make no mistakes about it; Lugo is the catalyst for this offense. He needs to get on base, hit doubles, steal bases, and do what a quintessential leadoff man is supposed to do. If he does his part I'm confident that Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and J.D. Drew will their part in driving him in.

Daisuke Matsuzaka set to become a Sox legend?

Based on what I saw in the World Baseball Classic and with the experts' opinion of him being a quality starter, if he lives up to potential, Matszusaka will become a huge star - very much godlike (or Godzilla-like for that matter) in Boston. If he can translate his success from Japan to the majors, he should be quite successful and should win at least 15 games, with an ERA under four. His stuff is electric, believe me, I've seen enough YouTube highlights to this know first hand.

Starters filled with concerns

Curt Schilling returns in what could possibly be his last season in Boston, as well as steady mainstay Tim Wakefield, and Josh Beckett who won 16 games, but developed a knack for giving up long balls, walks, and a constant, lingering, out-of-control ERA over five.

The wild cards in the pitching staff are wonder kid Jonathan Papelbon and Matsuzaka. Papelbon had a breakout 2006 season, becoming one of the most dominant closers (0.92 ERA, 35 saves) in the game, made the AL All-Star team, but ended up on the shelf for the rest of the year due to shoulder problems (late August). The Red Sox are letting him go into the starting rotation where they expect him to translate the success he had as closer into a starter.

We cannot forget about Jon Lester, either. Back cancer-free, and healthier than ever, the southpaw hopes to return to the everyday rotation. Manager Terry Francona and pitching coach John Farrell both say his velocity and control have exceeded their expectations. Hey, I love the kid, I hope I'm wrong, but the last thing you want is to have another Dave Dravecky incident. Remember him?

Bullpen could bust

After watching a severe lack of depth in last years pen (except Paplebon), the Sox brass made light head waves in bolstering a weak pen. Signing 35-year-old Brendan Donnelly and lefty J.C. Romero from Anaheim, while snagging what appears to be a washed-up Joel Pinero from Seattle does little to float my boat.

Francona, Farrell, and Epstein have all said that the closer could be Pinero, ageless wonder Mike Timlin, Donnelly, Craig Hansen, or we could perhaps see a return of Paplebon to that role around June/July. All pending the health of his right shoulder. For my money, a closer needs to be decided, soon! I've always hated that "bullpen by committee, we'll see who steps up" nonsense. Establish a closer, make him your closer and that's who you go to war with, plain and simple. Just ask the 2003 Boston Red Sox, the bullpen by committee did them NO justice whatsoever. The Red Sox can't afford to be playing that game again, hopefully, they're aware.

Will my "Tek" return? Please?

I am not 100% sure what happened to him in '06, but catcher Jason Varitek had by far the worst year of his career last year, batting a horrific .238 with 12 dingers and 55 RBI's--all while playing only 103 games. If I were to make any rash conclusions, I would have to say that the reason for his lackluster performance (offensively anyway) would be contributed to two factors: one, he played a LOT of baseball last year. Remember him playing for Team USA in the WBC? He was the number one starting catcher for most of their games; thus eventually putting him near mid-season form by May. Two, the knee injury he suffered while rounding third. Not only did he miss over a month of action down the August stretch, but it also forced us to watch Javy Lopez. I swear the Sox pitchers could have had more luck throwing to a backstop last year than that waste of space.