Awesome. I expect Big Poopie to approach .270/30/100 this year. He can still hit a ball with a stick. EDIT: What are your expectations for Beckett this year?
Not that picking up Crawford and Gonzalez weren't very good moves... they were... but I don't understand why all the "experts" were saying the Sox were so much improved by those pickups and then not accounting for the fact that they were losing a ton of production by letting Beltre and Victor Martinez go. Not a total wash, but close to it. Long term, those moves are upgrades (Beltre wasn't likely to repeat 2010)... but compared to last year (when Beltre raked), it's not that much of an improvement. The Sox had more room to improve in the rotation. Fortunately, Lackey picked up right where he left off. Hopefully Beckett and Matsuzaka will, as well. Staying healthy would also help, although with the exception of Youkilis's injury last year, I think they got decent performance out of the replacements. But whatever. Here's hoping for a shitty, shitty April. And May. And, hell, June and July, too.
I hate to say it, but I have a feeling that Texas team is going to do the same to this Yankee rotation too.
The biggest improvements were the outfield defense (between Crawford's addition and Ellsbury's return) and the bullpen. That, coupled with the health of guys like Youkilis and Pedroia and the upgrade of Crawford/Gonzalez/Saltalamacchia over Beltre/Martinez/Random AAA fill in OF makes this without a doubt a better team than last year. BP has them projected to win 96 games and the division, so it isn't based on just opinion, there are some numbers there too. As for the rotation, there really wasn't much that could be done to improve it. All 5 guys are signed long term. Lester is one of the best 2-3 pitchers in the league. Buchholz certainly won't be as good as he was last year but he's just entering his prime and should be a more than capable 2. Lackey wasn't terrible last year really. He was slightly worse than what he always is, a slightly above average starter that will eat innings. Last year he was a league average starter that ate innings. He's grossly overpaid, but whatever, it's not my money. If he can put up 200+ innings of his typical 115 ERA+, that's perfectly fine with me. He sucked balls tonight though. Matsuzaka and Beckett are the keys to the season. Both dealt with injuries last year and both are big question marks. Both however are very capable of pitching at a very high level. If both pitch even to their career averages as the 4th and 5th starters, this team has a shot to be very special. I forget now where I saw it, but there was a study somewhere about the 116 win Mariners team and the 114 (?) win Yankees teams that showed that the only real difference between those teams and a run of the mill playoff team was the performance of the 4th and 5th starters. I'll post it if I can find it, but it speaks to the importance of Beckett and Matsuzaka this year.
As you say, I think they are banking on guys like Jake and Dusty being healthy for a whole season to make us ''much improved''.
Yeah, Texas has a good lineup. There's gonna be nights like the Sux had tonight, for the NYY. Feliciano will be needed against the lefty filled Boston lineup. Not having him next weekend is a definite blow.
