Play ball!
The shortest (and most memorable) off-season in Red Sox history is over. Last night, the Sox took the field as DEFENDING WORLD CHAMPS for the first time since 1919. It’s was a game we’ve long been waiting for, and it fittingly took place against the Yankees in New York.
Maybe hell didn’t really freeze over when the Sox became the first Major League team to ever rally from a 3-0 series deficit, but it sure got damned cold in Times Square. Apparitions of Johnny Damon started popping up around Manhattan, and the newest chant for Red Sox Nation (“Yankees choke”) was heard for the first time.
Since the 2005 season begins in the Bronx, and since it’s impossible to take the measure of the Red Sox without a comparison to the Yankees, we’re making our preview a comparison of the two archrivals. Both teams went out and changed things considerably this winter, with a combined total of five new starters penciled in for the two teams.
Of course, the Yankees scored the biggest (figuratively and physically) coup this off-season with the addition of Randy Johnson. Johnson has won five Cy Young Awards. You think he was nasty to New York’s photographers this winter? Wait until he gets two cracks at the Sox in the next 11 days.
In addition to Johnson, the Yankees added Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright. The Red Sox actually offered Pavano more money, but the man who grew up a Yankee fan wanted to wear pinstripes. He’s coming off the best season of his career. The question is: was it a turning point, or a one-year wonder? We’ll find out soon enough.
(It is interesting that Joe Torre aligned the rotation so that Mike Mussina – not Pavano – would pitch April 11 at Fenway after the Sox hold their banner-raising ceremony. A good move by Torre, but you have to raise an eyebrow when moves are being made to keep a new, big-money pitcher out of an emotional start.)
Meantime, the Red Sox lost Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe – two pitchers who combined to win 30 games and pitch 400 innings last year. They added David Wells and Matt Clement, a soon-to-be 42-year old lefty and a right-handed pitcher who has tried to capitalize on his “potential” for six years.
No one questions Clement’s stuff. Can he harness it and cut down his walks in 2005? As we well know, walks have a tendency to become runs at Fenway Park. His command has gotten better since he set single-season records for walks, wild pitches, and hit batsmen with San Diego, but he’ll need every bit of that command going up against tougher and deeper A.L. lineups for the first time.
Wells was your Opening Day starter, returning to Yankee Stadium to face his former team. He had a disappointing spring, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that.
Can Wells and Clement replace Pedro and Lowe? No.
But if they can get anything close to the run support the Sox provided last year (particularly to Lowe) they should do just fine.
(One additional pitching thought: Bronson Arroyo had a great spring in Florida, before getting roughed up Thursday night in Phoenix. I don’t give a lot of thought to spring training performance, but I’ve got a gut feeling that Arroyo is going to have a very good year.)
As for the rest of the team, the Sox made a big move by signing Edgar Renteria to a four-year deal. He gives them terrific range (yes, even better than Orlando Cabrera) and a bat that can hit for average and power. While he’s coming off a down year offensively, don’t forget that he drove in 100 runs in 2003. It appears he will most often hit in the five-hole, giving him plenty of RBI opportunities this season.
Trot Nixon will also get a chance to shine, hitting second in this potent lineup. He’s an unconventional No.2 hitter, but is preferable to Mark Bellhorn. Bellhorn, hitting ninth, should get on base plenty and give Johnny Damon more RBI opportunities. And Bill Mueller, two years removed from his AL batting championship, is the best No. 8 hitter in the game.
The Sox lineup appears equal to the Yankees, who again have plenty of pop in a group of big hitters. Expect Jeter, A-Rod, Matsui, and even Jason Giambi to again put up plenty of runs this year.
Both teams improved the bullpen, so the set up duos of Timlin/Embree and Gordon/Quantrill shouldn’t have to be burned out.
The Yankees’ made the most dramatic moves, and a team that won 101 games last season has a much better starting rotation. They are the favorites to win the division. That said, the Wild Card race appears weaker than last year – with Oakland down, and Seattle out again. Look for the Sox and Yanks to make it to the post-season. From there – as we learned last season – all bets are off.
If Wade Miller – a top-of-the-rotation guy when he’s healthy – can return and pitch well by Memorial Day, the Sox will have the rotation to go toe-to-toe with the Yankees. If not, look for Theo Epstein to make a big mid-summer move (Hanley Ramirez for Ben Sheets?) to give them a strong shot in October.
Lewiston native Tom Caron covers the Red Sox for NESN.
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