The Move: Pats to Sox

Alright, Boston sports fans, unfortunately due to the Patriots early postseason exit, we find ourselves in that frustrating and awkwardly uncomfortable transition period.  It's kind of like when you're attempting to grow out your luscious locks and you hit the phase in between short and long, where you cannot do anything that looks good with your hair. Tom Brady knows what I'm talking about...

So, as we try to refrain from replaying that horrendous defeat in our heads over and over again, a method that might help us to move on is to look forward to the future as our fanaticism transfers from football to the start of baseball season.  It's certainly not an easy task, but with a little guidance and support we can all make it through these trying times.

With Pitchers and catchers scheduled to report to spring training in City Palms Park on February 14th, the Red Sox look like they're prepared to field an exciting team this year.  Several key additions were made this winter which have elevated the Sox as the preseason favorites to win the American League.

Despite the high expectations and bevy of new personnel, there are still a few question marks that remain from a season ago.  Here is a list of five players to keep an eye on, who, I believe, could perhaps hold the key that will either make or break the Red Sox this year.

1.       Josh Beckett:  Topping the list, after a season full of injuries, is this fiery 30 year-old.  This once dominant pitcher will look to rebound from one of the most disappointing statistical seasons of his illustrious career.  His contributions will be vital to the success of a starting rotation who failed to meet last season's high expectations.  An aging arm with a ton of innings logged raises the level of concern and allows more skepticism to surround a complete bounce back, especially considering he has failed to pitch 200 innings in two of the last three seasons.  If he is, somehow, able to maintain his health, he will be heavily relied upon to provide much more consistency and will be under enormous pressure to put up better numbers than the 6-6 record and 5.78 ERA he posted last season.

2.       John Lackey:  Sticking with the starting pitching theme, this brings up another Red Sox starter who struggled in Boston last year.  After signing a huge contract last winter, Lackey failed to live up to the hype in his first season at Fenway, compiling a painfully pedestrian record of 14-11 with an ERA of 4.40.  If Lackey and Beckett can improve upon their lackluster performances in 2011, the Red Sox pitching staff could compete as one of the deepest, talented, and experienced rotations in baseball.

3.       Jacoby Ellsbury:  The Red Sox were dealt a significant blow when Ellsbury collided with Adrian Beltre, breaking three of his ribs, limiting him to a total of 18 games in 2010.  Dubbed as the lead off hitter of the future for the Sox, the injury was a major setback in his development as a young player, who had shown significant strides of improvement in each of his first few years in Boston.  He is widely considered as one of the most dangerous threats on the base path, and his speed and defense will be welcomed back atop the lineup, and in center field as well.

4.       Jonathan Papelbon:  With a newly renovated bullpen employed to precede this closer’s entrance into the 9th inning, Papelbon will be facing the most important season of his professional career.  2010 was, by far, his worst season since coming up with the Red Sox, and his eight blown saves were worst in the AL.  The Red Sox will be monitoring his production very intently as he is in the final year of arbitration eligibility, and could become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.  The acquisition of Bobby Jenks was a move, at the time, to add depth to the back end of a sub-par bullpen, but it also allowed the Red Sox the ability to trade away Papelbon if he struggles and they decide they have no intentions of re-signing him next year.

5.       Jarrod Saltalamacchia:  The departure of Victor Martinez forces this young catcher into the starting role.  A highly regarded prospect, his talents have yet to translate into productive numbers at the major league level.  He was actually the centerpiece in the trade that sent Mark Teixeira from the Rangers to the Braves in 2007.  Fortunately, the amount of pressure on him to produce will not be as high on him with the Red Sox hitting near the bottom of the order in a fearsome lineup.  Hopefully, under the tutelage of Captain, Jason Varitek, he will learn to become more comfortable in his new, elevated role of responsibility, and will be able to flourish under the strong influence of a veteran pitching staff.

      Nothing else can be said or done to change the events of this past Sunday.  As Boston sports fans, we're emotionally conditioned to absorb these types of blows.  So rather than wallow in our sorrows, let's begin to to realize that we have another great team to get behind.  I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but we should consider ourselves lucky to live in such a great professional sports town.  Imagine being in a place like Tennessee...  Once the Titans season is over, they don't have any other sports teams to redirect their attention toward.

Therefore, raise the shades and crawl out of your dark rooms of depression.  Life isn't over; football season is.  So get out there and purchase your "T" passes and re-route your GPS destinations from Foxboro to Fenway, for it won't be too long before the Pats are a faded memory.  And that, my friends, is a very good thing.