Plain and simple – the future is still bright for the Red Sox organization.  Despite the monumental collapse in which the Red Sox lost 20 of their final 27 games to become the 1st major league team to blow a 9-game September lead and miss the post-season.  Despite the parting of ways with 8-year manager Terry Francona.  Despite all of the rumors swirling around the status of their beloved General Manager, hometown hero Theo Epstein.  Despite all of these setbacks, the Red Sox are still primed and ready to surge to the top in 2012.

For times during the 2012 MLB campaign, the Red Sox DID look like the top team in baseball. Having Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez at the top of your lineup can only mean good things.  If the Red Sox can keep Kevin Youkilis healthy in the 4-spot (something he has not done the last 2 seasons), that will only make this team better.  As for the starting rotation, the 1-2-3 combo (once again assuming health) of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz is as good as, if not better than, any other team in baseball today.  You can definitely build a very very competitive team around this core for years to come, and that’s just what the Red Sox expect to do in 2012.

Sure there are a lot of holes to fill.  The new Manager must improve the clubhouse dynamic, something that helped lead to the breakdown at the end of the current season.  If the Red Sox can’t figure out a way to bring back David Ortiz to DH again, who will fill that slot?  The SS and RF positions are totally up for grabs and the Red Sox will need to land a new closer (or promote from within) assuming they do not re-sign Jonathan Papelbon who is now a free agent.  The Red Sox will also have to figure out what is wrong with John Lackey and who will slide into the #5 slot in the rotation.

It should be an interesting off-season.  Let’s see what happens with Theo and the managerial search in the upcoming weeks and then we’ll be able to delve into potential player moves for the 2012 MLB campaign.

After a pressure-packed sweep over the Yankees in the Bronx, you almost expected a let down when the Red Sox faced the Blue Jays in Toronto on Friday night.  But that never happened, as Clay Buchholz took charge early in the game and never gave the Jays a chance to feel like they had a chance to win.  Buchholz had one of his most efficient starts of the season – 100 pitches in 7 innings, 1 ER, 3 hits, 2 walks and 6 K’s.  You couldn’t ask for anything more in the 5-1 Red Sox win, their 7th win in a row.  Buchholz has really started to turn it on as of late and with Josh Beckett and Jon Lester firing on all cylinders, the top of the Red Sox rotation is pretty damn scary right now.

Manager Terry Francona then went with his old reliable formula of Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon in the 8th and 9th innings to finish out the win.  Bard notched his 13th hold and lowered his WHIP to 0.87 and his ERA to 2.78.   Papelbon would have picked up the save if the Red Sox didn’t add a run in the top of the 9th on Adrian Gonzalez’s RBI double.  Papelbon worked a perfect 9th inning.

The bats did the rest.  Jacoby Ellsbury had 3 hits and 3 runs scored from the lead-off spot.  Dustin Pedroia returned to lineup after resting his sore knee and had 3 hits, 1 RBI and 1 run scored.  Gonzalez had 2 hits and 2 RBI’s.  Gotta love someone always stepping up to give the offense a jolt when needed.  The Red Sox scored 2 runs on a Dustin Pedroia single and a Gonzalez ground out in the 2nd inning.  They scored 2 more runs in the 5th inning on a Gonzalez single and a Kevin Youkilis single.

The Red Sox are 37-26 and they still lead the Yankees by 2 games in the AL East race.

It’s as simple as that – David “Big Papi” Ortiz will hit against lefties during the 2011 MLB schedule.  Manager Terry Francona has given Big Papi the full vote of confidence that he can still hit against lefties.  Francona also feels that sitting the big man against lefties also has a negative impact on how he hits against righties.  Francona had this to say about Ortiz: “The first month of the season, we started out so bad and I felt I could have probably done some things differently.  You take the roster you have and try to make the most of it.  I thought I got in Beltre’s way a little bit… Looking back at David, I don’t know, it’s easy to look back, but during that time period I always do what I think is best.  I never try to lose sight of the big picture.  If I had to do it all over again, I don’t know if I was right or not to pinch hit for him, but we won a game.  That’s a hard one.  I’m not trying to dodge the question… The idea is to win… but you can’t just sit him because I’m not sure he’d have as mush success against righties.”

Very interesting insight by Tito.  I expect to see Francona give Ortiz more days off during the regular season.  Maybe on a night when the Sox are squaring off against a tough lefty, you make a play for one of the back up outfielders like Mike Cameron to serve as DH.  Guess we’ll have to see how it all plays out, but I expect Big Papi to have a great year – start to finish – in 2011.

The Red Sox have added another piece to their evolving bullpen mix – Dan Wheeler.  Wheller pitched for the Tampa Bay Rays each of the last 3 seasons and averaged 68 appearances per season in one of the best bullpens in baseball.  He was 2-4 with a 3.35 ERA in 56 appearances for the Rays in 2010.  At 33 years of age, the Red Sox will likely use Wheeler more in the 6th and 7th innings of games as a “set-up” man to set-up men Daniel Bard and Bobby Jenks.

Wheeler signed a 1-year deal and has a player option that vests if he pitches in 65 games for the Red Sox during the 2011 MLB season.

This has been a piecemeal project for Theo & Co. this winter.  Let’s hope it all pans out and that someone from the farm system also emerges as a valuable commodity in the ‘pen.

Will Mike Cameron be ready for the 2011 MLB schedule and is their even a position for the 38-year old center fielder?

First the health question answer — Cameron will begin baseball activities by Thanksgiving and he should be 100% ready for Spring Training 2011.  Cameron dealt with abdominal and groin issues way back in Spring Training 2010, but he avoided taking any extreme measures to fix the problem because of the injuries suffered by Jacoby Ellsbury, the Red Sox other starting outfielder.  Cameron was to start in center field and Ellsbury moved over to left field to make room for Cameron, so losing both players was a major blow.  Cameron played in only 48 games in 2010, hitting .259 with 4 HR’s and 15 RBI’s.   Ellsbury participated even less than Cameron — 18 games played, .192 batting average, .241 on-base percentage.

Cameron’s agent Mike Nicotera had this to say about Cameron’s rehab process — “Mike’s doing very well.  He is running, doing plyometrics and agility work and lifting.  The plan was for him to be completely ‘rehabbed’ by Thanksgiving, and he is on schedule.  From there, he will continue to work out normally to get ready for the season.”

As for the 2nd part of the equation, it’s unclear where Cameron stands going into the 2011 MLB schedule.  He is 38 years old and if he doesn’t show that he is ready to play everyday, he could find himself looking at a 4th outfielder spot.  The Red Sox are expected to make strong plays for Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford.  Assuming that the Red Sox land one of those guys, you would likely go with the starting trio of Ellsbury, J.D. Drew and Crawford or Werth.  With several talented (and cheaper) outfield options in the system – Daniel Nava, Ryan Kalish, just to name 2 – the Red Sox might be better off trying to trade Cameron to a team looking for a veteran presence in the outfield.  Even if they had to eat some of his salary, the Red Sox might be better served by moving Cameron to give one of the younger players a little more regular major league experience.  And if they don’t find anyone interested in trading for Cameron, the Red Sox could always just keep him as the 4th outfielder.  So it seems like the Red Sox are in pretty good shape in the outfield – assuming that they can sign either Crawford or Werth AND assuming that Ellsbury and Cameron are both healthy come spring training 2011!  We’ll keep you posted if anything new develops on the Red Sox outfield front.

The Red Sox aren’t in it, but that doesn’t mean the World Series isn’t happening.  In all honesty, I could care less about this World Series.  I’m just glad that the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays didn’t make it!

In any event, the 2010 World Series kicks off at AT&T Park  in San Francisco on Wednesday, October 27th.  Cliff Lee of the Texas Rangers will square off against Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants.  First pitch is scheduled for 6:57PM Chicago time on Fox.

The Red Sox recovered from a rough 4-game series against the Rangers at Fenway Park over the weekend to pull off a nice 2-1 win over the A’s in Oakland.

The Good — Daisuke Matsuzaka – 6 2/3 quality innings allowing just 2 hits and 2 walks while making only 89 pitches.  The lone A’s run came off of a solo home run by Rajai Davis.

The Good — Daniel Bard – 20 holds?!  Gotta love Bard’s 2010 performance.  Bard has been the Red Sox most consistent reliever all season, and he may even be their “pitching MVP” at this point of the season.  His miniscule 0.84 WHIP and 1.80 ERA are incredible.

The Good — Jonathan Papelbon – Papelbon has been flying under the radar screen this season.  He now has 21 saves and a solid 1.03 WHIP.  The 3.23 ERA is a tad high, but that reflects a few bad outings where he got uncharacteristically lit up.  He worked a perfect 9th inning with 1 K to preserve the Red Sox 1-run win.

The Good — Adrian Beltre – This guy keeps on raking – 3 hits including a solo home run with 2 outs in the 4th inning that proved to be the game-winner.  He is hitting .333 with 15 HR’s, 58 RBI’s and 46 runs scored.  Think the Red Sox wished they had inked him to a longer deal now?  He is going to command a longer deal and some big $$$ this off-season, and may actually be worth it.

The Bad — the rest of the Red Sox lineup – just 5 hits for the rest of the team.  Not good.

Stat You May Have Missed — Leading 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th inning, Manager Terry Francona called upon Daniel Bard to end the scoring threat after Dice-K had allowed 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs.  Bard came through by forcing Gabe Gross to pop out weekly to Beltre at 3rd base.

Tim Wakefield looks to rebound from a 6-run 1st inning in his last start against the Rangers to give the Red Sox a chance to make it 2 wins in a row.  Wakefield’s time in the starting rotation is clearly numbered with the returns of Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett this week.

Red Sox slugger david Ortiz won the All-Star Game’s Home Run Derby on Monday night in Anaheim.  Big Papi took out Hanley Ramirez – a former Red Sox minor league star – with 11 home runs in the final round. Ortiz hit a total of 32 homers in all 4 rounds, which moved him into a tie for 2nd place all-time with Jason Giambi with 68 Derby home runs.  Ken Griffey, Jr. holds the record with 74 Derby dingers.  Ortiz had this to say about the experience — “I’m too old doiong this.  It was good that they put me towards the end, because I get tired pretty easy when I hit and shut it down for a while.”

Congrats Big Papi – let’s hope this means a continued productive 2nd half in 2010.

The Red Sox defeated the Phillies 8-3 on Sunday’s rubber game as Tim Wakefield outdueled Roy Halladay.

Wakefield, making a start in place of the injured Josh Beckett gave the Red Sox a HUGE lift by tossing 8 scoreless innings.  Wakefield scattered 5 hits and 2 walks during his outing and has now made 2 great starts for the Red Sox in the last 2 weeks as Beckett recovers from his back injury.

The Good — the Red Sox offense — the Red Sox raced out to a 7-0 lead off of old Blue Jays nemesis Roy Halladay.  The Red Sox had 10 hits and 4 walks and took advantage of scorin chance in the win.  Kevin Youkilis had 2 hits and 3 runs scored (including his 9th HR of the season).  Victor Martinez had 2 hits as did J.D. Drew and Adrian Beltre.

The Good – Wakefield – see stats above.

The Bad – Ramon Ramirez.  Wakefield threw 103 pitches in his 8 innings, so Manager Terry Francona opted to go with Ramon Ramirez to pitch the final inning of the game with an 8-run lead.  But Ramirez continued his struggles.  He gave up 3 ER on 3 hits including a 2-run home run by Ross Gload.  Ramirez’s WHIP is now 1.65 and his ERA is 6.35- not good.

Stat You May Have Missed — Jacoby Ellsbury returned to the Red Sox lineup on Saturday and Sunday – he went 1 for 9 with 2 RBI’s and 1 run scored.

The Red Sox now face the series of a lifetime – 3 games against the Rays in Tampa.  Already trailing the Rays by 8.5 games in the AL East race, the Red Sox cannot afford to lose anymore ground.  Clay Buchholz has been the Sox most consistent pitcher all season with 5 wins and a 3.26 ERA and he looks to keep the momentum going by keeping the red-hot hitting Rays in check.  Should be interesting…

The Bad — John Lackey — for the 2nd straight start, Lackey had some serious issues with his control.  He gave up 3 walks and 8 hits in the Red Sox 7-6 win over the Blue Jays last week and he gave up 4 walks and 9 hits in yesterday’s loss.  This is unacceptable for your “ace #3″ of the staff.  Maybe he’s just in a little funk, but after allowing more than 3 ER in only 1 of his 1st 6 starts as a Red Sox, Lackey has been sub-par since then.  We really need him to step it up very soon.

The Bad — The Sox offense — Despite getting 7 hits and 5 walks, the Red Sox scored only 1 run.  They left at least 2 runners on base in the 1st, 6th, 7th and 9th innings, and didn’t score a single run in any of those innings.  This is becoming a continuing problem for the Sox and they will need to come through with clutch hits on a more consistent basis soon or else we might have to write the rest of the season off, as crazy as it sounds.

The Good — Kevin Youkilis and Darnell McDonal each had 2 hits in the loss, but neither player scored a run or drove in a run.  They were the only Red Sox hitters with more than 1 hit.

Stat You May Have Missed — Lackey tossed 123 pitches in the loss!  123 pitches in May!  Come on guys, Lackey is no spring chicken anymore.  You could see he was laboring – he threw 38 pitches in the 2nd inning alone with 3 walks and racked up over 50 pitches in the 1st 2 innings.  I know the bullpen has been struggling, but we’ve invested a lot of money in the guy and he clearly didn’t come with his A-game.  Would pulling him after the 6th inning been the worst thing in the world?

Now the Red Sox have to deal with the Yankees in New York.  Boy should this be interesting.  At 19-19 and already 7.5 games behind the Rays and 5.5 games behind the Yankees, this is make-or-break for the Red Sox.  The pressure is on Daisuke Matsuzaka.  Dice-K tossed 7 1-run innings against the Yankees in New York in September 2009 and he is coming off a great start against the Blue Jays in which he gave up just 1 run and 3 hits in a 7-1 win last week.  Unfortunately, he must face the Yankees hottest pitcher – Phil Hughes – who leads the AL in ERA and opponents’ batting average against and has 39 K’s in 39 innings pitched.  Stay tuned — this could get ugly…