Red Sox Thoughts

Terry Francona has stated that Jacoby Ellsbury will bat leadoff and that means the Red Sox lineup should look something like this: 1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF 2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B 3. Carl Crawford, LF 4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B 5. Kevin Youkilis, 3B 6. David Ortiz, DH 7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C 8. J.D. Drew, RF 9. Marco Scutaro, SS That is a lefthanded heavy lineup but hitters like Crawford (.270 career hitter and .697 OPS against lefties) and Gonzalez (.262/.783 against lefties) will not be completely overmatched when facing a lefthanded pitcher. It is a lineup that should approach 1000 runs scored on the season and with a bench featuring Jed Lowrie, Mike Cameron, Jason Varitek, and Darnell McDonald there should be plenty of depth to wear down opposing pitchers this summer... Gordon Edes of the Boson Globe mentions the possibility of the Red Sox going after Pudge Rodriguez on his Twitter account tonight. The future Hall of Fame backstop - who still has not given the 1999 A.L. MVP trophy to Pedro Martinez - would add depth behind Saltalamacchia and Varitek... Other than the fact that I was in his high school graduating class (Milton High School, '99), I think that the Red Sox bullpen would benefit greatly from the addition of lefty Rich Hill. The end of the Sox bullpen is heavy with power righthanded arms in Jonathan Papelbon, Daniel Bard, and Bobby Jenks but a situational lefty specialist like Hill - who has been dropping down his release to sidearm against lefties - would be a nice luxury for Francona... The worst kept secret in Boston is that Gonzalez will sign a 7-year/$154-million contract extension a few days after the start of the season. The day that it is finalized will be a cause of celebration... See you at The Baseball Tavern on Opening Day...