This entry was posted on 10/15/2009 11:34 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
The Red Sox front office became well acquainted with the ballclub’s flaws during the 2009 baseball season, and then watched as they all mercilessly appeared while Boston was quickly swept by the Angels during the ALDS. Boston was prone to long, uninspiring slumps while away from Fenway Park and no longer bragged the kind of dynamic middle-of-the-order power bat capable of punishing Major League Baseball’s best pitching.
Boston’s team defense isn’t quite what it used to be, and some of their aging stars – Mike Lowell and David Ortiz chief among them – aren’t able to carry the team offensively as they once did in their primes. The Sox experienced tremendous difficulties at the catcher position when it came to throwing out base stealers and controlling the running game was a major weakness that the Angels were able to exploit.
“If you look back at this year’s club, we weren’t the defensive club that we wanted to be – team defense and defensive efficiency – and offensively we didn’t hit on the road this year. The disparity in our offense between home and road was a bit extreme,” said Sox GM Theo Epstein. “We’ll take a look at see if we can improve that a little bit. Those are the two areas that we’re going to look at.”
These are challenging times in Boston as there aren’t many areas on the team where the Sox can free themselves of contractual obligations, and the one hitter they’d really like to retain – Jason Bay – is set to become one of the best offensive players available on the free agent market.
It was also fairly telling that the Sox organization handed the ball to 25-year-old lefty Jon Lester in Game 1 of the playoffs, and planned on coming back with the big southpaw again on short rest had the series made it a Game 4. In many ways, the raw-boned, durable lefty has surpassed Josh Beckett as the staff’s ace, and was the starter most entrusted with the team’s fate once the playoffs bullets began flying.
Jonathan Papelbon had another All-Star season pitching among a wildly talented collection of power arms in the bullpen, but trade whispers are cropping up and surrounding Sox closer after his numbers declined slightly from their past greatness. The question of trading Papelbon has more to do with his contractual status two years away from the big money of free agency than anything else, but the 28-year-old closer is clearly at a crossroads after finally proving himself all too human in blowing Game 3 of the ALDS.
Despite the problems and areas that cry out for repairs, the Sox are also in a very good spot on many different fronts. Lester, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia are locked in to club-friendly long-term deals and J.D. Drew finished last season among the AL’s top five outfielders in OPS. Victor Martinez flourished in Boston amid the Sox’ collection of professional hitters, and also showed the kind of leadership qualities revered by Sox manager Terry Francona.
Jacoby Ellsbury had his best season as both a leadoff hitter and centerfielder, and Clay Buchholz took a big step forward in his development as a No. 3 starter behind Beckett and Lester. Daniel Bard was another treasure from Boston’s player development machine that developed at the big league level last season, and could be the heir apparent once Papelbon has left the Fenway building.
Francona saw all that talent in action last season, and still has a hard time believing that Boston’s season has already come to an abrupt end.
“Every year I guess is a little bit different,” said Francona. “A couple years we've been fortunate enough to be celebrating. A couple years we've been heartbroken. This year's a harder one to figure.”
Things aren’t ideal within the walls of Fenway this winter after falling short of their World Series goals for the second consecutive season, but many of the pieces are in place for another 95-win team next season – the third straight year the club would reach their annual regular season benchmark. The team’s offseason “to do” list should be about finding that spark, that game-changing force, that will push the Sox over the top when the baseball titans begin colliding during the playoffs.
That elusive offensive force was the biggest missing ingredient in the just-concluded season, and it’s the top priority of the winter for those in the corner offices on Yawkey Way.
