Is Boston beginning another title run?
Xander Bogaerts, left, and Brock Holt are familiar faces, but Boston has lost a few key pieces. Are the Red Sox starting to turn over?
Five issues facing the Red Sox:
The bullpen: While the rival New York Yankees have a “Who’s who” in their bullpen, the Red Sox have a, “Who the heck are these guys?”
The defending World Series champions, vying to become the first team to repeat since the New York Yankees in 19992000, had to make difficult financial decisions after spending a franchiserecord $240 million last season. They brought back World Series heroes Nathan Eovaldi and Steve Pearce but let late-inning reliever Joe Kelly and closer Craig Kimbrel go.
The Red Sox are planning on going with Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier. They have combined for two career saves, both by Barnes.
“We do feel that there are certain guys that have to take a step forward,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.
Mookie Betts’ future: The Red Sox dropped $20 million on Betts this winter to avoid arbitration and will have him for only two more years. They’d love to lock him up, but at what price? He could be baseball’s first $400 million player.
“He’s one of the great players of our generation,” Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said. “Obviously if we have conversations, they will be private, but it’s our hope that he’ll be a Red Sox player for his whole baseball career.”
They also must make decisions on ace Chris Sale and shortstop Xavier Bogaerts, who are eligible for free agency after this season.
Dustin Pedroia’s status: The second baseman played three games in 2018, undergoing left knee surgery and not yet recovering after being spiked in 2017 by former Orioles third baseman Manny Machado. Pedroia insists he will be fine, and the Red Sox are taking him at his word. They didn’t pick up a second baseman this winter, believing Pedroia will be fine. He just began running in January. Just in case, they have Brock Holt, Eduardo Nunez and Tzu-Wei Lin for insurance. The real Andrew Benintendi? Benintendi had a dreadful second half, hitting two homers after the All-Star break, and none in the postseason, ending with a 285 at-bat homerless drought. He also had a .727 OPS in the second half, compared to .897 in the first half.
The Red Sox are showing faith in him by moving him to the leadoff spot this year and dropping Betts to the No. 2 hole. He hit .322 with a .979 OPS in 21 games out of the leadoff spot last season.
World Series hangover? The Red Sox insist they will rest their starters until the final week of spring training. They’re not even shy about their belief they’ll be back.
“Somebody might write this, I don’t care,” manager Alex Cora said. “If you guys thought last year was special, wait till this year.”
Cora points to having Eovaldi, Pearce and reliever Ryan Brasier all season; Pedroia for more than three games (a healthy Chris Sale in the second half); and a rejuvenated Jackie Bradley Jr.