AL East Debriefing

Traditionally, the Boston Red Sox are a red hot team to start the season and then fizzle as the season continues beyond the All-Star Break limping into the playoffs.  The New York Yankees are traditionally almost the opposite.  The Red Sox are on a 4 game slide and the Yankees have won their first four series, amassing only 3 losses in the first 12 games of the season.

This is not the same Red Sox team of old.

No Manny being Manny.  And David Ortiz certainly isn't David Ortiz.  Jason Bay the last season and a half was the big "Manny-like" bat.  This season I suppose you could attempt to attribute a combo of Victor Martinez, J.D. Drew and Adrian Beltre to that post, but you can't equate the production of one bat to three.

Perhaps the Red Sox are floundering early because, simply put, this isn't the same Red Sox team of years past.  THIS is intriguing.  I think of the traditional 2000 Red Sox as power bats, and good starting pitching.  Sometimes good enough to be amazing, sometimes good enough to be turrible.  Jon Lester has yet to hit his stride, but I think it's obvious that this Red Sox team is built for pitching.  John Lackey is the 3rd starter, and Lester is the #2.  That's pretty damn good.

Papi isn't Papi anymore.  He was absurdly clutch in his prime.  Not judging, but it was probably the HGH and the horse steriods.  J.D. Drew just isn't good.  Cameron is a long shot for a 20/20 season, because he doesn't have speed anymore, and Adrian Beltre is only contracted for one year so maybe he'll have some more contract-year-magic, but he didn't last year, so why assume he would this year?

The best bats on the Sox are Ellsbury, VMart, and Youk.  In all honesty, those three are more than enough to build a team around.  The Sox bullpen is interesting.  I don't think they're as impressive as in years past.  Papelbon isn't the same as in years past, and seems VERY touchable.  Daniel Bard is the most impressive, but even he isn't perfect.  He's young and still has to develop.

It will be interesting to see how this team progresses, but with the Rays looking for a resurgent year, Toronto looking competitive, and the Yankees starting off well (with Teix hitting under .100, and ARod not being ARod), it will be an uphill battle.  Something the Red Sox haven't had to deal with in recent years.

Rays over Red Sox