26-year old righty swinging Dustin Pedroia followed up his MVP season in 2008 with a solid 2009. Pedroia played in 154 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 185 for 626 (.296 avg, .818 OPS) with 115 runs scored, 15 homers, 72 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Pedroia will continue seeing a lot of fastballs batting between Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis so look for him to continue to pound the ball in 2010. Pedroia only made six errors in 154 games at 2B last season for the Red Sox but he has poor range which is often overlooked by the media up north. Still, he makes plays on the balls he gets to. His defense is the reason that the Red Sox would have made a big mistake by moving him to shortstop which they briefly considered before signing Marco Scutaro to start there.

30-year old righty swinging Bill Hall will back-up Pedroia at 2B as he can play almost anywhere on the field. Hall played in 3 games at 2B last season and he didn’t make any errors while also showing poor range there.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2B IN 2010: A

The Red Sox have signed 35-year old righty reliever Joe Nelson to a minor league deal. He pitched in 42 games (0 starts) for the Rays last season and he was 3-0 with 3 saves, a 4.02 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. Nelson has now pitched in 149 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 7-2 with 13 saves, a 4.07 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. I would be stunned if Nelson makes the Red Sox pitching staff out of spring training as he has big issues with control.

The Red Sox have signed 27-year old righty swinging catcher Gustavo Molina to a minor league deal. Molina played in 72 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 44 for 211 (.209 avg, .541 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 2 homers and 24 RBIs. He last played in the majors in 2008 with the Mets. Molina has played in 19 games in his major league career and he is 4 for 34 (.118 avg, .309 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. This signing was for organizational depth and little more as Molina doesn’t have much of an upside.

Righty reliever/starter Bob Stanley filled in whatever role the Red Sox needed him to in his 13 years there. He pitched in 637 games (85 starts) for the Red Sox in his career and he was 115-97 with 132 saves, a 3.64 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. But, he was at his best during the 1982+1983 seasons when he pitched in 112 games (0 starts) and he was 20-17 with 47 saves, a 2.98 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Stanley pitched an amazing 313 2/3 innings out of the pen in those two years. Stanley is #1 all-time in Red Sox history in games pitched (637), he’s #8 in wins with 115, #2 in saves with 132 and he is #6 in innings pitched (#6). Stanley was a solid pitcher for the Red Sox.

Instead of shuffling between 1B and 3B this season, 30-year old righty swinging Kevin Youkilis will be able to focus on playing 1B. He played in 136 games for he Red Sox last season and he was 150 for 491 (.305 avg, .961 OPS) with 99 runs scored, 27 homers, 94 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Youkilis is turning into one of the better players in the American League. In his last four years with the Red Sox, Youkilis is hitting .296 with an average of 93.8 runs scored, 39 doubles, 21.3 homers and 91 RBIs per season. He also takes one for the team once in a while as he has been plunked with 52 pitches the last four years. Youkilis is also a Gold Glove-type defender at first base as he only made 1 error there in 78 games for the Red Sox last season. Youkilis seems to keep getting better so expect a big 2010 out of him.

When Youkilis needs a day off either Victor Martinez or Mike Lowell (if he’s still with the team) will replace him at 1B. Martinez played 70 games (66 starts) at 1B last season for the Indians and Red Sox and he made 3 errors. He is getting better there defensively. Lowell didn’t play any games at 1B last season for the Red Sox but the thinking is that he would be able to learn it and do a decent job there.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR 1B IN 2010: A