The Red Sox didn’t really want Mike Lowell, but the Florida Marlins told them, “If you want Beckett, you must take Lowell”, so the Red Sox did and he wound up being more important than Beckett to their season.  Lowell was coming off of a terrible 2005 season for the Marlins and he turned his career right back around as he hit .284 with 20 homers, 80 RBIs and a .814 OPS.  Lowell also was very slick with the glove as he showed great range and he only made 6 errors all season for the Socks.  Look for him to have another solid season.

Alex Cora will likely be the back up for Lowell, but if something major was to happen to Lowell it’s likely that Kevin Youkilis or Eric Hinske would move to 3B.

It’s very likely that the Red Sox overpaid for 31 year old shortstop Julio Lugo but they were kind of desperate for a good SS and they needed help at the top of their line up and Lugo fills both needs.  Lugo had an injury marred season last year that included him getting traded from the Devil Rays to the Dodgers.  He didn’t play to well for the Dodgers, but that’s because he couldn’t adjust to the new league and his new job of utility man.  He wound up hitting .278 with 24 steals and a .762 OPS which is in line with his career norms.  He should get a ton of fastballs in this line up which should bring his power numbers back up a little bit.  He also will likely score a ton of runs for the Red Sox.  He’s got pretty good range in the field and he made 16 errors which is o.k. for a shortstop.

28 year old Eddie Rogers has been pretty much a career minor leaguer for the Baltimore Orioles as he only has 29 at bats in his major league career with a .207 batting average and a .510 OPS.  He did however, hit a solid .298 in AAA last season so he could get a shot to make the Red Sox as a reserve infielder, but the odds are against him.

The Red Sox want 23 year old Dustin Pedroia to win the job in Spring Training but they won’t hand it to him.  He has a 3 year minor league career batting average of .308, but he struggled badly in his first taste of the majors.  Pedroia played in 31 games and batted 89 times last year and he only hit .191 with a .561 OPS.  In his defense it’s hard for younger players to come off of the bench.  Look for him to make some adjustments and hit a lot better.  Still, he has little power and no speed.  He is known to be a great defensive player and he showed outstanding range at 2B with the Red Sox but he made 3 errors in only 172 innings there, and that will need to improve.

31 year old Alex Cora will get a chance to battle Pedroia for the starting 2B job in Spring Training.  Cora is not much of a hitter as he hit .238 with a .609 OPS last season in 235 at bats.  But if he hits even .250 he’s helping your team because he’s a very good defender, especially as a shortstop.  He made only 1 error at 2B in 95.1 innings last season so he should have no problems there.  If he loses out to Pedroia for the starting job then he will be the back up at all of the infield positions for the Red Sox.

34 year old Joe McEwing has also been brought in by the Red Sox and he most likely will just be a reserve player if he even makes the team.  McEwing spent most of last season in AAA for the Astros and he hit .315 with a .792 OPS there, but that was the Pacific Coast League which tends to inflate stats.  Over his career, McEwing is a .251 hitter with a .657 OPS in the majors….so don’t expect much if he makes the team.

31 year old lefty swinging David Ortiz is one of the most imposing batters in major league baseball.  He just leans over the plate with his gigantic elbow pad and hits laser beams all over the ballpark.  He has set a new career high in homers the last seven years in a row!  He also hits lefties well and shows not real weaknesses with a bat in his hands.  He hit .287 last season with 115 runs scored, 54 homers, 137 RBIs and a 1.049 OPS!  He has passed Manny Ramirez up as the most feared hitter on the Red Sox.  Over the last three seasons Ortiz has averaged .296, with 109.3 runs scored, 47.3 homers, 141.3 RBIs and 98.7 walks.  If Manny Ramirez stays healthy hitting behind Ortiz, he could have his best year ever in 2007 and that’s a scary thought for the rest of the American League.

28 year old Kevin Youkilis stepped up last season and took over the first base job for the Red Sox.  The Red Sox like to bat Youkilis near the top of the line up because he’s really good at getting on base (.381 OBP) and scoring (100 runs scored) when he gets on.  He wound up hitting a solid .279 with 13 homers and 72 RBIs and a .810 OPS.  He would knock in a lot more runs if he was batting lower in the line up.  He adusted well defensively at first base after being a third baseman in the minors.  He only made 5 errors in 1,030 innings at first base. 

If something happened and Youkilis had to switch positions or he got hurt, the Red Sox would bring lefty swinging Eric Hinske in from the outfield.  He played 16 games at first base and made 1 error.  He likely would get better the more he played there as he’s used to playing 3B and RF, which are much more demanding than 1B is.  The 29 year old still has a good power bat as he hit 13 homers and had 34 RBIs in only 277 at bats.  He hit a solid .271 last season with a .840 OPS.