In three seasons in Boston, Francona has won a World Series and done a great job as manager overall.  His record for the Red Sox is 279-207 (.574) during the regular season.  He also has an 11-6 post season record.  The one thing that Francona hasn’t done yet is win the American League East.   Maybe this will be the year he does that.  Over his whole career, Francona has managed 7 years and he has a record of 564-570 (.497).  Look for him to get his career record way over .500 after 2007.

The Red Sox traded a catcher that they didn’t need for 27 year old Cory Keylor.  Keylor played in 124 games in AA ball and he hit .294 with 10 homers, 68 RBIs and a .780 OPS.  That’s not great production for a 27 year old player in AA, but he’s a probably still much more valuable to the organization that Alberto Castillo would have been.

The Red Sox have brought in veterans Brendan Donnelly, Joel Piniero and J.C. Romero to provide depth to the bullpen.  The Red Sox wanted to use Jonathan Papelbon in the rotation but no one stepped up to seize the closer role in Spring Training so Papelbon is returning to his old job as closer.  He was awesome in 2006 for the Red Sox as he was 4-2 with 35 saves and he had a 0.92 ERA with a 0.78 WHIP.  Batters were helpless against Papelbon as he only allowed them to bat .167 against him last season in 68.1 innings.  He also whiffed 75 batters and only allowed 3 homers last season.  Look for the Red Sox to be careful with him and not use him more than 2 consecutive days to share the wear and tear on his shoulder.  He will be dominant again in 2007 with at least 35 saves and a sub 2.00 ERA.

41 year old righty Mike Timlin is going to start the season on the DL, but he’s a very important part of the Red Sox bullpen.  He was 6-6 with 9 saves and 21 holds in 68 games for the Red Sox last season.  His ERA (4.36) and WHIP (1.47) were both a little high last season and batters hit .305 against him, but Timlin doesn’t walk batters and that should help him out when he returns from injury.  Timlin will pitch better than he did last season for the Red Sox in 2007.

33 year old righty Julian Tavarez is a valuable pitcher for the Red Sox as he is an innings eater.  He threw 98.2 innings for the Red Sox last season and he was 5-4 with a 4.47 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP in 58 games.  Tavarez does give up a lot of hits (110) but he’s a battler on the mound.  He also started 6 games for the Red Sox last season and he might get a couple of them this season.  Look for Tavarez to pitch better than he did in 2006 for the Red Sox.

35 year old righty Brendan Donnelly was acquired in an off-season trade with the Los Angeles Angels.  He was 6-0 with 11 holds and a 3.94 ERA with a 1.34 WHIP in 62 games last season.  Donnelly is a tough customer that comes right at hitters as evidenced by his 53 whiffs and .240 batting average against in 64 innings.  In 2003, Donnelly led the league in holds and he will pitch late in games for the Red Sox in 2007 and he will do a good job.

30 year old lefty J.C. Romero was signed as a free agent.  He will be looking to rebound from an awful 2006 season.  He was 1-2 with 7 holds and he had a 6.70 ERA with a 1.76 WHIP in 65 games for the Angels!  Most of his problems last season were do to the fact that righty batters hit .382 against him with a 1.033 WHIP.  Against lefties Romero was still dominant as they only hit .202 against him with a .601 OPS.  If Romero makes the team he will likely never pitch to a righthanded batter and if that’s the case he will have a good season in 2007.

28 year old righty Joel Pineiro was signed with the idea of making him the closer but that didn’t work out this Spring.  He had an awful year in 2006 with the Seattle Mariners when he was 8-13 with a 6.36 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP in 40 games (25 starts).  Batters hit over .300 (.311) against Pineiro for the 2nd consecutive season in 2006 and he also allowed 23 homers in 165.2 innings.  Look for the Red Sox to trade Pineiro to a team that needs a starting pitcher.

31 year old lefty Hideki Okajima was signed as a free agent out of Japan.  He was a pretty good reliever in Japan last season as he was 2-2 with 4 saves and he had a 2.14 ERA with a 1.10 WHIP.  He also whiffed 63 batters in 54.2 innings in 2006 so it will just be a question as to whether his stuff can handcuff major league hitters or not.  I sense that he will do a good job for the Red Sox in 2007.

29 year old lefty Javier Lopez is in camp battling for a job.  He pitched in 27 games last season for the Red Sox and he was 1-0 with 6 holds and a save.  His ERA was 2.70 and his WHIP was 1.38.  He has nasty stuff, but he won’t make the Red Sox unless he improves his control as he walked 10 batters in only 16.2 innings last season and that’s too many walks for a relief pitcher.

33 year old righty Bryan Corey will get the chance to make the team after he had his best season in the majors in 2006.  He was 2-1 with 3 holds in 32 games for the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox.  He had a 3.69 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP and held batters to a .241 batting average against him.  He will likely start the season in AAA and get a call if the Red Sox need him in 2007.

26 year old lefty Craig Breslow pitched in 13 games for the Red Sox last year and he was 0-2 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP.  Batters hit .261 against him, but he did whiff 12 batters in 12 innings so he has decent stuff.  He will likely start the season in the minors.

25 year old righty Manny Delcarmen is one of the many overrated prospects that the Red Sox have.  He was 2-0 with 14 holds with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP in 50 games for the Red Sox last season.  Batters hit .309 against Delcarmen in 53.1 innings, but he did whiff 45 batters show he does have a strong arm.  If he makes the team he likely won’t be used late in games because he can’t be trusted.

23 year old righty Craig Hansen could likely use a full season in AAA as the Red Sox may have damaged his psyche by throwing him to the wolves last season.  He was 2-2 with 8 holds and a 6.63 ERA with a 1.61 WHIP.  Batters hit .305 against him in 38 innings for the Red Sox last season.  He did pitch well in the minors in 2006 as he was 2-2 with a 2.30 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in 19 games (4 starts) in AA+AAA ball.  Is Hansen just another of the vastly over-hyped prospects that the Red Sox tout….or is he the real deal?  The answer will likely come during the 2007 season.

Mike Timlin will open the 2007 season on the DL with a strained oblique muscle.  The Sox really couldn’t afford to lose Timlin who has been one of their most dependable relievers the last couple of seasons.  Hopefully Brendan Donnelly can replace Timlin until he’s ready to return.

The Red Sox have an impressive five man rotation.  You have the older vets (Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield), the younger guys (Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon) and the Japanese superstar (Daisuke Matsuzaka) and that makes up an impressive bunch.  40 year old Curt Schilling rebounded after an injury plagued 2005 season and he was very good.  Schilling was 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP last season as he regained his fastball.  He could dial up to 95 when he really needed it last season and that explains the 183 strikeouts in 204 innings.  Look for Schilling to win another 15 games this season with 175+ strikeouts as he’s going to be motivated because he’ll be a free agent at the end of the season.

26 year old righty Josh Beckett was a huge disappointment in 2006 despite winning 16 games.  He finished 16-11 with a 5.01 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 33 starts last season.  Beckett allowed an amazing 36 homeruns last season and that was due to him trying to overpower hitters with his fastball.  It almost seemed like the Red Sox just had him throwing fastballs so that he wouldn’t have the blister problems that have shortened most of his major league seasons to date.  If Beckett throws his curveball (which is an outstanding pitch) more he will be an outstanding pitcher this season for the Red Sox.  Beckett will be a 20 game winner if the Red Sox allow him to use his full arsenal of pitches…..if not he’ll be just about as good as he was last season.

26 year old Daisuke Matsuzaka will likely be the Red Sox #3 in the rotation at the start of the season.  The $100 million dollar man was dominant in Japan last season as he was 17-5 with a 2.13 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP.  He also whiffed 200 batters in 186.1 innings last season.  Things to watch with Matsuzaka is how well he’ll handle the workload in America as he has never started more than 28 games in a season in his 8 year career and he’s only went over 200 innings twice.  It will be interesting to see how well Matsuzaka handles major league hitting as most consider Japanese ball to be equal to AAA ball.  Matuszaka has a career record in Japan of 111-60 with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP over 8 seasons.  I think Matsuzaka will win 12-15 games for the Red Sox in 2007 as he will likely be depending on a bullpen that is questionable to hold his leads.

40 year old righty just keeps chugging along for the Red Sox.  The knuckleballer was 7-11 with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP last season for the Red Sox in 23 starts.  Batters still have problems with Wakefield when he’s on as they only hit .248 against him last season.  Wakefield has now played 12 seasons for the Red Sox now and he has a record of 137-122 for them with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP.  Look for Wakefield to eat innings for the Red Sox and be around .500 this season.

26 year old Jonathan Papelbon is returning to the starting rotation after a wildly successful year as the closer for the Red Sox.  Papelbon was 4-2 with 35 saves, a 0.92 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP in 59 games last season.  Papelbon also only allowed opposing hitters to bat .167 against him and he whiffed 75 batters in only 68.1 innings last season.  Papelbon will have no problem adjusting back to starting as he’s started 48 games in the minors and he was 19-13 with a 3.05 ERA there.  Look for Papelbon to win 15-17 games this season for the Red Sox with an ERA in the low 3’s.

23 year old lefty Jon Lester pitched well as a rookie for the Red Sox and he beat cancer over the winter.  He pitched in 15 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 7-2 with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP.  The Red Sox will start Lester out in AAA ball this season to work his way back into shape and he will likely be the first starting pitcher brought up by the Red Sox.  He is quite an inspiring person and he’s going to be a really good starting pitcher in the majors soon.

32 year old Matt Clement didn’t pitch well last season and then he got injured.  He likely will miss the first half of this season for the Red Sox.  He only pitched in 12 games for the Sox last season and he was 5-5 with a 6.61 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP.  It’s possible that Clement will not have a job in the rotation even when he gets healthy and that would be a good thing for the Red Sox after the way he pitched in 2006 before he got hurt.

29 year old righty Kyle Snyder got a chance to show what he’s got in 2006 and it wasn’t much.  He pitched in 17 games (11 starts) with the Royals and Red Sox and he was 4-5 with a 6.56 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP.   He also gave up an amazing 12 homers in only 60.1 innings in the majors last season.  Snyder allowed batters to hit an amazing .331 against him last season.  Snyder will be stashed in AAA ball and if he pitches for the Red Sox this season something has went horribly wrong with the pitching staff.