Around The Diamond is a weekly series where we’ll preview the Red Sox position-by-position prior to the start of the spring training.

With the 2009 season behind him, Terry Francona will look to lead the Red Sox into the 2010 season with some new players on the diamond. He’ll also be looking to lead them into 2010 with a coaching staff that has shifted to fit the departure of Brad Mills (Now manager for the Houston Astros). Though some may be sitting in different chairs or standing by different bases, this coaching staff is the lifeblood of the Red Sox.

 

Manager

Terry Francona (Seventh season)

Terry Francona has had the good fortune of having a front office that will aggressively pursue the talent necessary to put a winning squad on the field, year in and year out. He’s also followed two of the more forgettable—or unfortunately unforgettable— managers in recent Sox history in Jimy Williams and Grady Little.

Seven seasons later, and Red Sox Nation has a pretty good idea of what they’re getting out of Francona each year. His hands-off approach has kept the fans from really being able to grab onto any particular issues with his coaching style; however, 2009 saw an increase in fans questioning whether Francona had gone from a hands-off approach to falling asleep at the helm.

Francona, like the Sox, is hamstrung by a lack of thump in the middle of the lineup this year; however, with Mike Lowell, Bill Hall, Jed Lowry, and Jeremy Hermida all on the bench, he should have enough managing between the bench and the rotation/bullpen to worry about the offense.

 

Bench Coach

Demarlo Hale (Fifth season, four as their third base coach)

This is where the Red Sox are feeling the coaching void the hardest. Francona had been quite open with the media about how comfortable he felt with Brad Mills; however, you can’t stay a bench coach forever.So with “Millsy,” as Francona referred to him, Demarlo Hale has moved from his post as third base coach to help Francona run the team a bit more closely.

Demarlo was one of the few third base coaches that wasn’t heckled/chastised by the Boston media over sending guys home. This begs the question: Will Demarlo be as effective as a bench coach as he was as a third base coach?

 

Hitting Coach

Dave Magadan (Fourth season)

With an offense that has already been nailed to the wall as underwhelming, this will undoubtedly be a make or break season for Magadan as the Sox hitting coach.

He already had enough heat on him early in 2009 when David Ortiz wasn’t hitting Jacoby Ellsbury’s weight. He was saved by the surging bats of Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay;  however, both saw their productivity drop as the season wore on.

Magadan will have a reclamation project on his hands as well with new third baseman, Adrian Beltre. No doubt Magadan will try to resurrect the doubles/home run machine that has laid dormant in Beltre since 2004.

 

Pitching Coach

John Farrell (Fourth season)

Farrell has received offers to manage ball clubs the past two offseasons, and has again decided to stick it out with the Red Sox for another year.

He has been credited with some of the success stories with the Sox. Most notably, Farrell changed Josh Becketts’ delivery heading into his 2007 season, which Beckett finished with a 20-7 record, 3.27 ERA, and a 2nd place finish in Cy Young Award voting (Oh, and a World Series Championship!).

This year, Farrell’s most watched storylines will include: Which Daisuke shows up this year? Can Jon Lackey perform with the Sox? Is Clay Buchholz ready to pitch a quality full season? Is Daniel Bard ready to close?

And of course more storylines will pop up as the season wears on.