Andrew Bailey: 5 Bold Predictions for Him in 2012 with the Boston Red Sox

How will Andrew Bailey handle pitching in a big market? Well, here are five bold predictions that would be beneficial to the Boston Red Sox in 2012

Bailey is probably already on a plane heading to Boston after the Athletics dealt him and Ryan Sweeney in a five-player swap that sends OF Josh Reddick, 1B Miles Head (prospect) and P Raul Alcantera to Oakland, according to espn.com.

This trade is just what the Red Sox and Bailey needed for the 2012 season. The Sox get their closer and Bailey gets a fresh start in a winning atmosphere.

No Blown Saves

In 84 career save opportunities, Andrew Bailey only has nine blown saves. That's right, only nine career blown saves! He coughs up a little more than 10 percent of his chances.

This type of stat is unheard of and Bailey hopefully will bring this type of success to the closer role for the Boston Red Sox in 2012. This is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Sox' bullpen going forward.

ERA Under 2.00

Andrew Bailey's career ERA is 2.07, and, before his career-worst 3.24 ERA in 2011, he had ERAs of 1.84 in 2009 and 1.47 in 2010.

With the Boston Red Sox, Bailey will have the advantage facing tougher teams that have not seen him that much. His power arm will be the key to his success and will put the Red Sox back as the favorites in the AL East. Plus his ERA will drop below 2.00 for the third time in four seasons.

Have a K/9 over 9.50

Strikeouts are hard to come by as a reliever, but Andrew Bailey has the stuff to punch out batters left and right. His career K/9 is exactly 9.0 and that is after having two straight years of finishing below that mark. His K/9 during his 2009 rookie campaign was about 9.56 in 83.1 innings.

The Boston Red Sox need a closer who can get a lot strikeouts in the later innings in order to win the AL East, and Bailey will be the perfect replacement for Jonathan Papelbon.

Less Than 10 Walks

What is better than a closer who can strike out batters easily? A closer who can do that without walking many batters either. That is exactly what Andrew Bailey can do for the Boston Red Sox.

Bailey's walk totals have only gone down since his rookie season in 2009 when he walked 24 batters. In 2010, he walked 13 batters and that dropped to 12 in 2011.

The Red Sox will be happily surprised to see Bailey walk only eight or nine batters in 2012 and so will all the Red Sox Nation fans that come to Fenway Park to see him finish off games.

Over 80 Innings Pitched

Andrew Bailey can be used for multiple innings, unlike Jonathan Papelbon, and will often be used as a setup man and closer with Daniel Bard likely joining the Boston Red Sox rotation in 2012.

Bailey will easily be able to surpass his total innings mark from the past two seasons (49 IP in 2010 and 41.2 IP in 2011) while pitching for the Red Sox. Bobby Valentine will heavily rely on Bailey to get the job done in 2012 and will use him every chance he can get.