Wally's Weekly 1/12/09: The First of Many Red Sox Articles

Hello, Red Sox fans!

I wanted to start a weekly feature article for the Red Sox, my favorite sports team in the history of forever. This is my product.

In each article, I'm going to mow down recent transactions, recap games and standings (during baseball season). I’ll also talk about anything else important that comes up. Now that the introduction is out of the way, let's get started!

First, I wanted to comment on Theo Epstein's genius. He has really been showing it in the past few days, acquiring Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Takashi Saito, Rocco Baldelli, and Mark Kotsay at bargain-basement prices. These moves were fantastic because every one of these deals are low-risk, high-reward.

When Penny is healthy, he has shown to be an elite pitcher, even starting for the 2007 National League All Star Team. For Smoltz, it is the same story —he is one of the best pitchers in the game when he is healthy.

If neither players are healthy, it doesn't matter. They aren't being paid a great deal of money, and the Red Sox have plenty of rotation depth in Buchholz, Bowden, Masterson, and Wakefield for the event that Penny and/or Smoltz cannot pitch.

Saito is a great addition to an already loaded bullpen. He was supposed to be washed up in Japan when he came to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Apparently, they didn't get the message. The former Dodgers closer logged 81 saves and a 1.95 ERA in his short MLB career, along with an impressive .912 WHIP, while only giving up nine home runs in 189 innings of work.

Saito should be phenomenal in a reduced role with little pressure, seeing how he has Justin Masterson, Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez, Manny Delcarmen, and Hideki Okajima in the bullpen to back him up.

Rocco Baldelli and Mark Kotsay provide insurance to the outfield and first base in the event of an injury. JD Drew has struggled to stay healthy his entire Red Sox career, so Baldelli will get a lot of use in his role as a fourth outfielder. However, Baldelli has injury problems of his own, which makes the Mark Kotsay signing even better, because there need be not only JD Drew insurance, but Rocco Baldelli insurance.

Also, I wanted to take a look at outfield prospect Josh Reddick. Reddick is one name I am surprised I haven't heard in trade rumors this winter, as he is listed as the number four Red Sox prospect on soxprospects.com, ahead of more well known guys like Ryan Kalish and Nick Hagadone.

Reddick is a 6'2'', 180-pound lefty outfielder drafted in the 17th round from Georgia. He has great hands and is a contact hitter with a quick bat and good power. His body frame is athletic, although he has some filling out to do. According to soxprospects.com, there is no limit to Reddick's power-hitting potential if he adds strength to his wiry frame.

In addition, Reddick has great arm strength, very accurate throws and great range as well. He always hustles and puts forth all his effort into his game, and is able to play all three outfield positions. I'll let you come to your own conclusions on Josh Reddick, but I am very high on him.

Last, I want to comment on the Red Sox and where they fit in to the American League East. This will be the toughest division in baseball for the 2009 season, with three teams who will —with no doubt in my mind —win 90 games barring major injuries.

The front-runners will be the Red Sox, because they have all the things needed for a championship caliber ball club— talent, teamwork, desire, to cover the intangibles; and hitting, pitching, defense, to cover the tangibles.

The Yankees, to me, are the wild card team, simply because not only do Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez not get along, interfering with team chemistry, but there are also a lot of new faces in town. This squad is going to have some growing pains —more power to them if they manage to prove me wrong.

For the Tampa Bay Rays, I consider them the odd team out because they lack a bullpen.

One last thing to think about —The Boston Herald's Michael Silverman reports that the Red Sox aren't done hunting in the bargain bag, and they are intensifying trade talks with Arizona for catching prospect Miguel Montero.

Stay tuned, we have a busy week ahead.