Boston Red Sox Rebirth: What to Expect

It's November first: Do you know who your Red Sox are? 

No, you don't. For those not in the know, the Red Sox have been MIA since late August. Since the end of September, certain notable members of the Red Sox have become ex members of the Red Sox: Theo Epstein, Terry Francona and John Lackey

November, though, is the month. Between now and December first, the Boston Red Sox will hire a manager, lose some existing long-term players, retain some existing long-term players and possibly sign one or two free agents.

Those are all safe bets, and with those decisions the push to change last season's perplexing and disappointing 90-win team into a more consistent and postseason-eligible 90-plus-win team will begin.

For the Red Sox, the task will be particularly daunting.

No other team in baseball shares a division with two other teams who are yearly postseason threats. Eight of the last nine seasons the American League Wild-card winner has been a member of the American League East.

For the Red Sox, next season could be one of stability and improvement. Carl Crawford could return to form. The pitching staff could experience an unusual amount of season-long health. There could be nary a peep about clubhouse controversy. The Red Sox could win 94 games—and still miss the playoffs.

It's the nature of baseball's toughest division. It's also likely to be an unacceptable outcome for most of Red Sox Nation should the 2012 Sox miss the postseason for the third straight season. That's just one of the added pressures facing the 2012 Red Sox.

It's also why they're likely to move quickly this coming month.

There's so much to do, and since they're already technically chasing both the Rays and the Yankees, they're going to have to try and beat them in the offseason.

The Yankees made the first real headline-grabbing move of the offseason last night when they extended C.C. Sabathia's contract by one year and prevented him from hitting the open market where the Red Sox would have at the very least been aggressive bidders if for no other reason than to drive up the eventual cost to their greatest rivals.

The managerial opening is going to be first priority, and the process got under-way on Monday when the Sox interviewed Phillies' bench coach Pete Mackanin for the vacancy. Dale Sveum, a former Red Sox third base coach and the current third base coach for the Milwaukee Brewers, is slated to be interviewed later in the week.

The list of possible managerial candidates is not a who's-who of marquee names, but there are still whispers that Bobby Valentine could be a dark-horse possibility.

The team's general direction will become more clear once the managerial opening is filled. General manager Ben Cherington has made it clear that he'd like to have the position filled by Thanksgiving. 

That doesn't mean that the Red Sox will rush through the process. It just means that they're clearly aware that time is of the essence and it's better to have the right man in place sooner than later. 

Red Sox fans should be paying attention if for no other reason than because there hasn't been a month of decent Red Sox news since August, and two months of bad news is two too many.