Beltre is a Boss

Back in the offseason, everyone was bitching and moaning about how the Red Sox weren't adding any offense. That they were focusing too much on pitching and defense. That their lineup would be far too weak to hang with the big boys in the AL East. Three months later Adrian Beltre stands before us as the undisputed best hitter on the Boston Red Sox through two months of the season. Gaudy numbers for Beltre (.342, 6 HR, 37 RBI) have lifted the Sox from the dumps of the division to just 5 games out of the lead. Sure, we're still a little ways back. But going into that Tampa series, down 8.5, we had the potential to really bury ourselves. But this man, pictured above, evolved into the boss that he is.

Beltre was known for two things. His stellar defense, and his single 48-homerun season that appeared to be an offensive fluke of the greatest degree. But this year, he has regained that offensive prowess with his massive, heavy, bone-crunching right-handed swing that is finally launching balls over the monster. Is this early success a fluke? I really don't think so. The guy has battled injuries his whole career. That 48 HR explosion of a season was a healthy one for him. So far, this has been a healthy one. And he's finally settling into Fenway park on the defensive side, too. A few errors early in the year had people questioning him. Now, he's diving left and right and looking like the gold-glover that he is. The guy has been a perennial all-star for us this year. And the haters in the offseason? They were wishing we'd either rolled the dice on Lowell or signed a power hitting first baseman, moving Youk to third. Had we done that, chances are we'd be deeper in the hole than we are now.

Lackey, Scutaro, and Cameron are notable disappointments thus far in our batch of signings. Lackey, despite having a 6-3 record, has a high ERA and hasn't looked all that sharp. Scutaro has made some errors and hasn't been the offensive upgrade we were expecting over Alex Gonzalez. Mike Cameron -- what do you know -- is injured -- again. But Beltre, folks, is the real deal. Grab his jersey. Praise his name. This guy will be playing in Boston for a while. What's not to like about him? From head to toe, his entire demeanor is that of a pure boss.