Joe's Roster Projections

Let's spice it up, ladies and gents. Here is my projected lineup, bench, starters and 'pen for the 2011 Red Sox.

Lineup:
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Carl Crawford LF
Adrian Gonzalez 1B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
David Ortiz DH
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
J.D. Drew RF
Marco Scutaro SS

Bench:
Jed Lowrie UTL
Mike Cameron OF
Jason Varitek C
Darnell McDonald OF


Starters:
Jon Lester L
Clay Buchholz R
Josh Beckett R
John Lackey R
Daisuke Matsuzaka R

Bullpen:
Jonathan Papelbon R (C)
Daniel Bard R
Bobby Jenks R
Dan Wheeler R
Hideki Okajima L
Tim Wakefield R
Scott Atchison R

This all seems pretty obvious. These are more than likely going to be the names on the opening day roster. Let's look in detail.

1. Line-up order.
Who bats where in this All-Star lineup is a mystery. Jacoby and Dustin will be atop the order, and Scutaro will man the 9-spot after spending much of last season leading off. The 3-6 spots in the lineup is a little hazy. Crawford will probably bat 3rd, and Ortiz will probably bat 6th. If that's the case, I see Gonzalez hitting cleanup and Youk hitting 5th, to give Ortiz a righty hitter protecting him in front. Saltalamacchia will go 7th to break up Papi and Drew. This could change, but for now, this is what I see.

2. Shortstop

Unlike the atrocious battle between Lowrie and Lugo in 2009, where Lowrie was the unproven kid and Lugo was the proven waste of money, we have a nice battle between a reliable veteran in Scutaro and a promising Lowrie, who performed remarkably well in the second half of 2010. Not to mention Jose Iglesias waiting in the wings in the Minors. Could he make the leap?

3. The last bench spot
Lowrie, Cameron and the Captain will be on the bench for certain. I expect that 4th spot to go to McDonald, but it could easily be Daniel Nava, Ryan Kalish, or Josh Reddick. If Tito decides to go the infielder route, we could see Lars Anderson on the squad. But with Youk being versatile and Lowrie being groomed at first base, expect Big Lars to start off the year in Pawtucket.

4. Rotation (not really)
Unfortunately, Knucklehead won't get the fifth starter's nod on opening day. He will get starts; Daisuke will be injured at some point. Hope for Becket and Lackey to get back on track in '11 after down years last summer. And hope for continued dominance by Lester and Buchholz

5. The 'Pen
You can never be too sure about the bullpen. Any pitcher can have an off year and, for the Red Sox last summer, every pitcher (minus Daniel Bard) was off. Papelbon is in his contract year now, so hopefully he will perform for the money. Bard is now joined by Jenks and Wheeler to make for a scary 7th and 8th inning set-up combination. Sox brass brought back Okajima in hopes he bounces back. Add Atchison and Wakefield, and we have a solid bullpen. Other names you should expect to see: Felix Doubront, Michael Bowden, Brandon Duckworth, Rich Hill, and Andrew Miller.

Post your comments and opinions here. I'll start a thread in the Forums too for your own opinions on the roster. Get excited, Red Sox Nation (and UB Nation!) This is going to be a fun ride.