Wake up with....Daisuke Matsuzaka??

Sox open up tomorrow in at 6 am tomorrow in Japan so I figured I should probably get a few thoughts down on our fancy web log before the season actually begins. If you have been keeping up with the breakneck pace of posting here at The Hub, then you are aware of the fawning DannoMac has been doing recently over the Sox in his past few posts. Although I’m high on this years team, I’m not quite that high. And since my alarm is set for 530 am, in my futile attempt to wake up and catch at least the first few innings before I have to get to work 30 minutes late; this post is going to be quick, and this post is going to be dirty, this post is going to be quick and dirty.

Despite a few departures, the sox are bringing back nearly all of the team that won it all last year. One of the most notable departures is Doug Mirabelli, whichs begs the question….what is Danny going to do with his “Dougies Going Deep Tonight” t-shirt?? I’m guessing it will stay in the rotation till it dissolves like his four Bedford Farms t-shirts and his ‘No Fear’ t-shirt. As for the (few) additions, I’m on board 100% with bringing in Sean Casey, who comes to Boston in a back up roll, when I am sure he knows he could be starting for a dozen other teams. There really have not been that many changes with this team, and I can’t remember a World Series team with such little turnover. With the way Sox are able to fold young players like Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lester, and Buchholz into the mix without disturbing the core of the team, there is no reason the Sox shouldn’t be the favorite this year, next year, and the year after next.

Here area few of my quick (and dirty) Sox related predictions…I like the sox to win 96 games (O/U is 94.5) and take the AL pennant. Manny is going to have a monster year, (Schill said on WEEI today Manny is going to have "120 homeruns and 200 RBIs" and he didn't even half laugh when he said it) we’ve been reading non stop about his insane off season works outs which include, but are not limited to, wind sprints from left field to a near by porter potty, crawling around on his hands and knees frantically looking for a diamond earring, freak dancing to reggaeton music with a 45 ounce bat resting on his shoulder, slowly jogging to first base then suddenly starting to sprint, and rounding third base while simultaneously and inexplicably throwing off his helmet. If it wasn’t for the monster year Miguel Cabrera is going to have in Detriot, I would probably pencil in Manny as my pick for AL MVP. Think about it- take Cabrera away from South Beach, the endless Latin food buffets, and bottomless pina coladas, and stick him in Detroit and he is bound to drop 30-40 pounds just from lack of options. Back to the Sox, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I honestly believe JD Drew is going to have a very productive season (somehwere in the .290 25 and 90 range). He is going to be a little more comfortable than he was last season, when he was adjusting to a new city, a new league, a sick son, death threats from Larry Lucchino and Theo Epstein, etc, etc. Also, not sure if you know this, but he jacked two homeruns off Japanese pitchers, so even if it doesn’t work out for him here in the states, he’s locked up a job over seas a-la Mr. Baseball, so he sort of has a little safety net. As for the pitching staff I fully expect Beckett to recover fully from his slight back pull and have another Cy Young worthy season, but Diasuke is going to be the real story of the first half. The birth of his son, the trip back to pitch in Japan, the same mullet haircut, its all going to equal a phenomenal first half AND his first All Star appearance. Finals numbers for the Dice: 18-9 3.54 era, 230 K. Alright, that’s all I got for now, I have to get to bed. Enjoy opening day, go Sox. (really though, some of the exhibition games we played against Japaneses teams might be more challenging than this As team we're about to play)

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Thanks, Greech