The Red Sox roster as currently constituted:

Lineup:

Damon CF
Bellhorn 2B
Ramirez LF
Ortiz DH
Millar 1B
Nixon RF
Renteria SS
Mueller 2B
Mirabelli C

Bench:

Roberts OF
Youkilis IF
Mientkiwicz IF

Rotation:

Schilling
Wells
Arroyo
Wakefield
Halama

Bullpen:

Kim
Traber
Embree
Timlin
Mantei
Foulke

Around the internet and in the newspapers, there is this feeling that the Red Sox are somehow in disarray in light of the loss of Pedro Martinez. While Pedro’s loss certainly hurts the Red Sox, they could go into 2004 with this team and be a real contender. Folks need to relax a bit. A couple of the current concerns?

Doug Mirabelli will have to start.

Sorry folks but Doug Mirabelli slugged over .500 last year and for his career has hit at a .242/.331/.426 clip. The average American League catcher last season hit .264/.323/.416. While an upgrade over Mirabelli would make sense, it only makes sense if the Sox can pull it off affordably. Having merely a good catcher in lieu of an excellent one won’t kill your team.

Their rotation won’t cut it.

Oh really? Well put it this way. Their pitching is better than it was in 2003, the year they fell five outs short of reaching the World Series. Schilling is the equal of 2003 Pedro, Wells is far bettter than Lowe, Arroyo is every bit the pitcher Wakefield was that year, Wakefield will be more dependable than Suppan was that year and Halama is about Burkett’s equal. If the lineup above hits like it should, the rotation listed would do just fine.

The best news of all of this is that I have presented an unfinished product. The Red Sox still have a good $15-$20 million dollars before the 2005 squad will be in place. So relax, folks. Let this thing play out.