Some Early Questions

There are a lot of things that I am looking forward to this year. However, just like any baseball season, there are still questions that need to be answered for me. I'm sure throughout this month these questions will be answered at spring training, I also know that new questions may arise as well. So I will come back to this later. But for now:

How is Josh Beckett going to perform this year?

Beck is one of my all-time favorites. But he's gotta bring it this year. Last year needs to be forgotten. The Red Sox win or lose the pennant on Josh Beckett's shoulders, I believe.

Is it David Ortiz's swan song in Beantown?

Could this be Ortiz's last year in Boston? Has time caught up with him? So far this spring he has been off to a hot start. But it's still March. He's gotten off to really slow regular season starts the last two years. I'm interested to see what Papi has in store this year.

And my last question for now: How much should fans expect?

As a fan, my expectations can sometimes be unrealistic. But looking at this team it's hard for me not to see these guys raising at least an American League Champions banner next year... and maybe even, dare I say, a World Series banner?(Oh my god I just wrote that. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to jinx anything...) As a Red Sox fan, I can't remember the last time, if ever, that we had the best team on paper going into the year. But I really think we have at least the best team in the American League(so good that I don't think I can jinx them, obviously). This is an odd spot for us Red Sox fans, should we REALLY expect to win the AL? I'm sure this is a question that I'll struggle with all year.