Report: Matsuzaka to Sign

As I predicted in the previous post, it appears that Daisuke Matsuzaka will be pitching for the Boston Red Sox in 2007 and beyond and I couldn't be happier. As a sweetener, the contract that Matsuzaka signed is much less than I anticipated.

Matsuzaka and Scott Boras arrived by plane with members of the Red Sox front office. Upon landing, Matsuzaka headed for Mass. General for his physical. It is being anticipated that the deal will be finalized and announced at some point tomorrow.

Red Sox fans should be breathing a sigh of relief as Matsuzaka was the player that the Red Sox centered their offseason around. Add J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo to Matsuzaka and the roster looks pretty good as it stands right now.

At this point in time, the bullpen still looks a little rough and definitely needs improvement if the Red Sox want to even think about being considered as World Series favorites entering the season.

There have been recent rumors regarding a trade of Coco Crisp to bring a closer to Boston. The names of Mike Gonzalez and Chad Cordero have been among the mentioned possibilities. At this point, I don't think the Red Sox should trade Coco Crisp. He struggled last season, but I'm choosing to believe it was the direct result of a finger injury he suffered very early in the season. He will be fully recovered from that by the time Spring Training rolls around and I look for him to have a bounceback season as well as Josh Beckett and possibly Mike Timlin and Jason Varitek.

In addition to a closer, I believe that the Red Sox need one more reliable arm in the pen. Adding Roger Clemens as either a closer or starter would obviously work (if the two sides could work out a manageable contract). If Clemens were added, he could either close (provided he's willing to do so) or start (which would send Tim Wakefield to the pen barring an injury to another of the starters).

The next few weeks should be important and interesting for the Red Sox as they likely shift their focus to what is now their biggest need, relief pitching.

Projected Lineup:
SS Lugo
1B Youkilis
DH Ortiz
LF Ramirez
RF Drew
3B Lowell
C Varitek
CF Crisp
2B Pedroia

Bench:
Pena
Hinske
Cora
Mirabelli

Projected Rotation:
Matsuzaka
Schilling
Beckett
Papelbon
Wakefield

Bullpen:
Timlin
Okajima
Donnelly
Delcarmen
Hansen
Tavarez
Pineiro

Other possibilities:
Jon Lester
Runlevys Hernandez
Devern Hansack
JC Romero
Nick DeBarr
Edgar Martinez
Craig Breslow
Lenny DiNardo