Offseason Recap

It appears that the Boston Red Sox are perfectly fine with standing pat. They won the World Series in 2007 and believe that no major changes need to be made in order to repeat in 2008. While no major moves were made, the Red Sox made a few low-impact transactions this offseason:

1. Signed Bartolo Colon as a Free Agent: After the injury to Curt Schilling, the Red Sox are looking for some starting pitching depth. They decided to do this by adding Bartolo Colon. Colon won the Cy Young in 2005 with the Angels but has struggled through two injury-riddled seasons since winning the award. He reported to Red Sox camp approximately 20 pounds overweight and the Red Sox hope that he can drop some weight, get in shape, and make a positive contribution to their title defense. Colon will make slightly over $1 million if he makes the Red Sox, but he can make up to $7 million this season (if he makes the team out of camp and starts 30 or more games).

2. Traded for David Aardsma for Willy Mota and Miguel Socolovich: Despite the fact that the bullpen was a considerable strength last year, the Red Sox looked to add some depth this offseason. They did so by acquiring David Aardsma from the White Sox and they are hoping that he can continue his success from early last season. Aardsma started the season 2-0 with a 1.31 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 20 innings with the White Sox before struggling through the rest of the season.

3. Signed Sean Casey as a Free Agent: An interesting signing for the Red Sox, Casey should be a strong presence in the clubhouse and is known as one of the nicest players in the Major Leagues. Casey has a career batting average of over .300 and will backup Kevin Youkilis at 1st base.

The Red Sox will open their season on March 25th against the Oakland Athletics in Japan.