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Copyright 2008

This baseball off-season was busy, especially with the entire steroids controversy heating up after the Mitchell report was issued. The good news is that during the off-season, the Boston Red Sox managed to keep most of the 2007's World Series winning team intact.

The 2008 season starts on March 25th and the first game they play is against the Oakland Athletics’ – in Tokyo, Japan. knuckleballerTim Wakefield is back, and Doug Mirabelli, the Sox’s backup pitcher, finalized a one year deal to stick around. This is a good thing for the Red Sox since Mirabelli is a free agent and could just as easily shopped around for a new team. His current record with Boston is hit .202 with five home runs and sixteen RBIs over 48 games.

This is a positive thing as the team is cohesive with the current roster. One of the biggest things that stops any team from making it to the playoffs – whether its baseball, hockey or football for example – is the loss of players that helped hold the team together. Missing team leaders can make a team lose their zeal and emotion. Without passion and emotion, it's virtually impossible to win it all. And that's what happened to the Red Sox after their 2004 World Series win; they lost a number of their important players like Pedro Martinez, Derek Lowe and Orlando Cabrera.

One reason why key Sox players Mike Lowell and Curt Schilling stuck around for less money and fewer years than they could have gotten in other destinations is because they know that the team has an excellent chance of winning back-to-back World Series.

The outfielders will be same in '08. This is the last year of Manny's $160 million contract, but he may stay past this year.

The Red Sox outfield in 2008 will consist of superstar Manny Ramirez in left field, J.D. Drew in right field, and either Ellsbury or Crisp in center field. J.D.'s offense was somewhat of a disappointment last year, but came alive in the post-season. His defense was spectacular last year, basically playing like a center fielder in right field. So far, the Sox haven't traded Coco Crisp, which was rumored, so it might end up being a fierce competition between the two for the position. A team needs more than three men for the outfield to make it to the playoffs anyway. Coco Crisp did not live up to expectations last year. His defense was consistently excellent, but his batting was sporadic at best. Ellsbury is a young rookie lacking power, but makes contact with the ball very consistently and he played a big part in the Red Sox playoffs.

Of course, in the end it’s all going to come down to how the game is played. Consistency is big part of the game. The hitters have to hit hard and far, and pitchers have to make the other team miss. The season is very long, and stamina and consistency is what gets teams to the playoffs.

Fortunately, Boston's pitching rotation looks like it is going to be very similar to last year's. Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Wakefield, and Lester or Bucholz is a powerhouse lineup.

The schedule of games looks to be of medium difficulty with the first face off against rival New York Yankees not until April. Based on the player’s statistics and track records alone, the Red Sox look like they should win the '08 World Series if the line-up doesn’t change, at least on paper. However, it always comes down to consistency and heart, that's what wins you World Series games.

If the Red Sox can avoid any season-ending injuries and any steroid controversy, they have a great chance of winning back to back World Series.

There are also negotiations still in the works regarding Johan Santana, a pitcher with serious talent that could help the Sox.

The only thing that is going to stand in the way of the Red Sox not running away with the World Series against this year is simply themselves. If the Red Sox can play with heart, consistency, stamina and stay reasonably healthy, I expect to see them winning in October again.