“We think this is a team that will be very competitive, going to contend and match up with any team in the AL East.”
         Right now, my had says no way. But we shall see Ben. We shall see.

Unfortunately, Ben it still looks like 4th place

Trying…to…keep…a…straight…face…
Come on, this team is going absolutely nowhere.  You know it.  I know it. Mike Napoli’s hip knows it.
The David Ross era starts in 20 days!

i would be shocked if we finished above 3rd place with how strong the AL East has become, i think it will shape up like this:
Blue Jays
Orioles
Yankees
Red Sox
Rays

Yankees are old and have no starting pitching whatsoever besides CC, Sox are just a bunch of fill in pieces that might work for now to keep them in contention throughout the season, Orioles were a fluke, they will not be that lucky this year and their starting pitching is weaker than everyone thinks, the Rays have weak starting pitching now thanks to the departure of james shields and wade davis and that will meyers kid wont be up for atleast another year on account of him striking out way too many times, and the blue jays are just a power house now with reyes bautista encarnacion arencibia lawrie and bonafacio and their starting pitching could be tops in the AL if everyone stays healthy including Beurlhe Johnson and Morrow
 

The Rays have weak starting pitching? Not thinking many people would agree with you on that one …. Price, Hellickson, Neiman, Cobb, Matt Moore, plus a wealth of youngsters to fill in! Hey, The rays may have their issues with the starting lineup, but at least on paper, they are still one of the best rotations in baseball (btw, Davis was in their pen last year)

Probably one of the most curious strategies I have seen in pro sports.  Got rid of some of the best players in game, planted negative stories about each in media (ex. club house influence of Gonzalez), then spent most of the saved money on players who were either coming back from injuries or did not perform the previous year.

 A strong, deep team?  The fans will be the judge of that. 

Ben is on some good stuff. Great to be positive however looks like a rebuilding couple of years.

I would love to hear what our boy Ben really thinks about the 3 musketeers. He prob thinks Larry is a dick, Tom out to make sure he looks good and John a mute. Come on Ben be serious. This team is a disaster in the making. 

If you think that boring interview is going to stoke sales of your over-priced tickets Ben you’re dreaming. If it hasn’t happened yet Werner will soon be in your office ripping you a new one for fielding such a boring bunch of stiffs. More sexy players like Pedroia!!

Strong deep team?? With that pitching staff? Their one addition was Ryan Dumpster.. And they wonder why they are a last place team.. They overlook the starting rotation every year!! O wait Lackey is back. Hey lets give an aging right fielder 3 years 13 mil per who hit 250 with 10 homers last year and not sign pitching. Could have had Lohse and Brandon Mccarthy. This team is clueless. 

great screen name.  

When the Red Sox traded for Adrian Gonzalez, fan and media supported it at the highest possible level a trade like that can be supported.  When Crawford was signed, many people thought it was an overpay, but before that they were accused of not spending money the past few seasons.  Now everyone wants to act like dealing prospects for Adrian Gonzalez wasn’t a baseball move.  After the Red Sox got swept by the Angels in the ALDS, the local media (Minihane, Mazz, Buckley, etc.) and the national media (Rosenthal, Heyman, etc.) all wrote stories about how the Red Sox needed to improve their athleticism.  They signed Crawford.  Now, people want to act like adding two perennial All Stars wasn’t a baseball move?  Cmon…it didn’t work out because Crawford got hurt and Gonzalez fell off the face of the earth after a great start…no one saw that coming.

Why the Orioles? They were pretty fortunate last year…

I think the team IS deep. Problem: a team deep with real, sustainable talent? Or a team of mediocrity that will play 500 ball? After the Pats loss, I need to hope the former right now….

I’m betting that this team will be competitive and will score plenty of runs.If the pitching is better and by that i mean Lester and Buch primarily,then we will be in it all the way.No one can predict a winner in this division,and there will be alot of crow eating.

David Ross,you might think he was Babe Ruth.He played hard to be sure but watching him get suckered for the breaking pitch was horrible.Don’t look for Ross to take anyone to the promised land.Dave Ross give me a break.You miss him thats fine,but finishing down in the division because we don’t have him,no way.

Never,never,never count New York out they’ll be there all the way.

they lost a very important pitcher,and they don’t have a great offence even with the addition.They don’t score many runs and their pitches haven’t given up many thats true.But if anything happens to their staff they’ll be problems.The east will be interesting because none of them are great including Toronto.You heard it here but wait until the season starts before you call me a jerk,lol.

Man there are some negative creeps that post on this site! The yankees can use more fans! GET LOST COAT TAIL RIDERS!!!

These new people don’t have long contracts thats what drove the FO.Lets take a small look at it.Gome’s a right handed hitter doe’s very well against leftys with alot of pop.OK he’s not great on defence but left field does’nt need the best.He does’nt have to go back on balls because their off the wall.Victorino.he’ll play right like no other on the team today.3 gold gloves as a center fielder and very good in right.Add 39 stolen bases with double digit triple’s.So he did’nt hit his average,he claims that his free agent year distracted him i’ll take his word for it.Ross the catcher one of the best at holding runners and has a higher then average throw out %.The hip thing with Napoli won’t affect him in 2013 otherwise they would never have signed him.His his home run per at bats are out of sight in Fenway and the 174 games at first base were not below average.I have seen him play first and he moves very well.The BP wwhich appears to have the depth second to none potentially.Now add Middlebrook,Ortiz,Pedroia,Jacoby,somewhat of a come back from Lester and Buchold,along with Dubront and a repaired Lackey,although he’s a big question mark.So tell me if they can cut down a bit on injury’s and i’ll admit that its another question but it happens to all teams.So why can’t they contend? Sorry for the long comment.

 Yankees, Rays and Orioles all look weaker.  Blue Jays are stronger but from a weak base and hired their own Bobby V as manager.

I agree with Ben, the AL East has a lot of parity and the Red Sox definitely have a chance to win the division if they can stay healthy.  However, when you sign players with known health problems and/or a track records for being injured, staying healthy is not usually in the cards.

I have read all the comments and they are made without breaking anything down.My guess is that they are made on second hand info.Check these guys out and this isn’t a bad team.Do you think that Cherington and the FO does’nt want to win? In my view regardless of what Francona says does’nt enter in.Out of one side of his mouth he blasts them,and on the otherside he calls them good owners.Go figure.

Victorino old? He’ll still be 32 after this season.Holy cow.

Right Brian,we were all tickled when they signed Gonzo and Crawford.The greatest team ever,remember?

The Orioles may still be good but they will never duplicate the extra inning wins,and without them they would’nt have made post season.

It is deep Rick,i’m trying to be positive and in my view they’ll stay in the fight till the end.After that take a pick.I don’t see any team running away.The only team that scares me is New York,they are winners and they don’t expect to lose.

On paper it appears to be a very good team.Bhueler wrong spelling i know,doe’s not have a good record against eastern division clubs,and the knuckle baller who knows.They may go all the way,but the big moves they made came from a last place team similar to the Sox.But the Sox have a little bit of an excuse they played with a triple A club for two months.

They certainly succeeded in turning the Sox into a “TV reality show,” but then, I think the survey was probably accurate about a lot of Boston fans wanting that. For what other reason would the non-issue Chicken/beer-gate story have been so blown out of proportion? Why do Boston fans love some guys who are mediocre but have goofy or outgoing personalities (Cody Ross) and vilify quality players who are personally reserved (JD Drew)? The reality TV phenomenon sounds like a good reason to me. That and a lot of Boston fans actually believe the hyperbole about “the smartest fans in baseball,” and think that it was meant to describe them personally.

That’s one of the most accurate & frightening analyses I’ve heard since, well…since some Pakistani dude in an airport bar laid out for me exactly why and how the Ravens were going to crush the Patriots–including Welker muffing another important catch and Talib pulling up (& out) with a non-contact injury. (Now how did he know that? Talib? Shady Pakistani guy getting wasted at the airport? I don’t know, but I refuse to draw any nefarious conclusions. I also refuse to answer or return his calls demanding the $2000 I owe him.) This team is remarkably unremarkable in practically every area. Hey, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Johnny Lester is going to bounce back & finally win that Cy Young Award this year. I mean, he finally got his binky Farrell back and that Big Bad Chicken & Beer Influence Beckett is now getting his orders filled from a Mexican takeout truck in LA. Welcome to the jungle, indeed. It’s more like the mud of mediocrity.   

Bad strategy to believe the fans are as dumb as Ben thinks.

When they have these interviews its seems they let  whoever they are talking to just make these really dumb statements and never call them out. He said the team will be very competitive and contend. Was he not there last year? They were a last place team, and from the looks of it they are a last place team again. Then again can you really think this guy is going to say we suck? Then again he hired Francona, that should tell you something about his judgement. Sweet Caroline

At this point it is easy to just keep bashing these guys. I mean talk about saying a lot and not saying anything of use. 

So you are saying winning is a priority, wow what a revelation and I thought you were just there to sell us crap. 

Finally, they are done with the “heavy lifting” what exactly have you done? Last time I checked this roster was in major need of overhauling. If you call you signing two bums, not resolving the Ellsbury situation, trading for a small market closer, and bringing in Craig Breslow as “heavy” lifting than we need a new GM. 

I was not expecting the 2013 Red Sox to be competitive, however I expected to see some sort of plan coming together. Instead, they made one good move hiring the new manager. Other than that, we got a mixed bag of crap free agents, and no long terms issues solved at all. 

I mean at the very least, could you get rid of John Lackey, how about you start there. I don’t care how much money they have to eat to send him to Texas with his ball and his fat gut. Not my money; just get rid of him. I do not want to see him on the mound in a Red Sox uniform ever again, period. In fact, I refuse to watch any game he starts.

Pedroia and Lester are Losers….Lester will never win the Cy Young or even get more than 3 votes. And for Pedroia to get another award then the rest of the league will need to get injured like last time.They are little backstabbers and deserve to get pimp slapped. They start fires then run.

Oh wait and last thought. When we look back at this period of time, now with all the information that has come to light. We shouldn’t be giving any credit to Lucchino, he never wanted Francona in here and clearly Francona was one of the major reasons why the Red Sox were so successful over that time span. So Lucchino, thanks for nothing.

Obviously we can’t get rid of the ownership, but this team needs a major overhaul starting at Lucchino on down. Get some baseball people in there, and stop running the Red Sox like they are playing in Disneyland and all we want is to have the Fenway Experience.  

Nobody thought that Balt. Would contend last year.

Yankees will be 4th place at best in 2013. Old and aging…

 For the Sox to succeed a lot of things need to go right. For the most part the team is composed of role players and under performers. The Sox need improvement from both or it will be a long year again. As hope springs eternal we shall see after 50 games played what kind of team Cherington has assembled. Up until such time drink the Kool Aid at your peril!

I guess i be shocked if you knew anything about baseball. The Red sox are by far the weakest team in the division. Toronto might have one of the best rotations in baseball, you left off the national league Cy young award winner R.A. Dickey. The Yankees have been old forever, and guess what, they win every year. The Sox have no first baseman that can catch the ball, they have Napoli who will be lucky to play 50 games. They have a terrible outfield, and there catching looks very suspect. They have awful starting pitching, something like 13 in the american league. The sox will be lucky to win 70 games

What is he smoking in his pipe?

Vegas has the red sox at 30-1 to win the WS, it should be 100-1. Victorino 3 year 39M ????? 

We will see, but I don’t see them nearly deep enough in key places, like catcher, the outfielder, ss, first base. They also are counting on players bouncing back on the starting pitcher front, which will be great IF it happens.

Many question marks there, so we shall see.

With little Benny around we don’t need laughing gas.

Hiring Pedro just before ticket sales on Saturday is part of it too. Never changes with this management/ ownership.

Lester 10-17 since Sept ,2011 is our ACE. 

If I were Ben I’d have waited a while before I characterized this group as “a strong, deep team.”

Let’s be honest, Ben might end up when all is said and done, the worst GM in sports…not in Baseball, in sports.  Do I think this team will suck?  No.  Do I think they will contend?  No way.  With the resources they have, he in the last 2 years has hurt made this team worse.  With the exception of the last month of the 2011, that year they were quite possibly the best team in baseball.  Ben takes over and makes big decisions, they finish with the 7th worst record in the Majors.  Who knows, maybe they will be better than I thought.  I hope so.  Ben just doesnt impress me in anyway at all

 He drank the “Kool Aid” he is serving to us.

 ”Ben takes over and makes big decisions, they finish with the 7th worst record in the Majors”

Yeah, they made that big trade, remember?  Everyone expected them to be terrible after the trade.  Were you surprised that they got worse?  They conceded the 2012  season for the long term interests of the team.  Everyone knows that.  

That is Larry “Hatchetman” Luchinno’s idea. After all hiring Pedro is a lot cheper than makingba signing like Josh Hamilton. Cheap Management and all spin control. Too many Kool Aid drinkers on this site believe everything this Management Team does.

the red sox have “a strong deep team” and cherington only became GM of the sox because he thought it was a better career move than pursuing his PhD in astrophysics at MIT. rotflmao!!!!! oh and I almost forgot, dick cheney cause katrina using the halliburton hurricane machine and the mossad masterminded 9/11.