BOSTON RED SOX

My question this season is: are the Sox still collapsing? Last season’s finish all but destroyed the fall and winter for the Red Sox Nation.

Boston finished the season on the last day tied for a playoff spot, one victory and they were in, a loss and it is total collapse on a string of losing games. The rest is history. They finished 90-72, seven games off the pace. In desperation, they lost a great manager in Terry Francona and got another great one in Bobby Valentine.

As a hitting club went, they were the very best! 1^st in runs scored, 2^nd in batting average, 1^st in on base percentage and 1^st in slugging percentage! As a pitching team, the bottom fell out. 22^nd in ERA, 28^th in quality starts, you can’t carry pitching that bad and win.

On the free agent marketplace Erik Bedard is in Pittsburg, J.D. Drew remains unsigned, Conor Jackson to Oakland, Trevor Miller now pitches for the Cubs, 2.94 ERA, also know as Jonathan Papelbon closes now for Philadelphia, Jason Varitek remains unsigned and Dan Wheeler signed on with Cleveland.

On the receiving end they signed on Aaron Cook as a starter, Rich Hill, another pitcher that is breathing, Vincent Padilla from the Dodgers, and a few other signings not worth talking about.

Anchored at 1^st base, Adrian Gonzalez .338 BA 27 HR’s 117 RBI’s and .410 OBP is the centerpiece of the Sox offense, with Jacoby Ellsbury, .321 BA 32 HR’s 105 RBI’s and a .376 OBP. David Ortiz with his diminishing skills has signed on for one more year. The balance of the lineup, with Carl Crawford looking to play the way he did in 2010, Dustin Pedroia, and Kevin Youkilis steadily on course, this team will continue to hit.

Lester, Beckett and pray for a miracle, the Sox will continue to fall unless they can shore up the pitching, and without it will finish in third once more. Theo Epstein is gone, and it is under his realm that the Sox ended this way, although the new GM has done nothing so far to improve the situation.