State of the Red Sox

This is the second report on the state of the Red Sox. My first looked at the catcher and infield positions. Today I'll look at the outfield, DH and bench.

Left Field: Manny Ramirez will finish the season as a top 5 MVP candidate. Some people are worried that Manny is only batting .254 but I don't think anyone really thinks that average will continue for long. Manny has had some bad luck and he also hasn't had his streak where he hits 7 HR in 10 games while hitting .600. Manny will be fine.

Centerfield: Johnny Damon has been everything you could ask for in a centerfielder / leadoff hitter. OK if you wanted to be picky you could ask for more HR and a stronger throwing arm.

Damon is hitting .346 with 42 runs and 31 RBI. A strong argument could be made that Damon has been the team's MVP (he leads the team in Win Shares with 10). The big question with Damon is his health. He plays reckless in the field which leads to injuries. You also can't talk about Damon without talking about the fact that he's a free agent at the end of the year and that Scott Boras is his agent.

Will Damon take a Tim Wakefield-like hometown discount or will he try to break the bank? I could see Damon either signing a 2-year $16 million contract with an option or going for the big bucks.

What are the options for the Sox? Preston Wilson? Seeing if Hanley Ramirez can play centerfield? Damon has said he wants to stay in Boston. If he leaves the team takes a PR hit and may not be able to replace his productivity in the field. I think signs point to Damon staying in Boston.

Right Field: Trot Nixon and Jay Payton have been basically platooning in right. Nixon starts against righties and Payton against lefties. Nixon could finish at about .300 with 20 HR and 100 RBI. Payton meanwhile will finish with the fewest at-bats he's had as a pro since 1999. Payton is solid defensively but it would be nice to have someone with either more speed or more pop in the bat.

DH: David "Big Papi" Ortiz is the best DH in baseball - bar none. Right now he has 13 HR, 46 RBI and an OPS of .931. When both Ortiz and Manny are "on" then there is no better 3/4 combination in baseball.

Boston may have a number of areas where improvement is needed but DH is not one of them.

Bench: Right now the Sox are carrying five bench players. They have Jay Payton backing up all three outfield spots; John Olerud is backing up first; Kevin Youkilis backs up Bill Mueller at third; Ramon Vazquez backs up both short and second and Kelly Stoppach is the back-up catcher while Doug Mirabelli is on the DL.

Payton: I'd give him a B+ for his defense but just a D for his bat. Payton is betting just .237 but I'm willing to hold off judgment until the 4th of July whether the Sox need an upgrade here. Payton may be heating up since he's hit .333 in June so far (3 for 9). Adam Stern may offer more speed than Payton and it will be interesting to see what happens once Stern is healthy (as a Rule 5 Stern has to be put on the roster or the Sox lose him).

Olerud: I've made no secret of the fact that I think Millar needs to be replaced at first. I'd like to see Youkilis start and Olerud be the late inning defensive replacement. I doubt I'll see this happen. I've been impressed with Olerud so far and I think he's another example of Theo out-hustling Cashman.

Youkilis: Crowd and personal favorite. He can back-up both first and third and he's even seen some action at second. Unfortunately, he's still got options so he'll probably be sent down once Stern is healthy enough to join the club.

Vazquez: Color me unimpressed. I long for Freddy Sanchez as a back-up in Boston. Maybe we can get Pokey back?

Stoppach: Just a place-holder for Mirabelli. Stoppach is probably trade-bait come late June.