Opening Day is finally here! Time to defend the crown of being World Series champions and looking to repeat as champions. There has been so many news coming out of Spring Training (3-26-19 when I am writing this) and we will get to all of it. Tons of things will change from now to the end of the year but this is my general thoughts how the year will unfold and my thoughts on the Spring Redsox news.
Chris Sale Gets a New Contract Chris Sale gets a new 6 year, 160 million dollar extension. This will keep him on the Redsox at least until 2022 with a player opt out. He has a vesting option in 2025 by being healthy in 2024 and having a top 10 CY Young finish. I love this deal for the Redsox, although they had to make this deal. They backed themselves in a corner because they have no pitching prospects ready. I am glad they got this done and not blowing it, like with the Lester disaster. I just hope he can stay healthy after the all star break. Dustin Pedroia is Not Ready for Opening Day Pedroia is starting off the year on the injured list, although is expected back for the home opener on April 9th. This is not surprising since the Redsox are counting on him. Take as much time as you need. I am not expecting him to play a lot of games but if they can get 90-100 out of him, I am comfortable seeing Nunez or Holt at 2nd to take his place. Sandy Leon is the Odd Man Out Sandy Leon got sent to waivers but no one picked him up so he decided to go to AAA. The Redsox tried to trade him all spring but I guess there were no takers. They wanted to carry two catchers so Vazquez and Swihart is the winners. I want to see Swihart's potential to finally get him playing time to see if he steps up. (Watch out Brock Holt, Swihart is the real utility man since he can also play catcher). The Bullpen is revealed The Bullpen is consisting of Matt Barnes, Ryan Braiser, Heath Hembree, Tyler Thornburg, Brandon Workman, Colten Brewer, Hector Velazquez and Brian Johnson.The Redsox has not a defined closer but I predict that Barnes will get the first shot because Braiser didn't get a lot of time pitching because of his infected toe. The Rotation Order is Revealed The people in the rotation was never in doubt but this is the order: Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi, Rick Porcello, Edwardo Rodriquez and David Price. The only surprise is Price being the "5" but he is battling an illness at this time, so this makes sense. There will be a 6th starter in the Arizona series and I expect that to be Brian Johnson. The order doesn't really matter because it always gets juggled around. Mookie Betts Hates Boston Okay I'm just being a troll but this is not 100% false. I believe that he will not resign here in two years and I have been saying that for years. Mike Trout just got a 12 year, 426 million dollar contract and Betts will get a little under that. I suspect him getting 32 million a year and with all of the contracts they have to resign I don't see him coming back. Listen to his interviews about Boston, you will come around to my opinion. I''ll die on the Betts will not resign hill. Season Predictions: Call me a homer but I don't see the Redsox losing the division or even the World Series again. Although the Astros or Yankees can give them trouble, the Redsox starters and lineup is too good. The only way the Redsox do not win the division is a drastic injuries or the bullpen will be a huge disaster. I suspect Pedroia to play between 90-100 games and Holt/Nunez to fill in the rest. This will not be the last we see of Leon because either Vazquez or Swihart will get hurt, or Swihart will have to play a utility postion from another injury. The bullpen will be huge problem so they will have to call up Durbin Feltman, AKA Dalton Furbush. His stuff his electric and will be up sometime this year, September call ups being the latest. The Redsox will miss Kimbrel. Although he is still a free agent, the Redsox are not expected to sign him. He was scary at times with his control but they take him for granted. He gets 30+ saves a year and going to miss that. I am not ready to have a heart attack when seeing Barnes in the 8th or 9th. It would be nice for them to win the division, the AL, and the world series because I have 50$ each on it but I am not going to let my gambling degeneracy get in the way of Redsox baseball. If you read this this far I thank you very much. Don't forget to follow "Pete's Tweets" @kangminsoo52 for daily Redsox game recaps, bad Redsox commentary, other sport commentary, and just some random crap along the way. Look out... The 2019 season will be the year of "Pete's Tweets!"
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