The 2007 opening roster is set

The Red Sox today have officially announced their 25-man roster today for Monday's opener in Kansas City, and if you've been following the team you will quickly notice that there are no surprises.

In other words, Papi, Manny, Dice K and Schill all made the team (whew!)

The only omission of note is reliever Craig Hanson, who after allowing 5 earned runs in 2/3 of an inning yesterday saw his spring ERA blossom to a robust 15.43, earned a trip back to Pawtucket to "work on his control", i.e. get his shit straightened out.

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, without further ado, I present to you the roster for your 2007 AL East champion Boston Red Sox:

Pitchers (12)- Schill, Wake, Gopher, Dice-K, Paps, Gascan Tavarez, The Black Donnelly, Hideki Okijima, Joel Pineiro, JC Romero, Kyle Snyder, and Javier Lopez

Infielders (5)- Lugo, Pedroia, Lowell, Cora and Youk

DHs (1)- Big Papi

Catchers (2)- Tek & Belli

Outfielders (5)- ManRam, Coco, JD Drew, Hinske, WMP

Like I said, no big shockers there. But with a roster like that there is no need to mess around.

Other notes: Pitchers Maddog Timlin (strained oblique), Jon Lester (cancer recovery) and Matt Clement (head case) will start the season on the DL...MattppanManny Delcarmen joined Hanson on the PawSox express, presumably for the same reason as his compatriot; 3rd string catcher Kevin Cash and reliever Bryan Corey will also start the season in Pawtucket...backup backup backup catcher Alberto Castillo was traded to Baltimore for outfielder Cory Keylor in a deal that rocked the Grapefruit League to its very foundation.

Here's how the opening day lineup should look, barring any last minutes changes/MBM flareups:

POS./PLAYER/'06 STATS (key stat in red)
1. Lugo - 122 G, .278, 12 HR, 37 RBI, 69 R, 39 BB, 76 K
2. Youk-147 G, .279, 13 HR, 72 RBI, 100 R, 91 BB, 120 K
3. Big Papi-151 G,.287,54 HR,137 RBI,115 R,119 BB,117 K
4. Manny-130 G, .321,35 HR,102 RBI,79 R,100 BB,101 K
5. Drew-146 G, .283, 20 HR, 100 RBI, 84 R, 89 BB, 106 K
6. Lowell-153 G, .284, 20 HR, 80 RBI, 79 R, 47 BB, 61 K
7. Tek-103 G, .238, 12 HR, 55 RBI, 46 R, 46 BB, 87 K
8. Coco-105 G, .264, 8 HR, 36 RBI, 58 R, 31 BB, 67 K
9. Pedroia-31 G, .191, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 7 BB, 7 K

That right there is a lineup that should a.) score a ton of runs b.) drive opposing pitchers/ managers batty c.) score a ton of runs. Lugo is going to have to raise his walk total and his OBP (.340) in order for that to happen, and Coco and Pedroia are going to have to find ways to get on base to keep turning the order around, but as long as those things happen this team is poised to (say it with me now) SCORE A TON OF RUNS!

Combine that deep, solid lineup with a deep, solid pitching staff and what you have is the makings of a division champion. Yes, you heard it here first (well, probably not, but I have to stick by it since it's in writing) the Sox will break the Stankee stranglehold on the division crown and take home its first AL East Championship since 1995.

Wonder how long it will be before I eat those words. The over/under is July.

Go Sox!