The Red Sox are starting off spring training now. It’s going to start getting serious. But for now, we can really enjoy hearing about all these new players from drafts and the minor leagues and so on. It’s going to be a lot of fun to see which ones are good and which ones aren’t quite as amazing. You’ve probably never heard of some of them, but some of them are real rising stars that just haven’t hit their stride or found their place quite yet. Keep an eye on this team, because they want to make it back as soon as they can.

Julio Lugo got $36 million dollars in the offseason to take the open starting position on the Red Sox infield this year. But Jeff Lowrie wants to try for that spot and he might well do well enough to get it. The Red Sox obviously need to improve their infield this year and then it’s going to be tough to deny Lowrie that kind of position. But at the same time, Lugo has such a high level pay stub for the season that they’re going to have to think long and hard who they give it to. See more details about this competition.

Dustin Pedroia will be attempting to play every single game this season. He won his MVP trophy last year, but he’s going to have to find something to do to top it. Clearly no one really knows how he can do that but he’s definitely going to try. Otherwise, there isn’t all that much going on for the Red Sox. No big trades, no big moves. They are getting themselves ready to play during spring training and hopefully they will be ready to play really well this year again. Just a few days left before they start!

One of the biggest issues last season, and a question mark for this season, is JD Drew. Yes, it’s kind of hard to tell which players will remain fully intact throughout the season. The trouble, though , is that he is the guy with the bad back. Last season, even at opening day in Japan, he had to drop himself off the lineup just before the first pitch. And then he was in and out of the lineup over the course of the whole season. That’s why we are looking to see if he stays able. Here at the beginning of the preseason, we have heard that he is feeling a bit stiff at this point. He’s confident it’s going to be generally good, keeping the herniated disc from getting worse, but it will take awhile before we really know.

The AL East is going to be one of the hardest divisions this year. Of course, we have our great Red Sox ready to play. But we also have our normal rivals, the Yankees, who have been trying to improve their team this year. They can’t improve their fans, but they can improve the team. And then there are the runners-up for the World Series last year. The Tampa Bay Rays are very threatening this year too. This is going to be an exciting year. Too exciting, really, but we’re going to have a lot of fun watching these teams this year. Last year, they were neck-in-neck, though New York wasn’t nearly as good as usual. I certainly preferred it that way, but that’s the way it goes in this division. Keep an eye on those teams!

The Boston Red Sox will be reporting to Fort Myers soon for the beginning of Spring Training for the 2009 season. They have held their team intact in many ways. They are still a very talented team and clearly one of the favorites to go into the playoffs, although the season hasn’t actually begun yet. But it’s going to be a tough year, I’m sure, because with the Yankees still looking at coming back to life and several other teams doing really well too. Well, it’s always a tough year in the AL East when you get these teams together. Read this to see what MLB thinks their prospects for going back to the championship are.

Mark Kotsay has been operated on this week. He was signed just a couple weeks ago and now he needed some surgery on his back to remove a part of a displaced disc. Unfortunately, that probably means that he will miss the beginning of the season. Luckily he’s not a hugely major part of the team, since he’s just a backup first baseman, but it would still be nice to get to see him play early on. Hopefully he will feel better soon!

The Red Sox have been spending a lot of money throughout the offseason this year. Much of that money is intended for the players they already have and they just need to resign them. The recent signing of Varitek is in that category. Some other players have been signed from other teams and they’re aiming to get these folks onto the team to create really good chemistry. They weren’t bad last year, but they want to get back into the series and actually win it. Anyway, keep an eye on their site for all the newest details.