Sox Talk : Mark My Words '11 Preview

First, I want to begin this post by saying I am a firm believer that the Red Sox will set their franchise single season wins record in 2011. Not because of the signings of slugger Adrian Gonzalez and five tool stud Carl Crawford - but because of their starting pitching, deep bullpen and the fact that the two under acheived greatly last year.

The Sox won nearly 90 games last season and were without several key players including Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka. By only subtracting Adrian Beltre, Victor Martinez and Bill Hall - and adding players like Gonzalez, Crawford, Jenks, Wheeler and that 17-year-old softball player the hopes for a AL title and World Series appearance are high.

Rather than write a 500 word novel on the Sox, I will just reveal my 2011 projections.

Lineup

1. Jacoby Ellsbury: 141 games, .282 AVG, 13 HR, 66 RBI, 99 R, 52 BB, 58 SB

2. Dustin Pedroia: 153 games, .290 AVG, 18 HR, 77 RBI, 119 R, 61 BB, 17 SB

3. Carl Crawford: 150 games, .303 AVG, 22 HR, 92 RBI, 101 R, 43 BB, 44 SB

4. Adrian Gonzalez: 151 games, .309 AVG, 36 HR, 117 RBI, 86 R, 77 BB

5. Kevin Youkilis: 156 games, .319 AVG, 23 HR, 97 RBI, 101 R, 69 BB

6. David Ortiz: 133 games, .276 AVG, 21 HR, 80 RBI, 69 R, 38 BB

7. JD Drew: 127 games, .293 AVG, 16 HR, 68 RBI, 70 R, 41 BB

8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia/Varitek: 162 games, .252 AVG, 21 HR, 88 RBI, 77 R

9. Marco Scutaro: 149 games, .272 AVG, 12 HR, 61 RBI, 90 R, 49 BB, 16 SB

Pitching Staff

1. Josh Beckett: 18 wins, 11 losses, 3.13 ERA

2. John Lackey: 22 wins, 9 losses, 3.45 ERA

3. John Lester: 19 wins, 7 losses, 2.97 ERA

4. Clay Buchholz: 16 wins, 9 losses, 3.34 ERA

5. Daisuke Matsuzaka: 13 wins, 12 losses, 4.24 ERA

Tim Wakefield: 8 wins, 6 losses, 4.57 ERA

Jonathan Papelbon: 5 wins, 2 losses, 41 saves, 2.12 ERA

Daniel Bard: 8 wins, 2 losses, 2 saves, 1.77 ERA

Bobby Jenks: 4 wins, 3 losses, 6 saves, 2.79 ERA

Dan Wheeler: 7 wins, 5 losses, 1 save, 3.97 ERA