Red Sox Preview - 1st Base

Shark and myself are updating our Yankees/Red Sox preview in the interest of not babbling on for thousands of words and us repeating each other. The rest of this will be done with Shark doing a position-by-position preview of the Yankees and myself doing the Red Sox. We will examine each position using a five-category system and discuss their strengths and weaknesses in each of the following: hitting, fielding, base running, depth, and intangibles. So, let’s get right into it.

Team: Boston Red Sox
Position: 1^st base
Primary player and back-ups: Kevin Youkilis and J.T. Snow

HITTING – The primary first basemen for Boston will be Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis is a bit of an unknown to anybody that doesn't closely follow the Red Sox. He holds almost every major University of Cincinnati batting record and was quite a force in Triple-A ball with Pawtucket (.322, 8 HR, 27 RBI in just 43 games). With Boston, while mostly platooning around the infield, he was a bit shakier overall (.278, 1 HR, 9 RBI in 79 AB in 2005), but that also could account to uneven playing time not allowing him to find a groove. He did however bat .300 against lefties and posted a nice .400 OBP, which makes me think he could be solid for Boston. Francona seems to believe in him saying "he's going to definitely play a lot [because] he deserves it, and I think he'll be able to handle it." I think a year from now he could be a solid top of the order guy, but for this season I see a decent year, not a breakout year. J.T. Snow, a former Yankee farm hand by the way, will also be a nice fill in at the plate. He lacks the power potential of Youkilis, but is a solid contact hitter that can move runners (.313 with RISP). If he can reproduce his 2004 numbers he will be a great addition. I'll give the Sox a B here for now. This could be a low estimate or an overly gracious one depending on how the year goes.

FIELDING - Snow is obviously the big story here. He brings with him 6 career Gold Gloves and a history of highlight reel plays (Mattingly must have rubbed off on him). He'll be a nice addition for spot starts against righties and as a defensive replacement late in games. Youkilis once again is a bit of a question mark here. He was a third baseman by trade, but scouts say he possesses the hands and agility to handle first. I would say he has some experience at first, but 5 games last year hardly can give anyone a real feel for how he'll perform. I give the defense at first a A- only because if things get bad, they can always start Snow.

BASE RUNNING - Not much to speak of here for Boston. Youkilis has had 20 SB since he left UC (although he did steal 22 in 2001 at UC) and Snow has 20 SB in his 14 year career. Youkilis is a young athletic guy though so he can't be that slow (he's not David Wells after all). Hopefully for Boston Youkilis is a smart base runner if he really is a "on-base machine" like they say. Until I actually get a full year to see him on the base-paths and with what I know about snow I'm giving them a C-.

DEPTH - I think if Youkilis is a solid guy the Red Sox will boast great depth at first with the addition of Snow. They basically have two guys who could start there and, in a pinch, can even through Ortiz out there if one gets injured. For all the reasons I discussed above, I'll give their depth at first an A.

INTANGIBLES - This is an area I feel that could hurt the Sox or make them really dangerous. My gut leans towards hurt and I'll explain why: 1) You are banking on a talented, yet unproven, player to switch positions and produce offense in an intense city like Boston. 2) Snow is 38 years old and not getting any younger. His bat could be slower and his aging body could make him a bit slower to grounders than before. I could be totally wrong about these things, but I think with the high expectations for Youkilis I don't see him living up to them. I give them a C for intangibles, I just don't think these two will have as big an impact as some might expect.

OVERALL - B Should be two solid performers, but I think expectations are rising quickly and they may not be able to meet the challenge. Still, anything is better than Kevin Millar!