Red Sox Preview - 2nd Base

Team: Boston Red Sox
Position: 2nd Base
Primary Player and Back-up(s): Mark Loretta and Tony Graffanino

Note: Boston's official depth chart lists a couple others as back-ups at this position, but I'm going to focus on the two most likely people to get playing time there.

HITTING - If Mark Loretta can return to his 2004 form, Boston could have a formidable #2 hitter. In 2004 Loretta set career highs in almost every offensive category and led all 2nd basemen in batting average, hits, runs scored, and on-base percentage (2004 stats). Loretta's 2005, however, was a dissapointment plagued by injuries. The pop in his bat did seem to return towards the end of the season, but overall it wasn't nearly as impressive. I could definitely see Loretta having a nice year at the plate this year. He's a career .301 hitter and if you can get on base in front of the big boys (Manny and Ortiz) you are going to score a lot of runs. I think the biggest worry here is his rather low OBP (.365) for a guy who bats over .300 and you would really like to see near the top of your order. Look for another .300 season with over 100 runs scored if he can shake off last years rust and hit at the top of the order. Tony Graffanino impressed the Boston faithful last year hitting safely in 41 of 51 games and batting .319 while with them. Although impressive, I wouldn't look for a repeat of this performance. Tony is a career .268 hitter and with the addition of Loretta, I just don't think he's going to get enough at-bats to get comfortable. Overall I'm going to give them a B here due to Loretta coming off the injury year and what will most likely be a big drop off from Graffanino.

FIELDING - Loretta has proven to be a fundamentally sound 2nd baseman that turns the pivot as well as anyone. The biggest question here is whether he and new SS Alex Gonzalez are on the same page. Graffanino won't be much help as a defensive replacement (career fielding percentage .974) but he won't kill them when he's in there either. I'm gonna go B+ here. As long as the thumb injury doesn't pop-up again, Loretta will be real solid here.

BASE RUNNING - Neither one of these guys is a real burner here. Loretta's highest steal total in the last 5 years has been 8 (getting caught 4 times that year as well) and Graffanino's 10. What you do get, especially with Loretta, are guys who aren't going to kill you with bone-headed or lazy mistakes. I'm gonna go B- here. Not bad, just not great.

DEPTH - Most likely not going to be a factor. Besides these two, the Boston depth chart is currently boasting two other players (Alex Cora and 21-year-old Dustin Pedroia) who could fill in if needed. If Graffanino can play as a back-up like he did as the starter last year, Boston will be pretty well stacked here. B, till Graff can prove it.

INTANGIBLES - I'm not sold on either one leading (not that you need any in this clubhouse), but Loretta does bring that nice x-factor of being the best 2nd baseman in the league for a year and that can be dangerous. Will his fresh face in the locker room help rejuvenate this team? I wouldn't go that far, he just doesn't have that type of personality. Does he have a long career of winning games and pushing his team into the playoffs? Also, no...but to be fair he was in Milwaukee a good portion of his career. I think the biggest thing will be that every body still knows his name and reputation from 2004 and they will believe he can get the job done. Your teammmates having confidence in you can rub off and make you more comfortable in a new situation. B, just because of that I-was-once-the-most-dangerous-2nd-baseman-in-the-league factor.

OVERALL - This is another area that could peak or valley for the Sox this year. Loretta could easily regain his form and be a top 5 2nd baseman in the whole league (considering the lack of good ones this might not be hard to do) or, he could really show signs of age (he'll be 35 in August) and injury and really drop off. Likewise, Graffanino could be the confident guy who came in and started 51 games for Boston while stroking the ball all over the field or, they could get the career .268 hitter. I think Loretta will regain much of his form and Graffanino will regain his negative form. B for now, but this has the total possibility (like Giambi for the Yanks) of jumping up to an A or even A+.