The Boston Red Sox enter the 2008 season as the defending World Series champions. Can they repeat?

They won the World Series last year. They have the second highest payroll in all of baseball. Nothing short of a championship really acceptable at this point, and this year's Boston Red Sox are good enough to repeat.

2007 Record: 96-66 (First Place A.L. East - World Series Winners)

2008 Starters

C - Jason Varitek

1b - Kevin Youkilis

2b - Dustin Pedroia

3b - Mike Lowell

SS - Julio Lugo

LF - Manny Ramirez

CF - Jacoby Ellsbury

RF - JD Drew

DH - David Ortiz

SP - Josh Beckett

SP - Daisuke Matsuzaka

SP - Clay Buccholz

SP - Jon Lester

SP - Curt Schilling/Julian Tavares (?)

RP - Hideki Okajima

RP - Manny Delcarmen

RP - Mike Timlin

RP - Jonathan Papelbon

Red Sox Strengths

David Ortiz

Despite playing the entire 2007 season with a torn meniscus in his right knee as well as nagging injuries to his shoulder and quadriceps, Ortiz hit .332 with 35 home runs and 117 RBI. In addition, he had 52 doubles, led the American League in extra base hits and had an OPS of 1.066. This year, he will start the season healthy. If he can stay pain-free all year, the sky is the limit for this guy.

Josh Beckett

Beckett rebounded tremendously in 2007 after a rough first season in Boston in 2006. He notched his first career 20 win season last year and probably deserved the Cy Young award over C.C. Sabathia. He may not have a repeat performance, but Beckett is still a legitimate ace even when he doesn't have his best stuff.

Jonathan Papelbon

Jonathan Papelbon has dominated opposing hitters since taking over the closer role in 2006. If the league hasn't figured him out yet, they aren't going to make much progress against him this season. Look for Pap to once again control the ninth inning; he'll get at least 40 saves, and will hold onto a lot of late leads, which is all that a team can ask of its closer.

The Young Guys

Jacoby Ellsbury

Red Sox Media Nation has pumped up Ellsbury so much that it probably isn’t fair to say he is a sleeper. But the kid is still officially a rookie, so nobody knows for sure what he is going to do. The kid has the ability to steal 30 bases and hit 20 home runs, not to mention score over 100 runs in a potent Red Sox lineup. In any event, he is better than Coco Crisp.

Jon Lester

This spring, everyone is interested in young hurler Clay Buchholz, who threw a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles in just his second career start last year. However, Jon Lester's stuff is just as good, if not better than Buchholz's. He will have a great chance at posting 15 wins to go along with a sub 4.00 ERA. Every cancer survivor in the country is rooting for Lester, even Yankee fans.

Red Sox Burning Questions

Manny Ramirez

After playing through two injury riddled seasons in '06 and '07, outfielder Manny Ramirez may finally be starting to wear down. His production has gone from 45 home runs and 144 RBI in 2005 to only 20 home runs and 88 RBI last year. This may be the year Manny falls from the top tier of major league hitters – or he could hit 40 homers and knock in 120 runs. Either scenario is possible. It sounds crazy, but so is Manny. (He’s very loveable, too).

Mike Lowell

No way he repeats his 2007 numbers (.324 BA, 21 HR, 120 RBI). But will he simply fall back to his career averages, or will Lowell slump as he did in 2005? The answer to that question might be the answer to how many games the team wins. Manny is getting older, and Kevin Youkilis is really just okay, so the Sox will need Lowell to knock in at least 90 runs if they want to beat the Yankees in '08.

Dice-K Matsuzaka

He didn't look like a $100 million pitcher during the 2007 season, when he was 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA. Will he advance to become the pitcher the Sox hoped he would be when they paid out the nose for his services, or will the league (and all of those scouting reports) prove to be too much for him?

Curt Schilling

People can say whatever they want about Schilling's politics, his arrogance, and his blog. But nobody can deny that this guy is one of the best big game pitchers in baseball history. The Sox can win the division without him, but if they expect to repeat as World Series champs, they need Schilling in the postseason.

2008 Prediction: 92-70 (A.L. Wild Card winners)

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