The Boston Red Sox have no shortage of players who can carry this team at any given time, but I’ll give you just a few that could shine in 2008.There isn’t a better player to start with than ace Josh Beckett. Beckett is coming off a career year, winning 20 of his 30 starts in 2007, going 20-7 with a 3.27 ERA, yet still lost out to C.C. Sabathia for the AL Cy Young Award. He’s one of the few guys you can say is a genuine major league ace. If he puts up anywhere near the numbers be put up in 2007, he’s will run away with the Cy Young in 2008 and maybe, just maybe, another World Series ring.With Curt Schilling possibly on the shelf until the All-Star break, young pitchers Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester will have to fill the void in the back end of the Boston rotation. Buchholz has already shown that he can dominate, throwing a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles last season.Lester, in just 11 starts for the Red Sox, finished the 2007 season with a 4-0 record and a 4.57 ERA. Buchholz impressed even more, he finished 3-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 22.1 IP. These two youngsters will need to show that they are ready to make an impact if the Red Sox are going to be just as dominant as they were in 2007.

My surprise pick for 2008 is young centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury. In 116 AB’s in 2007, the youngster hit .353 with 3 HR’s and 18 RBI’s. Fans and media alike expect Ellsbury to win the centerfield job outright from Coco Crisp, so much so that Crisp already sees the writing on the wall and has asked the team to trade him.

The one guy that really surprised a lot of people was 3rd baseman Mike Lowell.  For a guy at 33 years of age in 2007, he hit .324 with 21 HR’s and drove in 120.  Not the type of numbers that Boston thought he would put up, but you won’t find any of them complaining.  If he has that kind of year again for the Red Sox, he adds another dimension to an already strong offense.

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