2006 Boston Red Sox Predictions
The Boston Red Sox finally got the monkey off their backs and squashed the
curse of the Bambino 2 seasons ago when they came back from 3 games down against
the New York Yankees in the ALCS and went on to win the World Series. They lose
their beloved long-haired lead off hitter and center fielder Johnny Damon, which
will leave a void at the top of the order that won’t easily be filled. New
additions such as Coco Crisp and Willie Mo Pena won’t be able to waste any time
in stepping up to help atone for the loss. The Redsox did acquire a Cy Young
caliber pitcher from the Florida Marlins in Josh Beckett. He is already an
established all-star talent with a World Series ring at just 25 years of age. He
brings post season experience and a huge upside to the Red Sox as he is young and
will only get better under the tutelage of Curt Schilling. Schilling is healthy
once again and off to an impressive start this season. He along with Beckett
make up the best 1-2 punch of any starting pitching staff in the league.
If you have followed the Boston Red Sox much at all over the past few years, it
doesn’t take long to figure out that their home field treats them well. Over the
past 3 seasons, Boston has gone 162-81 at Fenway. You can count on the Red Sox to
once again be a god team to back at home this season. However, they haven’t been
nearly as effective on the road and Vegas has made a nice chunk of change by
coaxing bettors with eye pleasing lines. Let’s say that the Red Sox are a -233
favorite with Curt Schilling on the hill at Fenway. In this situation most
bettors will only wager a small amount because of the heavy juice. But if
Schilling is pitching on the road as just a -119 favorite, bettors are more
likely to make a much larger wager. This is a trap you will want to try to stay
out of as bookmakers will gladly take small losses at home when they know they
can get their money back when high profile teams like Boston and the New York
Yankees fall on the road.
The Boston Red Sox should once again be a high scoring team in 2006 with Big Papi
and Manny Ramirez clearing the bases. Bringing in second baseman Mark Loretta
from San Diego should provide the Sox with another solid bat hitting in the
number 2 slot and he should also help cushion some of the blow from losing Damon
to the Yanks.
Boston should have their way with the rest of the league, but they could have
some problems within their division as the AL East is the best division in the
baseball and it’s gotten even better with the way Toronto has come on. You can
still expect them to take care of business at home within their division but
you’ll want to pick you spots on the road.
2006 Baseball Predictions
|
