Red Sox Roundtable: What Do You Expect of The Red Sox This Year?

March 24, 2013; Clearwater, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia (15) works out prior to the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Networks Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome Sox fans to the second installment of Red Sox Roundtable. This is your chance to kick around a hot topic of the week with the Bosox Injection writers. I post, make my comments and then anyone and everyone can join in the fray. The more the merrier. Come on, get it off your chest!

This week’s question is How do you expect the Sox to do this year and what expectations should fans have of the team?

I’m going to follow Manager John Farrell’s lead when he told the team on the first day of spring training, “Be professional.” After the harangues (Bobby Valentine), outbursts (Alfredo Aceves), pouty lack of leadership that was more focused on sticking a finger in Valentine’s eye (Dustin Pedroia) and flat out stupidity (Ryan Sweeney punching a door in the dugout and breaking his hand), this team needs to keep its trap shut, focus their energies and play ball.

I think this will translate to a better than .500 record. In what has become an increasingly competitive division this may not get them much better than 3rd or 4th place, depending on if Baltimore can reproduce their uncanny number of 2012 one run and extra innings wins or New York somehow becomes not as ancient and banged up as they appear to be.

The wild card, as always will be who gets hot and who gets injured. If Lester and Buchholz continue the dominance they exhibited in spring training, Lackey returns to the Lackey of old or at least better than awful, Papi gets healthy and stays in the lineup for a prolonged period of time and the outfield gels both on defensively and offensively Boston could make it interesting. It’s a long season. A lot can happen.

Fire away group!