Boston Red Sox: At a glance

The annual battle for the Fort Myers Mayor's Cup begins tonight as the Twins and Boston Red Sox open Grapefruit League play at City of Palms Park.

It will be the first of seven meetings between the teams this spring, so it's time to get familiar with the Red Sox.

2009: 95-67 (lost to Angels in Division Series)

GOODBYE: Jason Bay, Casey Kotchman, Rocco Baldelli, Brian Anderson, Billy Wagner, Takashi Saito, Paul Byrd, Nick Green, Alex Gonzalez

WELCOME: John Lackey, Adrian Beltre, Marco Scutaro, Bill Hall, Jeremy Hermida, Mike Cameron, Boof Bonser

ROTATION
1. RH Josh Beckett
2. LH Jon Lester
3. RH John Lackey
4. RH Clay Buchholz (corrected)
5. RH Daisuke Matsuzaka/RH Tim Wakefield

LINEUP
1. LF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. C Victor Martinez/Jason Varitek
4. 1B Kevin Youkilis
5. DH David Ortiz/Mike Lowell
6. RF J.D. Drew/Jeremy Hermida
7. 3B Adrian Beltre/Bill Hall
8. CF Mike Cameron
9. SS Marco Scutaro/Jed Lowrie

ON THE HORIZON
RH Junichi Tazawa (AAA)
RH Michael Bowden (AAA)
LH Dustin Richardson (AAA)
OF Josh Reddick (AAA)
OF Ryan Kalish (AAA)
1B Lars Anderson (AA)

MY TWO CENTS
Adding John Lackey to a rotation with Josh Beckett and Jon Lester almost seems unfair, but to keep up with the Yankees and Rays, it had to be done. The Red Sox should have an amazing infield defense with Beltre, Scutaro, Pedroia and Youkilis. The Red Sox have won at least 95 games in six of the past seven years. This looks like another very good team, and with a $170 million payroll, it should be.