There are two topics that can make by blood boil. One is politics. The other is the Red Sox. There are people who generally know this…and use it frequently to get me going. It’s not unusual for baseball talk to start now. Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in just about two weeks. Hope springs eternal. I’ve been hearing a lot of criticism about the moves the Red Sox made over the off season, mostly comments like, “Oh, they didn’t do enough.” I just shake my head and say, “Ok. Whatever.” But under my breath, I’m saying, “WTF do you know? There wasn’t anything out there to do anything with!”

Today, I was working at my retail establishment slogging coffee when my baseball pal, Hank, asked, ‘What do you think of the defensive moves the Red Sox made during the off season?” It was nice to hear somebody ask the question rather than make a pronouncement that the Sox didn’t do enough. My reply? “I think what Theo Epstein focused on was the right thing.” Hank, to my surprise, agreed! Hell, it’s not that I wouldn’t have welcomed Jason Bay back. I sure would have. I loved him last year. However, it didn’t work out that way. It’s just that I don’t think we’re in dire straits without him.

Why the Sox did the right thing

WTF is wrong with winning ball games by working at the fundamentals? That’s basically what Theo has done. He concentrated on the fundamentals by bolstering the defense and shoring up the pitching staff. Rather than blow half the minor league prospects and a ton of cash on what was out there for sluggers this off season, Epstein instead focused on run prevention. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many 40-home run hitters you have if you can’t field the ball cleanly and stop the other team’s hitters.

In 2009, Boston had a .986 fielding percentage, a statistic that did not sit well with Epstein. Without question, the weakest position on the club over the past few years has been shortstop. Last year alone, Dustin Pedroia played with four different middle infielders, Nick Green, Jed Lowrie, Julio Lugo and Alex Gonzalez. By far, Lugo was the man who booted the ball the most. Every fielding opportunity became an adventure. This wasn’t the norm for Lugo, but he soon became an expendable error headcase and was traded. Nick Green, never really a front-line player, got more playing time as a result of Lugo’s departure, but had his share of errors. Jed Lowrie, once considered the heir to the throne at short, suffered with wrist problems for most of the year. Alex Gonzalez was a great second-half acquisition. He played with the Sox before and has always been a great, sure-handed defensive player. He certainly lived up to that reputation during the second half of 2009. And, although he was a surprise at the plate, over the long haul the Sox wanted a more consistent hitter out of the shortstop position. They, therefore, chose not to exercise Gonzalez’s option.

With Nick Green filing for free agency and going to the Dodgers, Alex Gonzalez gone to the Blue Jays, and Jed Lowrie’s health a giant question mark, the focus had to become finding a credible shortstop. Sorry, folks, but this is a critical position in baseball. Enter Marco Scutaro, formerly of the Toronto Blue Jays. Scutaro may not be a spectacular defensive player, but he is a steady and reliable fielder, something that the Sox have been missing at the shortstop position. Let’s add to that some solid 2009 hitting statistics, like a .282 batting average, 60 RBI, 100 runs scored, 35 doubles and a .379 OBP, and I think the Sox improved themselves immensely at short.

So, we have Youk at first, Pedroia at second, and Scutaro at short. What’s the next step? How about landing arguably the best fielding third baseman in baseball. Enter Adrian Beltre, a two-time Gold Glove winner. Last year, Beltre alone started two fewer 5-4-3 double plays than the entire Red Sox team did all year. I’m not going to waste my time arguing that his offense was suspect in 2009, but I can tell you that this eight-minute defensive highlight reel will make you care a bit less about his offensive prowess. In spite of that, I expect that hitting in Fenway Park will improve Beltre’s offensive performance.

Sayonara, Jason Bay

There’s no question that failing to sign Jason Bay was a missed opportunity, particularly since he gave us 36 home runs and 119 RBI in 2009 (making up nicely for Manny Ramirez). It would have been great to make all of the above infield improvements and keep Bay in left field. It didn’t work out that way for various reasons, and Bay wound up signing with the Mets. In response, Epstein went out and picked up Mike Cameron, giving him the center field position and moving Jacoby Ellsbury to left.

While people are dumping on his offense, the fact is that at 37, he hit 24 homers last year, knocked in 70 runs and had a .342 OBP and .452 slugging percentage. He isn’t exactly chopped liver and, like Beltre, he should do well in Fenway Park. He’s a better fielder than Jason Bay, with a wicked arm. He’s speedy and will cover a lot of ground in center field. Best of all, he’s a three-time Gold Glover winner.

The Red Sox have also signed Jeremy Hermida (RF), who made his major league debut in 2005. The thinking is that this guy hasn’t yet come into his own and they are hoping he will in a Red Sox uniform. We’ll see what happens, but he’s ready to contribute even though he is not projected to be an every day player.

The final piece of the puzzle

So there we have it, a much improved defense in 2010. The final piece was shoring up the pitching staff. The Sox did that by signing free agent John Lackey. I like this move. We’ve added Lackey to a pitching staff that includes John Lester, Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Bucholtz, and Tim Wakefield. Who has a better starting rotation? Come on, people. Let’s get serious. And forget about the people saying Wake will come out of the bullpen. That’s not going to happen. We really don’t know how the starters are going to shake out just yet, but it’s better to have more than not enough because there are plenty of opportunity for injuries during a 162-game campaign. A team can never have too much starting pitching, as we saw in 2009.

As for the relief staff, Epstein signed Papelbon for another year, along with Hideki Okajima, Ramon Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen. We still have Daniel Bard, who is the future closer. My guess is that, with the loss of Billy Wagner, the Sox are not yet done here. We’ll have to see.

So, WTF is wrong with you people?

I know. I know. We didn’t go out and pick up another Manny Ramirez. I’m really sorry about that. Unfortunately, the 2010 crop of free agents will be a hell of a lot better than the 2009 class. Those that were worth going after were simply asking for way too much, like Jacoby Ellsbury and Bucholtz in the same deal. Not going to happen.

Terry Francona, the guy who has been at the helm for six years now, says we have enough fire power to win this thing. I think we can trust him at this stage of the game. If that isn’t the case, however, Epstein is committed to going out and getting a big bat by mid year. So, this is the team we’re going to field, unless somebody comes out of the woodwork early in the season and makes an offer we can’t refuse. Let’s just get behind them and ride this train into October. I think it’s going to be a hell of a good time!