MLB: Red Sox, Nomar, no mas?

Even though Sports Illustrated said last year was going to be the year, this season was really suppose to be the year.

We have the best pitcher to come along since Sandy Koufax in Pedro Martinez. Nomar Garciaparra is arguably the best hitter in baseball and is coming off of two straight American League batting titles. Carl Everett is an explosive(and I mean explosive) centerfielder that added a lot of punch to the Boston lineup last year.

Then, this past off-season Dan Duquette went out hunting and brought home the catch of the day, Manny Ramirez, for a cool $160 million.

Finally everything was coming together. Then the season got underway...

Since the first day of spring training, Nomar has gone down with a split tendon in his wrist and could be out anywhere from 6-16 weeks if he goes under the knife, which is looking more and more likely.

Pedro Martinez had a ball lined off of his glove hand and had to wear a brace for a brief period of time.

Carl Everett has missed the team bus to a game twice already during spring training which I’m sure has only strengthened his relationship with manager Jimy Williams.

And finally, a tender hamstring and the fact that he has to actually play the outfield have slowed our savior Manny down.

I think the sky may be falling as well.

So it is one week from Opening Day and the season is already over right? Not so fast. This team has managed to stay in the race the past couple of seasons dealing with injuries along the way. The addition of Ramirez’s bat will help soften the blow of losing Nomar for a period of time on the offensive end. Defensively, the Sox are probably going to use a couple of different players to replace Garciaparra, led by Nomar’s best friend on the team, Lou Merloni.

Anytime you have Pedro Martinez on your team, it can’t be all that bad. If the Red Sox can stay within five to eight games of the Yankees by the time Nomar returns to the lineup, everything should be ok.

See you in October?