Hardball Times Red Sox Preview

The Hardball Times has five questions about each team. Here is the Red Sox version. They actually discuss most of the major themes from the Joe's SeaBlog preview over the last couple of days: offense gets a boost from Nixon and Renteria, offsetting a decline from Damon and Varitek; Wells, Clement and Miller don't equate to a dropoff from the 2004 versions of Martinez and Lowe. These guys are supposed to know what they are talking about, so I feel ratified, if nothing else.

You might be interested in the Yankees Preview as well. Larry Mahnken isn't all that optimistic despite New York's $200 million payroll:

Big money doesn’t guarantee success, and the Yankees are perhaps getting less for their money than any team in baseball history. There is clearly a lot of upside to this Yankees team; if everyone repeats their 2004 season in 2005, they’ll win the AL East in a walk, no matter how well things go for the Red Sox. But there’s a lot of risk there, too, perhaps more than any other team in baseball, and far more than a team with a $200 million payroll should ever have.