[sethypooh21]

I know, the parade hasn't even happened yet, but it's never really too early to start thinking about what we do to repeat. In no particular order, things which need to be addressed:

1. 3B - I'm on record, even before the WS MVP, that I would not mind seeing the Sox overpay slightly for Lowell. I think we've regretted letting Cabrera go, and I think Lowell is probably a better player than O-Cab. A-Rod and that [censored] Boras should not even be contacted.

2. Schilling/Rotation - Does Schill hang it up? I'm honestly not sure if he's got a full season left. Do we keep him around as a 4/5 starter for a year, or does he really think he can command a big bucks FA contract? Wakefield is probably nearing done as well, and though we seem set 1-3 with Beckett, Dice and Lester, and we're all obviously very optimistic about Bucholz, who wouldn't like to see us go after a certain lefty from Minneapolis?

3 - CF. Is Jacoby ready to be an everyday CF? Will Crisp accept being a 4th OF, or do we just plan on having a 4 man OF rotation, considering that Manny is probably going to need rest/DH somedays. Anyway to get Brandon Moss at least a meaningful look next year?

4 - C. It's probably about time to start thinking about a replacement for Tek. Especially if wake doesn't come back, we don't have a whole lot of use for Mirabelli, so who ever the future is will probably get 40 or so games.

5 - Middle relief - Timmy, god love him, is probably at about the end of the line. which leaves us with Paps, Oki (who may or may not be as effective in year two, and certainly needs his workload reduced, regardless) and...MDC who's probably ok as your 2nd righty setup guy, and Javier Lopez, of whom the less we say, the better. Do we deal Crisp for an arm or two? I honestly don't think so, because Crisp is something of a known quantity, while, with a few exceptions, bullpen arms are so high variance that any trade would be a gigantic crapshoot. Hopefully Theo and the brain wizards have a plan to give us 3-4 more guys in the pen and have 2-3 more arms waiting in Pawtuckett...

6. Securing opening day tickets. went in '05. It was awesome. Back in '08, and hopefully more...