Francona States the Obvious

Now, I love Tito, but when he says things like this: "I think our bullpen will dictate our success," it's like....yeah. We know. Pitching is basically what's been holding us back in the recent past, and the only way we'll be champs again is if the pitching (and yes, mainly the bullpen) stops being so bad.

About finding a closer during Spring Training, he said, "It won't happen early. We'll tell the pitchers that. If they try to compete the first week of camp, that's not what they need to do. We need them to establish arm strength, work on mechanics and throw strikes, and then there will be the time to kick it into gear and we'll talk to them about that." We'll see what happens with all of that.

And Matsuzaka has continued endearing himself to fans (though he doesn't have to try hard with his record) by trying to learn all his teammates' names and generally showing a lot of enthusiasm for playing for the Red Sox. "I picked up a lot of major league magazines in Japan and I'm doing my best to memorize a bunch of names and faces. I'm very excited to meet my Red Sox teammates, and I can't wait until I report for spring training on February the 12th." Seems like a really nice guy, and he's always smiling! I don't think it will be too difficult to like him.

It's getting so close! We are almost at baseball, people!