Are you like me still a little down knowing that the Boston Red Sox won’t be taking on the Philadelphia Phillies tonight in Game 1 of the World Series. It’s hard I know but in the end the Red Sox got beat by the better team in the Tampa Bay Rays.

And now the offseason is upon us where we start to hear some wild rumors and possible free agents coming to the Red Sox. It’s also a matter of who won’t be a part of the Red Sox next season. No matter what though, the 2009 team is already looking good on paper.

  • C – Kevin Cash
  • 1B – Kevin Youkilis
  • 2B – Dustin Pedroia
  • SS – Jed Lowrie, Julio Lugo
  • 3B – Mike Lowell
  • OF – JD Drew, Jason Bay, Coco Crisp, Jacoby Ellsbury
  • DH – David Ortiz
  • SP – Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson (?)
  • RP – Jonathan Papelbon, Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez, David Aardsma, Justin Masterson (?)

Obviously we know they will either try to re-sign Jason Varitek or sign a free agent at catcher and they could move Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo. Either way, it should be an interesting offseason for the Red Sox which we will follow closely here at SOX & Dawgs.

Jonathan Papelbon was not a guarantee to close Game 7 if he had to be called upon.

If the Red Sox get Mark Teixiera, Kevin Youkilis has to stay with the team.

The Red Sox were proud of their 2008 season.

Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee says the Red Sox pitchers made mistakes during the ALCS.

Terry Francona explained the decison about not pinch-hitting for Jason Varitek throughout the season.

Curt Schilling checks in with two blog entries over at 38 Pitches.

For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.