Boston Sox Journalism

With Spring Training coming upon us, I will be daily adding one or twomain discussion topics about the Boston Red Sox and their 2010 season.I will be analyzing the hottest topics and expressing my opinions as towhy I feel a certain way about something. Today, I ask whether or not Victor Martinez will be able to handle the full time catcher position.

The heading may be confusing, so let me clarify. With Victor Martinez being the new full time catcher on the Red Sox, can he work well with the pitching staff and fill the shoes of the man who has caught four no hitters, Jason Varitek? In my honest opinion, it was common sense to make Victor Martinez the full time catcher for the 2010 regular season.

He is clearly a major step up from the captain and will no doubt provide at the plate, but will he work the same magic when it comes to chemistry to the staff like Varitek always did?

This Spring is where this question will really be put into perspective in my opinion. He is Jason Varitek to help him as well as the staff and there should be no real worries besides catching Tim Wakefield, which may not even be that much of a problem seeing as he's the odd man out in the rotation, or his other problem being Josh Beckett.

Last season there seemed to be some communication problems between Beckett and Martinez that proved that the two were lacking chemistry. Josh obviously worked far better with Jason Varitek behind the plate and it's up to V-Mart and Beckett to build a bond of sorts before Opening Day.

Can Martinez handle the roll? Honestly, I do not think it will be much of a problem because like I said, he still has Varitek there to help him out and the rotation is arguably the best in baseball today. The final answer is, yes, Martinez will learn how to handle the rotation and take over for the veteran captain, Jason Varitek.

Next Topic: Mixed Bag Effect: How Will Low Risk-High Reward Acquisitions Pan Out?