By: Ian Tasso, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer

We’ve waded through JD Drew, Jose Iglesias and Marco Scutaro. But what about Papi? What about Lowell? Ellsbury? Wakefield and Buchholz?

Patience, young ones.

Without further ado, I present to you the real top questions facing the Sox this season. Starting with mumbers 6-10. The questions that will make or break Boston’s Boys of Summer. Feel free to comment, question or be angry below.

10. How will the move to left field effect Jacoby Ellsbury? Should he be offended? (Greg; Townsend, Mass.)

It really shouldn’t offend or affect him at all. What it will do, however, is make left field at Fenway a very difficult place to get hits.

Jason Bay was a very solid fielder – not much range, but if he got to the ball, he was going to catch it. Jacoby on the other hand, has all the range in the world, and should look like Carl Crawford flying around out there. He’s going to turn a lot of bloop-singles into outs, and the fact that left fielders already play in close in Fenway because of the Monster makes it that much more exciting of a prospect.

Cameron’s a proven glove-man in center field. And the move to left for Jacoby really shouldn’t hurt him at all – it’s an overall great move for the Sox. And it’s not as if he’s transitioning from catcher to right field. The two positions are almost exactly the same, only he has less ground to cover and a shorter throw to the infield – both of which should help him more than hurt him.

Plus, less of a chance he gets dinged around diving in that triangle, and maybe he doens’t miss so many games this year. Stays fresh, few more stolen bases, and then maybe fans won’t complain as much?

9. With both Mike Lowell and Adrian Beltre on the team this year, which one see’s the majority of playing time at third base? And what happens to the odd-man out? (Jess; Orlando, Fla.)

As much as it pains me to say it, this is Beltre’s team now.

The Sox made it very clear that Lowell’s on his way out of Boston, and I’d be shocked if he’s still on the Sox come trading deadline time. In fact, I’d even be a little surprised if he makes it that far.

Look at the facts: they tried to ship him out to Texas – for virtually nothing – and it backfired because of a lingering thumb injury. He’s still in Boston at the moment, but if that doesn’t tell you the Sox are over the hump with number 25, I don’t know what else will.

Lowell will most likely be kept on the bench for spot starting and the occasional DH (maybe even 1B) duties until Theo and co. can find a better home for him. Until then though, things will remain awkward at Spring Training as Mikey and Adrian share grounders at third base.

But make no mistake about it – the Sox went out and grabbed Adrian Beltre for one reason and one reason only – to start at third base for the Boston Red Sox in 2010. It’s unfortunate, but I’ve always been a guy who thinks like this in baseball – you have hitters 1-6 to do the damage. That leaves you (in the AL anyway) with three more guys, numbers 7, 8 and 9. They’re not supposed to bring the pop. But they sure as hell better bring some leather.

Beltre is supposed to be a bottom guy with a little offense and a lot of defense. Bottom line was Lowell was becoming a bottom guy with decent offense and not so much defense. And that hurts Boston in the long run.

I love Mikey Lowell as much as the next guy, but that’s just the way it’s going to be.

8. Now that he’s hitting in Fenway instead of Safeco, what can we realistically expect from Beltre on offense? (Gabe, Bangor, Me.)

A lot better than last season, that’s what.

Don’t get me wrong – we’re not going to see the 48-home run Adrian Beltre of 2004. Not even close. But we’re also not going to see the 8-home run Adrian Beltre of last year, either.

Safeco field might be the worst hitting park in all of the majors. Fenway, on the other hand, can be a hitter’s paradise – if they use it correctly.

Beltre has great, quick hands – evident by his superior fielding ability – and should be able to get around on a lot of balls and drive them right at the monster. Is Fenway built perfectly for his swing like it was for Mike Lowell and Jason Bay? No. But he’s a smart enough hitter to be able to use it to his advantage.

When all is said and done, what we’re probably going to see is more of the 2007, 2008 Beltre, who pulled in 25-30 homers, 80-90 RBI and around a .270, .275 average.

And if you ask me, that’s not bad at all for a six or seven hitter who was brought in purely for his defense.

7. Is this the year Kevin Youkilis finally becomes the heart in the middle of the order, instead of just a “solid” bat? (Darren, Topsfield, Mass.)

Is has to be.

He’s been improving every year, and he’s now the biggest bat in this lineup, second to none. Martinez is a consistent hitter, but he’s going to be taking days off every four to five games, leaving Youkilis as the most realistic 30-home run 100-rbi potential day-in-day-out hitter in the Sox lineup.

Ortiz is no longer that guy. Bay is long gone. Jacoby doesn’t have the power. Neither does Pedroia. Drew is yet to stay healthy for a full campaign. Mike Cameron certainly isn’t going to surprise anyone. And V-Mart meanwhile might not top either number because of scheduled rests.

Right now, Youkilis has to be the heart of this lineup if they want to inflict some serious pain on opposing pitchers – and I see no reason why he can’t. He’s not being shuffled between first and third anymore, and he’ll most likely find a home in either the three or four spot in the order.

Now he can just focus on hitting, rather then where he’s hitting.

People forget – early on last season, Youkilis was crushing the ball, batting at a .393 clip, and looking like he was finally maturing into the middle-of-the-order slugger the Red Sox had hoped he would be.

Then he went down with an injury, and never really regained that stroke back. Granted, he finished with very solid numbers last year – 305, 27 HR, 94 RBI – but he was overshadowed at times by guys like Jason Bay, and his slumps were drowned out by the troubles of David Ortiz.

Now he’s in the spotlight. He’s a grinder at the plate, and he drives the ball more often then not – it’s time for that to translate to a 30+ 100+ season.

He has to. Or it might be a long season for the Sox at the plate.

6. Who’s the real ace of Boston’s staff, and how will John Lackey perform in his first season in Boston? (Alex; Cambridge, Mass.)

This is Josh Beckett’s staff – it always has been, and it always will be. That’s why it’s so imperative that the Sox renew his contract – either during the season or after it. Because they need him at the helm of this rotation. Period.

As for Lackey, I’m expecting big things from the new righty. The Texas native is a more-than capable starter who has posted a career ERA just over 3.50 – something that speaks for itself. At the age of 31 he already has over 1,200 strikeouts and 100 wins to boot. Not to mention he’s Boston’s number three starter.

That means more often than not, he’ll be matched up against the Fransisco Liriano’s of the world, rather than the Johan Santana’s and C.C. Sabathia’s – something that he should be able to more than exploit.

A lot of Lackey doubters tend to expect less of him because of last year’s injury plagued 11-8 season with a 3.83 ERA. But a lot of Lackey doubters also have difficulty turning the calendar back to 2008, where he was 12-5, and 2007 where he was 19-9. This kid can throw. It’s that simple.

He’s always claimed he wants to come to a winner. Now he’s here. And if he doesn’t perform, it’s on nobody but himself. Look for something around 13-7, 14-7 with a solid 3.5-something ERA – very nice numbers for a number three starter, but simply decent numbers for Lackey himself.

Top five questions coming soon!

Click these links for questions 15-20 and 10-15

This article also appears on http://lastcalletin.blogspot.com/

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