Woohoo. It's been an exciting 24-48 hours, hasn't it? Let's take a look at the Sox' roster as it stands.

Infielders: Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jed Lowrie, Mike Lowell, Julio Lugo

No surprises here. Lugo is italicized because I've gone ahead and decided he's the backup. Yep. They left it up to me this year. Deal with it, Julio. As for the others? Lowrie should definitely be healthy and ready for ST, and the reports say that Lowell will be as well. That remains to be seen, I suppose, but if he's unhealthy there's a number of decent configurations that the Sox can utilize if he's out. 

Outfielders: Jason Bay, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clutch McClutch, Rocco Baldelli, Mark Kotsay.

Well, that last addition is a new one. One that was rumored to be unlikely, but I'm quite happy about it. Kotsay returns to back up all 3 OF spots and 1b, while Baldelli will be the first man off the bench if the Sox are in need of another OF or a RH PH. There's a lot of flexibility here, and that's never a bad thing. Kotselli makes an excellent platoon if an injury strikes or Ellsbury continues to have issues with ML pitching. 

Catchers: Josh Bard, George Kottaras

I put Kottaras in only because the Sox must lose him if he doesn't make the 25-man roster this season. Personally, if we go in-house for a platoon-mate with Bard, I'd prefer Dusty Brown. In any case, I don't expect the Sox to be at all done here. Could be foolish, but I'm proceeding from the assumption that a more accomplished catcher will be acquired and push Bard to the backup role, or that a prospect will be acquired who may do a straight-up platoon with him. 

B.A. Mother F's.: David Ortiz

Because every roster needs one.

Starters: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden.

The John Smoltz acquisition becomes key, because it allows 22 year old Michael Bowden to likely only serve as our emergency starter this season for double-headers and injuries. Given health, have to assume those in bold and not in italics will be the 5-man rotation to begin the season. The Sox clearly want Buch to push for the role, and for it not to be handed to him. Smoltz is just likely going to be a nice problem to have if everyone else is healthy when he is ready to pitch. I know he wants to start, and my guess is both he and Brad Penny have had discussions with the Sox about pitching in various roles this season. Josh Beckett remains listed first for a reason.

Relievers: Papelbonia, Oki, MDC, Masterson, Ramirez, J-Lo, Wes Littleton, David Aardsma, Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Virgil Vasquez.

Can really see here where Masterson rather than Buch or Bowden has almost become a bit of a luxury, and assuming interest, I think he'd be the one of the three to go in a trade. Ramirez, MDC, and Oki should be able to handle setup duties if he were gone, and Littleton/Lopez would probably then be called upon for GBs or multiple-inning stints. I don't want Masterson gone at all, but he'd probably be last on that list of potential starters we have, and though you can never have too many, I doubt he resurfaces anytime soon as a potential starter for us.

So there you have it. Roster isn't looking too bad on the whole, we've got only one, in my mind, glaring need (Catcher), and the positions being battled over either aren't TERRIBLY important (last bullpen spot) or have only decent/good candidates to choose from (5th starter, SS I guess...). Anyway. Anyone else feeling pretty good about our chances right now?