On April 6, the Boston Red Sox opened up their 2015 season against the Philadelphia Phillies, and won 2 out of the 3 games of the series. Today, they start a three game series against their archrivals, the New York Yankees, in New York. Opening day at Fenway Park is April 13, and with it right around the corner here are a couple new faces to watch out for.

During the offseason the Red Sox were trading, acquiring, and resigning players. It was such a crazy offseason that it’s hard to keep track of who the new faces are. Here are some of the new players of the Boston Red Sox.
3B/1B Pablo Sandoval- The Red Sox signed third baseman Pablo Sandoval to a $100 million contract for five years. The Sox are thinking of playing him at first when Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada is in the game, but will mostly be at third base. Sandoval has been in his prime the past two years with San Francisco, where he won three championships and looks to keep on rolling with a new team.

OF Hanley Ramirez- He signed a five year $90 million contracted with the Sox. He has mostly played at shortstop his career, but will play left field, in order to keep Xander Bogaerts in the game and lineup.

C Ryan Hanigan- The Red Sox acquired Hanigan from the Padres when third baseman Will Middlebrooks went to San Diego. Hanigan will have a lot more weight on his shoulder than he was expecting, since the Red Sox recent #1 catcher Christian Vasquez was placed on the 60-day DL with a right elbow injury.

C Sandy Leon- He was just picked up from the Washington Nationals because the Red Sox were desperate to find another catcher to replace the injured Christian Vasquez. Leon will move right to the top of one of the better catchers on the Sox.

SP Rick Porcello- Porcello signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox for $12.5 million this winter, avoiding salary arbitration. The Red Sox sent Yoenis Cespedes to the Tigers to acquire Porcello.

SP Wade Miley- Miley was acquired from the diamondbacks in the offseason and the Soxs signed him to a $19.25 million contract for three years. Miley is expected to be a member of the Sox front end of the rotation for years to come.

SP Justin Masterson- He signed a one-year contract. Masterson will earn a $9.5 million base salary, plus he can earn another $2.5 million in total incentives by reaching certain innings thresholds. Masterson has struggled the past couple of years, but he will be decent in the Red Sox starting rotation.

RP Anthony Varvaro-  He was acquired from the Atlanta Braves after he was designated assignment. Varvro signed with the Red Sox with a 1 yr/$577 thousand contract.

RP Robbie Ross Jr. – Ross came over from the Texas Rangers and now is a part of the Red Sox with a 1 yr/$567 thousand contract.

3B Yoan Mancada- Mancada is a 19 year old Cuban infielder who signed for a $31.5 million contract. He is expected to need one or two years in the Minor Leagues, but when he comes up to play, Pablo Sandoval will be moved over to first. Mancada is the #10 prospect in the MLB and is now Boston’s #1 prospect.

RP Alexi Ogando- He signed with the Boston Red Sox to a 1 year, Major League contract. Ogando has struggled to stay healthy the past few years as a member of the Texas Rangers, but he will now be a member of the Sox rotation.

Boston has spent around $200 million on two big batters for their batting order, Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. Most of Red Sox Nation would have liked them to use that money to pick up a big pitcher such as Jon Lester, Max Scherzer, or James Shields. That is not what the Sox franchise had in mind– they just wanted to bring power to the batting order which they did. This doesn’t mean they gave up on their starting rotation. The Red Sox revamped more than 60 percent of their bullpen with the addition of Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson. It has been a great offseason for the Red Sox, from spending big money to improve their batting order, to keeping the cost low but still bringing in great new pitchers.

Spring training has really picked up for teams; they start finding out their starters and who is the real deal. One of the guys that has impressed everyone this spring is Mookie Betts. He has had such a great spring that they are giving his performance a nickname, the “Summer of Mookie”.  With younger and new guys stepping up for the Boston Red Sox, they are looking good for the season. Last year was another off year and no playoff appearance. Hopefully the Boston Red Sox come back and make the postseason this year.