Familiar names like Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield will make up the bulk of the rotation again this season, but they will be joined by two reclamation/low cost, high-upside signings -- Brad Penny and John Smoltz.

Penny is coming off a shoulder injury and a bloated ERA with the Dodgers last season, and Smoltz is a 41-year-old stud hurler with a big postseason pedigree coming off major shoulder surgery.

The bullpen has a chance to be the biggest strength of the team with All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon supported by Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson, Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez, and Takashi Saito -- a collection of power arms and versatile role players that could signal bedtime for teams once they enter the late innings.

The big question marks for the Red Sox headed into spring training will largely remain on offense as, for the first time since 2000, Boston begins a full season without the Dreadlocked One, Manny Ramirez.

Each of Boston's World Series teams and every lineup that Theo Epstein and Terry Francona have constructed since taking over the Red Sox featured the future Hall of Famer as the linchpin in the middle of a punishing batting order.

Now Ramirez is gone and there are legitimate questions about the remaining thunder in the middle of the lineup.

Will David Ortiz regain the form of even two years ago as his assortment of injuries pile up and he continues to adjust to life without Ramirez hitting behind him in the lineup?

Will Mike Lowell recover sufficiently from his right hip surgery to begin the season manning third base for the Red Sox, and will he remain consistently productive as a 35-year-old corner infielder?

Will Jacoby Ellsbury continue to progress in center field and out of the leadoff spot, and can Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis continue producing at the heightened levels that had them garnering AL MVP votes last season?

Will J.D. Drew manage to stay healthy over the course of an entire season, and can Jason Varitek rebound from a disastrous season in which he hit a punchless .220 at the bottom of Boston's lineup?

Jason Bay was solid after his arrival from Pittsburgh last season, but will he be affected in a contract year if the Red Sox don't sign him to an extension before or during the season?

Will the Sox find a workable solution at shortstop following a spring training competition between the switch-hitting Jed Lowrie and the defensively challenged Julio Lugo?

There are plenty of questions surrounding the Red Sox lineup headed into this spring after injuries chipped away at the team's efficiency last year, but they still finished first among major league teams with a .358 on-base percentage and third overall with 845 runs scored.

The problem wasn't necessarily during the regular season, though, but instead when injuries and ineffectiveness sapped the team's offense during the postseason.

Stay tuned to see if history repeats itself for Boston in 2009, or if the Sox manage to reinvent themselves with a Fall Classic-worthy pitching staff.

WHERE, WHEN: City of Palms Park, Fort Myers, Fla. First exhibition game is Feb. 25 against the Minnesota Twins.

TOP CANDIDATE TO SURPRISE: RHP Brad Penny stubbornly fought through shoulder woes while pitching with the Dodgers last season and finished the year with a 6-9 record and a 6.27 ERA in 19 games. Being reunited with RHP Josh Beckett, his former teammate with the Florida Marlins, and hooking up with renowned pitching coach John Farrell in Boston could go a long way toward helping the power pitcher rebound in a big, big way.

TOP CANDIDATE TO DISAPPOINT: DH David Ortiz's power has dropped off significantly since he hit a club-record 54 home runs during the 2006 season, and he's coming off a wrist injury that clearly affected him through the second half of the 2008 season. He provided clutch fireworks again during the epic ALCS Game 5 comeback last season but couldn't consistently sustain his pop through the playoffs for Boston. Ortiz is clearly at a crossroads at 34 years old, and questions surrounding the middle of the batting order spurred the Red Sox to pursue free agent 1B Mark Teixeira this winter.

AUTHORITY FIGURES: Manager Terry Francona, with a record of 755-703, has slowly gained traction as the most successful field manager in the long history of the Red Sox franchise and wields a great deal of power benevolently in the Sox clubhouse. "Tito" has always been viewed as a players' manager and has two pretty two simple rules: "Be on time" and "Respect the game." Francona has surrounded himself with a good tactical coaching staff that includes pitching coach John Farrell and hitting coach Dave Magadan, but Francona's clear strength is dealing with the big personalities within Fenway's walls.