One good thing about the season being almost upon us: No more wondering if the Red Sox knew what they were doing this offseason, as a scad of wins should answer that question with some precision. Still, it's March and, as R.J. Anderson points out, the questions are still out there:

You know what the Boston media doesn’t want you to forget? That Theo Epstein focused on run prevention this off-season. As such, columnists hold a sense of animosity towards the Red Sox’s lineup. Boston scored 872 runs last season, third most in the American League, and hit 212 homers, also good for third most in the American League. Oh, and they did this with Nick Green or Alex Gonzalez in the lineup most days.

Let’s focus on this season though. For whatever reason, Adrian Beltre and Mike Cameron are being looked upon as defensive collateral, allowed to bat only so they are allowed to field. For whatever reason, the common thought is that Boston’s offense will struggle to score runs. That assumption is based in something, but that something is not reality.

We've already trod this ground once or twice since Beltre and Cameron signed, but it came up again at the MIT-Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. As it happens, I moderated the Baseball Analytics Panel and Red Sox employee Tom Tippett was one of the panelists. When the subject of defensive metrics came up, Tippett was adamant about this ... The Red Sox did not focus on defense this winter. Rather, they focused on value, which of course is a different (though related) thing. The Red Sox were simply interested in getting as many Wins Above Replacement -- or whatever they call their proprietary metric -- within their budget limitations as possible. Fielding, defense, going first-to-third on a single to right field ... the front office couldn't care less about where those wins come from.

Of course, this is what teams have always done. If you'd asked the Pirates in 1984 what the hell they were doing, they'd have said they were trying to get as many wins as they could, given the money they had to spend. There's nothing new about trying to get the most bang for your buck. What's new are the tools that allow an organization to measure bang, and I don't believe that anyone's got better tools than the Red Sox.