If we follow last year’s roster, Youk starts at first with V-Mart jumping in to help out. There’s one fairly big problem with that plan, and that problem is Mike Lowell’s hip. RedSox.com has the potential first basemen listed as: Youkilis, Casey Kotchman, and Aaron Bates.

Kotchman platooned into the 1B position all during the 2009 season, playing 126 games with a .268 BA. He’s a good utility player for the Sox, coming in off the bench to help out at first. But he’s not the huge bat we need to plug into the line up.

Bates is a pick up from Kansas City who has only played 5 games in the Show.

We all know Youk is going to 3rd and Lowell is riding the bench for the majority of the season. Lowell, while a hero from season’s passed, is not up to playing a full season at 3rd with a deteriorating hip at the age of 35. He played in 119 games during the ‘09 season.

Also on RedSox.com (by way of FoxSports.com), it’s being reported that the Sox are willing to cover half of Lowell’s salary in a trade for next season.

It seems the Sox would be open to trading Lowell for a first or a third baseman. And SoxProspects.com has what I think is a more realistic approach to the 2010 roster.

They list 1B/3B as needing to be filled by an acquisition. Potential free agents/players the Sox are interested in to fill the role:

Adrian Beltre – 3B – Free Agent
Chone Figgins – 3B – Free Agent
Adrian Gonzalez – 1B – Trade
Miguel Cabrera – 1B – Trade
Prince Fielder – 1B – Trade

Throw one more name into the ring for argument’s sake.: Lars Anderson. More than likely, he won’t get any playing time in Boston in 2010. The word from the minors is that he doesn’t take the work ethic seriously and hasn’t shown the coaches the type of attitude they want to see.

But will that change in 2010? Does it make sense to bring him up to provide him with some MLB experience and spell V-Mart, Youk, and maybe Kotchman? I say no.

Which is why I like Chone Figgins for first. I liked his attitude with the Angels in 2009, and I think he’d be a good short to mid term fit for the Sox. He played in 158 games for the Angels and hit for .298 and an OBP of .395. He might want a longer contract, but definitely worth investigating.

There’s been a ton of hype about Adrian Gonzalez, but I doubt it’ll happen. He’s a San Diego native, and the new Padres GM, Jed Hoyer (formerly the Assistant GM to Theo) isn’t going to want to look like he’s playing favorites to his former team.

All the talk this week has been about Doc Halladay (Blue Jays). And I think Theo is after him because he thinks he got burned out of the Texeira deal last season and is gonna go after him to keep the Yanks from getting him.

In the meantime, the first base position could have a huge impact on next season. But again, it all feels like band-aids until 2011. What do you think?