With the finalized but yet-to-be formaly announced trade of 1B Casey Kotchman to the Seattle Mariners for the versatile veteran Bill Hall, the 2010 Boston Red Sox roster is finally coming into focus. This year’s edition is obviously being built on the old adage that pitching and defense wins games; we’ll have to see if that’s still the case in a team that competes in a power-driven league like the American League, and following a decade where the team won its two world championships relying on a combination of timely pitching and the brute force of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez highlighting an offensively-strong lineup.

Here’s what the current 25-man roster presently looks like:

Starters: Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Clay Buchholz.

Swingman: Tim Wakefield

Bullpen: Jonathan Papelbon, Daniel Bard, Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, Ramon Ramirez, and another Ramon Ramirez (literally!)

Infield: Gold Glovers Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, and Adrian Beltre at 1B, 2B, 3B, respectively; Marco Scutaro at short and Hall as utility backup.

Outfield: Jacoby Ellsbury in left, Mike Cameron in center, and J.D. Drew in right. Jeremy Hermida is backup to Cameron and Drew.

Catcher: Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek

DH: David Ortiz, with Mike Lowell as backup

Definitely a very strong roster defensively and pitching wise. Wakefield as swingman protects one of the five starters in the case of injury. With former utilityman and starting shortstop Jed Lowrie projected to start the season at AAA Pawtucket to prove to the Sox’ brass that he can stay healthy for a full season, they will have coverage in the case of injury to their infield. Hermida should get ample playing time since Drew is always getting dinged up and out for minor stretches of time.

The big question that remains is the status of Lowell, who seems surely to be dealt by the end of spring training if he can show himself healthy. Me, I think keeping him around is good insurance in case Big Papi Ortiz starts this year out as abysmally as he did last – I doubt given his age and his contract the Sox would stick with him this year as long as they did in 2009.

Of course, there’s always a chance that someone will surprise in spring training or someone will go down with an expected injury, but right now – the Lowell situation notwithstanding – the Sox appear to be in good shape to mount a serious challenge to the Yankees all year and for an A.L. pennant. The pitchers will love the solid defense all around (Ellsbury in left!) and they’ll hit good enough at Fenway. Whether their offense will be enough to carry them on the road is something that remains yet to be seen, but if it struggles, GM Theo Epstein appears to have some nice pieces (Ellsbury, Buchholz) in place to make a blockbuster July trading deadline deal if it were to come to that.

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Pool temp: 48 degrees