Professional makeover?

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Go back 35 years, to the October 1970 blockbuster that sent Tony Conigliaro to the Angels for Doug Griffin, and to the December 1970 deal that forced Luis Aparicio to exchange his Sox (White, for Red). It was that winter, and the two seasons that bookended that winter, which offer the most recent precedent for the complete makeover of the Red Sox infield that defined the 2005-06 offseason.

In 1970, the four Sox who played the most games at each infield position were: 3B George Scott, SS Rico Petrocelli, 2B Mike Andrews, and 1B Carl Yastrzemski. Come 1971, Petrocelli relocated to third, Aparicio (obtained for Andrews and another player) manned shortstop, Griffin played second, and Scott moved across the diamond to first.

But not even that year can completely compare to this, given that three of the four infielders on the 1970 club changed positions, not teams, the following season. Today, when the Sox open their 106th season at Ameriquest Field, none of the men who played the most games at each infield position in '05 will even be in uniform. Kevin Millar is in Baltimore, Mark Bellhorn and Tony Graffanino are in San Diego and Kansas City, respectively, Edgar Renteria is in Atlanta, and Bill Mueller is a world away in Los Angeles.

Your Sox infield, left to right, today will be: 3B Mike Lowell (a Marlin for 981 of his 989 career games), SS Alex Gonzalez (who's played all of his games in Florida teal), Mark Loretta (formerly of San Diego), and Kevin Youkilis, who apparently has boarded the Lou Merloni shuttle (service between Boston and Pawtucket) for the last time.

It is near indisputable that the changes will be for the better defensively. Lowell won a Gold Glove last year (though Mueller could have). Gonzalez should make you stop yearning for Orlando Cabrera. Loretta, though limited laterally, can turn a double play and catch whatever is hit at him. Youkilis's glovework should exceed Millar's, and Youkilis's backup, J.T. Snow, while slowing with age, still has six Gold Gloves on the mantel of his California home.

The question, though, is: Can these guys hit?

Mueller, Renteria, Bellhorn, Graffanino, Millar, and Olerud, in 2,235 at-bats with the Sox last year, hit .277 with 137 doubles, 45 homers, and 267 RBIs. They slugged .406, making the '05 Sox infield the slugging equivalent of Brad Wilkerson (.405 last year) or Aaron Rowand (.407).

Lowell, Gonzalez, Loretta, Snow, and Youkilis, in 1,785 at-bats last season, hit .263 with 106 doubles, 21 homers, and 190 RBIs. They slugged .362, making this year's Sox infield the slugging equivalent of Adam Everett (.364) or Cabrera (.365).

There is, you might have noticed, a 450 at-bat difference in those two groupings. Project the totals for Lowell, Gonzalez, Loretta, Snow, and Youkilis over 2,235 at-bats, and the numbers increase to .263, 133 doubles, 26 homers, 238 RBIs.

The clear theme: the replacements don't have as much pop. Could be, though, that their ballparks worked against them. Florida's Dolphins Stadium (home to Gonzalez and Lowell), San Diego's Petco Park (home to Loretta), and San Francisco's AT&T Park (home to Snow) have proven to be among the hardest parks in the majors in which to homer and places where doubles go to die.

Perhaps there's reason for optimism. For now, there are merely comparisons.

Mueller hit .295 with a .799 OPS. Lowell hit .236 with a .658 OPS (second worst in the National League). His average marked the lowest by any NL third baseman ever to win the Gold Glove. Still, Lowell hit 36 doubles to Mueller's 34, hit 8 HRs to Mueller's 10, and knocked in 58 runs to Mueller's 62.

Given that he'd hit 59 home runs over the two previous seasons, Lowell's plunge came as shocking, and brought quiet assumptions of steroid use.

''I'd never take them," Lowell said last week. ''I'd feel like I'd have an asterisk next to my whole career. I don't want to feel like I cheated myself.

''That's what bothers me. That was the worst year to have [a bad year]. People look at that, but they've never spoken to me. They've never asked me questions. They don't know me as a person. To make a blanket statement, I just think it's ignorance, and I deal with ignorance by paying no attention to it."

Lowell's spring, initially discouraging, proved quite compelling.

After collecting just three hits through 21 at-bats, he hit .452 (14 for 31) the rest of the way, concluding the exhibition season at .327.

''If I keep hitting like the last 25 [at-bats], I'll hit like Ted Williams hit, right?" Lowell asked, dryly. ''I just feel good. I'm seeing the ball well, I'm working the count."

Could he hit 20 homers again?

''I'd love to," Lowell said. ''Love to."

Gonzalez, who blew away his manager and teammates with his glovework this spring, was for the most part blown away at the plate. He collected only six hits in 48 at-bats, batting .125 with 12 strikeouts and two walks.

There was a time Gonzalez appeared to be growing into a real power threat. He belted 18 homers in 2003, a walkoff shot off Jeff Weaver in the 12th inning of Game 4 of the '03 World Series, and crushed 23 in '04. But last season he slipped to fewer than one a month (five).

But, Terry Francona won't want to pinch hit for Gonzalez late in games because he won't want to take his glove out of the game. ''Or his barehand," Francona cracked, after Gonzalez made a stunning barehanded play last month.

''I think he's going to hit some home runs," Francona said. ''I feel like he's a threat. He's got his priorities in order. Once he puts that bat down, he goes out and plays defense."

He's going to have to play it well, because there's nothing to suggest he'll have an offensive renaissance. Only twice in his career has he hit better than .250 and posted double-digit home runs in the same season.

Bellhorn and Graffanino, in combining their time with the Sox last season, hit .257 with 32 doubles, 11 homers, and 48 RBIs in 471 at-bats, outperforming Loretta (.280, 16 doubles, 3 HRs, 38 RBIs in 404 at-bats).

But Loretta never felt fully healthy. He missed the last week of May, all of June, and half of July after tearing a ligament in his left thumb. Surgery repaired the thumb but couldn't immediately restore his timing or power.

Using his compact swing, he hit .340 in camp. When healthy, he's been among the best hitters at his position. In fact, over the last three seasons, his .314 average is tops among second basemen, and his .377 OPB and 186 RBIs are second best.

Perhaps best of all: Loretta is the anti-Bellhorn. In 4,275 career at-bats he's walked nearly as many times (413) as he's whiffed (450).

''He can move a runner, he can bunt, he can hit and run," Francona said. ''He's hitting behind Coco [Crisp]. He's got a short stroke. I think he's positioned to have a really solid year."

Loretta is such a good contact hitter, he will have the right to put the hit-and-run sign on by himself, rather than at his manager's urging.

''It's actually better that way," Francona said. ''We talked about that a number of times."

For all the grief Millar got, he and Olerud combined to hit .277 with 35 doubles, 16 homers, and 87 RBIs. Youkilis and Snow, in 176 fewer at-bats, combined to hit .276 with 24 doubles, 5 homers, and 49 RBIs.

Youkilis, who had only 79 at-bats, should develop better timing with more playing time. Snow, in Olerud's former role, should match his production. Over the last three seasons Snow (.291, 24 HRs, 151 RBIs) has outhit Olerud (.268, 26 HRs, 168 RBIs).