The expression "Hope springs eternal" may not have been coined with sports fans in mind, but it may as well have been. As spring training cranks up in Florida and Arizona, every major league team is undefeated and fans of all of them look at their lineups and try to convince themselves they will still be interested at the beginning of October.

For the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox, this means more or less maintaining the status quo. But questions still linger, as they do for every team, from the most successful to the least. Here are the Top Ten Questions for the Sox heading into spring training:

10) How will the Curt Schilling injury affect the rotation? Eight million dollars lies in the balance, as the Red Sox could void Schilling's contract if he opts for surgery, since the team's medical staff insists rest and rehabilition can have the 41 year old starter ready by the All-Star break. Schilling's long-time doctor, Craig Morgan, disagrees with the diagnosis and insists Schilling will never pitch again without surgery.

The most optimistic estimates don't have Schilling returning to the rotation until mid-July, and perhaps never, so the question becomes, how big of a hole will this leave in the Sox rotation?

The answer - Probably not much. Schilling was out for over seven weeks last year and his spot was filled with varying levels of effectiveness by Julian Tavarez. This year, Tavarez could get the nod again, or Boston could try rookie Clay Buchholz, he of the September no-hitter last year.

9) Will Tim Wakefield's back hold up for one more year? Wakefield will turn 41 this summer, and although the prevailing theory is that knuckleballers can pitch well into their forties and even beyond, the rest of their moving parts have to cooperate for them to do so. Wake has suffered from off-and-on back problems the last few years and if he misses any significant amout of time this season, the Sox could be forced to deal for pitching help to overcome the loss of forty percent of their rotation.

8) Does Manny Ramirez know it's his contract year? It sounds like a ridiculous question until you realized Manny lives in his own universe, which doesn't necessarily follow the same rules as ours. The Sox own a club option for 2009, but if they choose not to exercise it, Manny could find himself being Manny somewhere else next year. It would obviously be to his benefit to have a big year in 2008.

7) Will there be any lingering effects from the club's trip to the Far East in March? The Sox open the 2008 regular season against the Oakland A's in Japan in March, while all the other teams are still getting the kinks out and preparing for April. They play two games that count in Tokyo, then return to the States for three more exhibition games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers before the season re-starts for good.

Manager Terry Francona is doing his best to put a positive spin on the potentially exhausting trip, but it's obvious he doesn't relish the extensive travel and the distractions the team will face, while the rest of the A.L East will still be sitting around the hotel pool in Florida.

6) Which Julio Lugo will show up this year? Will it be the man Boston signed a year ago to be an offensive upgrade at shortstop over slick-fielding Alex Gonzalez, or the stiff who was a near-automatic out for most of the season in 2007? A comparison of the numbers for Gonzalez from 2006 and Lugo from 2007 shows what a disappointing year the new Sox shortstop had:

Gonzalez (2006) - .255, 9 HR, 50 RBI, 48 RS, 7 E, .985 FP
Lugo (2007) - .237, 8 HR, 73 RBI, 71 RS, 19 E, .968 FP

While Lugo did drive in a relatively impressive number of runs, especially for a player with such a low batting average, that is mostly a factor of the players in front of him getting on base. A lot. The Sox expect more offensively from Lugo for their $36 million investment over four years.

5) What does Dustin Pedroia do for an encore? The reigning A.L. Rookie of the Year struggled mightily last April, finishing the month hitting well under .200, before bouncing back to hit line drives all over the yard the rest of the year. Was his .317 BA and .380 OBP a fluke or will he be a consistent .300 hitter in his career? For a little guy who swings like he's Ryan Howard, it's hard to picture such consistency, but he did it from May on last season. We'll see.

4) Where will Coco Crisp end up? And more importantly from a Boston perspective, what will he bring in return? It's clear the center field job is Jacoby Ellsbury's to lose, so whether Boston will go into the regular season using Crisp as a fourth outfielder or whether he's gone before the beginning of April, he will not finish the year in Boston.

It doesn't seem likely teams will offer a lot for Coco, as he never really fulfilled his promise offensively during the two years he roamed center field at Fenway. Defensively, though, he's magical, diving and using his outstanding speed to get to just about everything. His arm is a liability for a center fielder.

3) Will Hideki Okajima and Javier Lopez be the lights-out lefties they were in 2007 out of the bullpen? It's hard to imagine Okajima could duplicate his performance from last year, especially in the first half. Although he seemed to tire a bit toward the end of the season, his numbers were still eye-popping for a guy who was considered by many to be a throw-in, someone to keep Daisuke Matsuzaka company as he adjusted to life in the United States.

Okajima's 2007 numbers: 3-2, 5 saves, 2.22 ERA, 63K's in 69 IP, only 50 hits allowed.

2) Is this the year all those games behind home plate catch up with Jason Varitek? The all-time club leader in games caught, the Captain's numbers have declined the last couple of years. Compare his numbers from 2004 and 2005 with those from 2006 and 2007:

2004-05: 270 G, .288 BA, 40 HR, 143 RBI, 60 2B
2006-07: 234 G, .248 BA, 29 HR, 123 RBI, 34 2B

The man brings a lot more than offense to the park with him; his preparation and ability to handle the pitching staff is legendary. But the position of catcher is a physically demanding one and Tek will turn 36 in early April.

Varitek may require more days off in 2008, and backup Doug Mirabelli is on the roster mostly due to his uncanny ability to hold on to Tim Wakefield's knuckler. If the offense struggles, an unlikely possibility to be sure, the lack of punch from this position could become glaring.

1) Are the injuries to David Ortiz fully healed? Knee and hip problems prevented Big Papi from generating the kind of power he was able to produce in 2006. Although Ortiz posted career highs in 2007 in batting average (.332), doubles (52), and hits (182), his home runs dropped from 52 in '06 to 35 last year, and his RBI total dropped as well, from 137 in 2006 to 117 last year.

Assuming the physical problems are a thing of the past, look for a big year powerwise from the Big Man in the Sox lineup.