Defensive mentality has been early focus for Sox

Instead of bringing the heat from the batter’s box, as was the consensus regarding the Red Sox’ needs this offseason, general manager Theo Epstein has eschewed pricey offense thus far. Instead, he’s made moves for a pitcher, an outfielder, and a shortstop that should help the run prevention side.With a rotation that could be among the best in baseball and a defense that should be upgraded from last season no matter what happens on the corners, recent moves point to the priorities as the calendar nears 2010.The Sox have brought in Mike Cameron and Marco Scutaro, the former an excellent defensive outfielder with three Gold Gloves, the latter a solid defender and an upgrade over the shortstops with which the Sox started 2009.Clearly, this iteration of the Boston baseball club will have its focus on keeping runs off the board, both on the mound and in the field.“I think that we certainly improved our defense at the shortstop position over the totality of our performance last year at that position, and so that’s a big help. It’s an important position,’’ Epstein said at the winter meetings last week, when asked about defense. “But I think we could do more, certainly. Whether we’re able to or not remains to be seen. It’ll be hard to improve both on offense and with our defense but I’m not sure which direction it’ll go yet.’’It appears to have gone the way of the defense, with Jason Bay no longer in the plans and Matt Holliday likely bound for another club. Sure, the Sox could come back with a blockbuster for a slugger - say, Adrian Gonzalez - but the moves to this point have been stacked in one direction.Although there were no official announcements on deals with either John Lackey or Cameron yesterday, both were expected to be finalized today, when the Sox have planned two news conferences.The Sox and Lackey’s agent, Steve Hilliard, were busy yesterday working out contract language that would protect Boston from a preexisting medical condition. Lackey had agreed to the five-year, $82.5 million contract Monday, but it was held up yesterday. The language is similar to that which was written into J.D. Drew’s contract before the 2007 season in regard to his preexisting right shoulder injury.Assuming everything stays on course, Lackey will be playing in Fenway Park next season. So will Cameron, who agreed to his deal Monday and was in Boston yesterday for his physical.If the Mike Lowell deal goes through - a thumb injury is allegedly holding up a trade to Texas for backup catcher Max Ramirez - the Sox will rid themselves of a potential fielding problem. Although Lowell has demonstrated stellar defense throughout his career, his age (35) and his hip have left him without much range. The Sox would then have a couple of options to fill that position, including signing Adrian Beltre, or moving Kevin Youkilis to third base while either signing a new first baseman or playing Casey Kotchman regularly.“We still think that if we push some of the right buttons we can be competitive at the very highest levels for the next two years,’’ Epstein said at the winter meetings. “But we don’t want to compromise too much of the future for that competitiveness during the bridge period, but we also don’t want to sacrifice our competitiveness during the bridge period just for the future. So we’re just trying to balance both those issues.’’Ultimately it’s hard to argue with a philosophy that includes a sound defense, an excellent rotation, and ultimately the ability to prevent runs. Still, the Sox have yet to do anything to improve an offense that was spotty in 2009, has probably lost Bay, and might lose Lowell. While Scutaro should be an upgrade from the combination of shortstops that the Sox were forced to use last season, left field and third base might be downgraded.So while defensive statistics might not have the sexiness of the home run - at least to some fans - it might be one significant measurement by which the Sox should be judged in 2010. That, and an improved pitching staff with three aces. Whether the team can add offense remains to be seen.For now, though, sacrificing only money, the Sox have without question gotten better in the way they had hoped - run prevention.Nick Cafardo of the Globe staff contributed to this report; Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.