Kuzul

When things get tight at the end of the MLB season, some players show up and guide their teams into the playoffs.

Last season, it was right-hander Michael Wacha, who joined the St. Louis Cardinals starting rotation in early September and subsequently became one of the biggest stories of the postseason, as the rookie took home NLCS MVP honors and pitched his team into the World Series.

Meanwhile, right-hander Gerrit Cole was just as dominant for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, as the flame-throwing rookie solidified the starting rotation down the stretch and played a major role in his club’s long-overdue postseason berth.

But those are just a couple of unique examples. The reality is that every team fighting for a playoff spot likely has its share of heroes.

As we head into the final weekend of the regular season, here’s a look at the 12 biggest heroes of the 2014 MLB pennant races.

Begin Slideshow

As the MLB regular season wraps up its final week, there are a few players who are making last pushes to solidify their cases the for individual awards, and one of the most heated races is the competition for the NL MVP crown.

Did Giancarlo Stanton do enough before his injury? Does a pitcher really deserve to win an MVP? Or are there a few dark horses running around and ready to steal the show?

These are some of the questions that need to be asked and answered when selecting the winner, so here is a look at which player should be crowned the most valuable in the NL. 

Dark Horse: Andrew McCutchen—Pittsburgh Pirates

The reigning NL MVP has put together yet another impressive campaign. McCutchen’s .404 on-base percentage is currently top of the NL, his slugging percentage of .537 is second-best and his .310 batting average ranks third among the qualified leaders. 

In the sabermetric stat of “runs created per 27 outs,” McCutchen also leads all players in the league with 8.17 runs, which isn’t shocking when he’s capable of doing things like this.

Perhaps what makes all this that much more impressive is the fact that he has battled with a rib injury for the past month.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle praised McCutchen’s toughness in an interview with Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ron Cook, “He’s the model of a leader that you want on your club. He got through some tough spots early. The good news is he’s in a pretty good place right now. He’s in a competitive place. Everything he’s done has been aggressive.”

As a result of McCutchen’s efforts, the Pirates currently sit comfortably atop the wild-card race with a five-game lead.

Dark Horse: Buster Posey—San Francisco Giants

Just a few months ago, Posey would be nowhere near the discussion for this award. But with a second-half surge like no other, the man they call M-V-Posey in San Francisco will sure be getting some votes now.

At the time of the All-Star break, Posey had a batting average of just .277. Since then, he has batted .351 to lead all NL players with at least 200 at-bats. His 3.4 WAR during that stretch is also the best in the majors, according to FanGraphs.  

More importantly, Posey stepped up for the Giants when it mattered the most.

During the month of September, Posey is slashing a line of .389/.432/.583, and helped the Giants draw within three-and-a-half back in the NL West and go five games up in the wild card.

Favorite: Clayton Kershaw—Los Angeles Dodgers

To say Kershaw had a “nice” season would be an understatement for the ages. The numbers that the 26-year-old southpaw has put up this year are of historic proportions, and they begin with his career-bests of 1.80 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and .870 win percentage.

Kershaw is slated for one more start later this week, but for the moment he has given up the least amount of hits (132), earned runs (38), home runs (nine) and walks (31) he has ever had in a full season.

Kershaw also reached the 20-win mark in a remarkably short span, 26 starts to be exact. Since the expansion of the league, there have been only five other pitchers who accomplished such feat in so few starts, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Throw in a no-hitter and a majors-best six shutouts along the season, and it becomes that much tougher to argue against Kershaw’s case.

Favorite: Giancarlo Stanton—Miami Marlins

Truth to be told, Stanton’s chances of capturing the NL MVP crown dwindled the moment he was struck in the face by Mike Fiers’ pitch two weeks ago, but that is not to say he should be out of the consideration completely.

Despite missing action since his injury on Sept. 11, many of Stanton’s numbers are still among the NL leaders.

The 37 homers he smashed are still a distant No. 1, and so are his 6.4 WAR, .555 slugging percentage and .950 on-base plus slugging percentage, according to ESPN.

Stanton’s RBI total of 105 has fallen to only second place behind the 112 from Dodgers’ Adrian Gonzalez, and the 115.6 runs he created for the Marlins this season are tied with Pirates’ McCutchen.

One argument against Stanton would be the injury that has cost him the final three weeks of his season, but it should be mentioned that Kershaw missed the first five weeks of his season. Both players should be treated equally for the numbers they put up during the time they were active.

Another argument against Stanton would be Miami’s lack of success, as the team currently stands at 74-81. But without Stanton’s help, just exactly where would the Marlins be this season?

CBSSports’ Jon Heyman put that into perspective:

His performance gave the Marlins hope into September, but that dream died the moment Stanton was struck in the kisser.

But Stanton still was the main reason the Marlins overcame a startlingly low $47 million payroll and disheartening injury to ace pitcher Jose Fernandez to remain in the race…No one could have foreseen a .500 season without Fernandez, but the Marlins came close.

 

Prediction: Giancarlo Stanton

The choice is not made based on whether a pitcher deserves to win the MVP award or not. If a player of any position puts up deserving numbers, they should be in the running.

The case made for Stanton is based on the fact that out of all the previous times a pitcher has won the MVP—be it Justin Verlander in 2011 or Bob Gibson and Denny McLain in 1968—those pitchers took home the award when no other position players came close to being worthy of the honor.

This time around, there is one.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

A few years back, MLB was confronted by a new problem. Well, concussions weren’t “new” but the focus on them was. As players, especially catchers, were seen to have problems, MLB did something. Led by Athletic Trainers and several ex-players, including Mike Matheny, a new policy was quickly put in place to diagnose and monitor concussions throughout baseball.

The system has, for the most part, worked. There are always issues, but with any system, there will be exceptions. The seven-day concussion DL and the protocols in place for clearing a player to return after a concussion have been a success. The NFL is still iterating its system and not showing the same results that MLB has so far.

There were two concussions this week that bring the issue back up, showing the two key mechanisms. Buster Posey took a hard foul off his mask and was lifted from the game once he complained of symptoms. Posey wasn’t back in the lineup until Tuesday, according to NBC Sports (via Yahoo! Sports), and the Giants figure to watch him closely. Shifting him to first will help some, but that’s been part of their plan all along.

Michael Brantley was kneed in the head on a slide, a similar mechanism to what we’ve seen with Justin Morneau and others in the past. The play is simply awkward, and some think that changes in the “neighborhood play” with replay have made this even more dangerous. It’s far too small a sample to make any informed decision, but this would be easy to tweak if necessary. 

Catching concussions are a tough problem, though advances with helmet technologies are promising. For sliding players, there’s a more simple fix. Players should wear tighter helmets, which is easily correctable, but we may need to shift to a dual-cushion system. Perhaps there will be batting helmets and “sliding helmets” in the future, since the forces of a hard ball to the mask and a knee to the head are far different.

Posey was able to return quickly, but Brantley is still undergoing tests, according to the AP, via ESPN.com, after suffering both head and neck issues. Both players are well served by MLB’s concussion policy, and we can only hope Brantley is back as quickly and easily as Posey.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey was a late scratch from Tuesday night’s game against the Colorado Rockies after suffering a nerve irritation in his back.    

John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle noted the Giants are currently deeming this a short-term injury:

Posey, 27, was in the lineup and played the entire game in Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Miami Marlins. He went 0-for-3 with one run batted in, dropping him to 2-for-20 over his last six games. Speaking with the media prior to Tuesday night’s game, Posey said the injury happened on a swing Sunday and is nothing “super serious,” per Alex Pavlovic of The Mercury News.

Pavlovic added that he may even be used on Tuesday night:

At this time, he’s only expected to miss a couple days. The Giants are in Colorado for the first of a three-game set before traveling back home to play the Minnesota Twins over the weekend. 

Posey was replaced in the lineup Tuesday with Hector Sanchez, who will probably see everyday action until the former returns. San Francisco does not currently carry a third catcher on the roster. Barring a stint on the disabled list, it would be a misappropriation of assets to bring someone up for one series.

Sanchez has already played in 27 games this season, hitting .288/.324/.455 with two home runs and 16 RBI. The 24-year-old has been a surprising bright spot in a San Francisco lineup that currently sits No. 22 in batting average.

It will nonetheless be impossible to replace the production of Posey—even if he’s struggling. Posey’s recent down stretch has dropped him to a .278/.369/.444 slashline, but he’s key protection in the middle of the Giants’ lineup. His seven home runs and 23 RBI are tied for third and second on the team, respectively.

The Giants, in typical even-year fashion, are off to a 28-17 start and lead the NL West by three games. San Francisco won the World Series in 2010 and 2012, so it is attempting to be the Bay Area’s version of the San Antonio Spurs, who dominated the NBA’s odd seasons in the early-2000s. Given that Posey’s injury is minor, this will do little to alter that trajectory.

Still, it gives Colorado a much better chance at tying up the division with a home sweep.

Follow Tyler Conway on Twitter:

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

During a rare season when the San Francisco Giants‘ starting rotation struggled as a whole, finishing with the seventh-highest ERA (4.37) in baseball in 2013, Buster Posey‘s decline in production went relatively unnoticed. 

Maybe it’s because Posey was still pretty good, posting an .821 OPS with 15 homers, 34 doubles and 72 RBIs in 148 games while ranking 20th in NL MVP voting. But as Barry Bloom of MLB.com pointed out, the bar has been set extremely high for Posey, and his manager knows it.

“I think it’s fair to say that Buster had a little bit of down year,” said Bruce Bochy, who has managed the team since. “Not a real bad year.”

In the same number of games and only 15 more plate appearances in 2012, Posey had a .957 OPS with 24 homers, 39 doubles and 102 RBIs. He also won the NL batting title and was nearly unstoppable down the stretch.

Over the final three months of that 2012 season, Posey posted an unbelievable .371/.448/.618 slash line. His team had a one-game division lead at the beginning of that stretch. Eighty-three games and 50 victories later, the Giants had won the NL West by eight games and never slowed down upon entering the playoffs, winning their second World Series championship in three years. 

So while the Giants’ starting rotation has been a stable force for years, ranking third (3.54), second (3.28) and sixth (3.73) in ERA from 2010-2012, respectively, a Buster Posey-led offense has been the difference-maker in taking the team to a championship-caliber level. 

The pitching staff was still great in 2011 when the team finished eight games behind first-place Arizona. But Posey had yet to heat up, posting a .756 OPS in 45 games when he sustained a season-ending leg injury during a home-plate collision. The Giants finished near the bottom of every important offensive category, including runs scored (29th in baseball). 

They finished as a middle-of-the-pack offense in 2010. But until Posey was called up from the minors in late May, they were a mediocre hitting team without much of an identity. As he did in 2012, the eventual NL Rookie of the Year, carried his team for the final three months of the regular season with a .913 OPS, 17 homers and 57 RBIs. 

At the beginning of that three-month span, the Giants were 40-37 and 5.5 out in the division. They went on to win 52 of their last 85 games and overtook the San Diego Padres late in the season. 

Noticing a trend? Posey is capable of carrying the Giants and making them a World Series contender. If last season’s pitching struggles weren’t a fluke and those continue into 2014, they’ll need him to return to his MVP-caliber form, or else, it could be another long season. 

If the 27 year-old’s Opening Day performance during the team’s come-from-behind 9-8 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks is any indication—Posey went 2-for-5 with a tie-breaking two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning—the Giants have a chance to form a new identity in 2014 that is much more focused on the team’s hitting prowess.

With a solid lineup full of veteran players who are capable of having big seasons, including Michael Morse, Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence and Pablo Sandoval, and an emerging star in first baseman Brandon Belt, who had a .915 OPS in the second half of 2013 and went 3-for-5 with a homer in his 2014 debut, the Giants have the potential to be a great offense. 

And it’s a good thing because it’s really hard to know what they’re going to get from Matt Cain, who had a down season in 2013, or Tim Lincecum, who went from Cy Young to bust to solid, yet unspectacular, all within the last few seasons, or Tim Hudson, who is returning from ankle surgery at age 38, or Ryan Vogelsong, who had a 5.73 ERA in 2013 and didn’t show any signs of turning things around this spring (19 IP, 19 ER, 33 H). 

Posey can’t do it by himself. But the other 24 guys on the roster can’t do it without another MVP-like performance from Posey.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

As spring progresses and players settle into their roles on the baseball diamond, the San Francisco Giants have already learned a lot about their team’s potential.  The starting pitching, including newcomer Tim Hudson, has been solid, and several players are stepping up their game in hopes of either solidifying their starting spot or earning a roster spot altogether.

On the mound, right-hander Tim Lincecum is silencing critics who say his best years are behind him.  In just over nine innings pitched, Lincecum has posted a solid 1.93 ERA and a 1-0 record.  Right-hander Matt Cain, last season’s Opening Day starter, also appears to have returned to form, not allowing a run and surrendering only one hit in eight innings pitched.

After struggling in his first few starts, right-hander Ryan Vogelsong rebounded for an excellent start Thursday against the Texas Rangers, only allowing one run in five innings.

With the projected five-man rotation performing well, up-and-comers are also making a name for themselves.  In a matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers and ace Clayton Kershaw, 21-year-old Edwin Escobar pitched well against the perennial Cy Young candidate.

Catcher Buster Posey is having a banner spring training.  Currently, the slugger is batting .450 with a home run and six RBI.  Utility infielder Joaquin Arias has also enjoyed success at the plate, cementing his role as the go-to infielder off the bench.  Arias is batting .391 in nine games thus far.

In the outfield, new addition Mike Morse has displayed his power already, though it has not been reflected in his numbers.  Morse was robbed of not one, but two home runs in a February game against the Oakland Athletics by outfielder Josh Reddick.

Shortstop Ehire Adrianza is turning heads as well.  He has already smashed two home runs, a double and a triple, making a case for himself as a second utility infielder for the Giants.

However, he has competition from shortstop Brandon Hicks, who is on a hot streak at the plate.  In a contest against the Dodgers, Hicks slammed a two-run home run off Clayton Kershaw.  After a slow start, Hicks has now recorded five doubles along with a home run to complement a .318 average.

As the spring months chug along, the Giants will keep their eyes on their higher performers.  There’s more action to come in the upcoming weeks before Opening Day.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Buster Posey is the reigning NL MVP after completing a season where he helped lead the San Francisco Giants to their second World Series title in three seasons.

In 2012, Posey hit .336 with 24 home runs and 103 RBI. Posey also led the Giants with an OPS of .957.

It was more than his offense that earned him the MVP award, however. Posey was excellent in working with the Giants’ pitching staff. He is a student of the game and calls a good game for his pitchers. Posey also does a fine job defensively, throwing out baserunners and blocking pitches in the dirt.

Posey provided great leadership for the Giants when they suffered the loss of All-Star MVP Melky Cabrera in August. The loss of Cabrera seemed to galvanize the team, and Posey was a big reason for that. 

Posey has moved forward with both his baseball career and his marketing persona. He is now a partner and investor in BODYARMOR SuperDrink.

Read on, as Posey discussed his venture with BODYARMOR SuperDrink and a lot more.

Begin Slideshow

Tim Lincecum has looked like a different pitcher over his last two starts with Buster Posey behind the plate in place of Hector Sanchez. 

Over his first three starts with Sanchez catching, Lincecum struggled. He allowed 13 hits, 12 runs, 12 walks and three home runs in 16 innings of work. His ERA was 5.63.

In his last two starts against the Padres, Lincecum has suddenly looked like a different pitcher. He’s allowed 10 hits, two runs, five walks and no home runs over 13.2 innings. His ERA with Posey catching him this season is 1.32.

Given that Posey was also the catcher for Lincecum during his phenomenal run as a reliever last postseason, it seems obvious that he should be catching Timmy. Posey is a better defender than Sanchez, and Lincecum needs all the support he can get at this point in his career.

Posey is much more athletic behind the plate than Sanchez. He clearly does a better job of framing the ball to get borderline pitches called strikes for his pitchers.

According to research done by Matt Klaassen, Posey ranked as the fifth-best defensive catcher in baseball last season. Sanchez ranked as the sixth-worst. Thus, the numbers back up what most Giants‘ fans have been observing over the last year-plus.

This looks like an open-and-shut case. Lincecum has looked dominant in the two starts that he’s made this season with Posey catching. He was exceptional pitching to Posey last postseason and terrible in his lone postseason start with Sanchez catching. The advanced numbers and the eye test combine to show that Posey is superior to Sanchez defensively.

Thus, as long as manager Bruce Bochy keeps pairing Lincecum and Posey together, Timmy will continue to pitch well, right? Well, not based on last year’s numbers.

Lincecum’s statistics based on who was catching him last year are not available anywhere that I could find online. Therefore, I had to compile Lincecum‘s numbers from last season throwing to each of the Giants’ three catchers using his game log available at ESPN.

I then looked at each box score to see who the catcher was when Lincecum pitched. Finally, I created a spreadsheet with Lincecum’s numbers throwing to each catcher and totaled up the final results.

Last season, Lincecum threw to Sanchez 16 times, Posey 15 times and Eli Whiteside twice. Surprisingly, my research found that Lincecum had a better record and ERA last year when Sanchez was catching him.

With Sanchez catching, Lincecum went 6-5 with a 4.76 ERA in 90.2 innings pitched. He allowed 85 hits, 50 runs, 48 earned runs, 44 walks and 11 home runs while striking out 84.

With Posey catching, Lincecum went just 3-9 with a 5.48 ERA in 85.1 innings pitched. He allowed 86 hits, 54 runs, 52 earned runs, 41 walks and nine home runs while striking out 92.

With Whiteside behind the plate, Lincecum went 1-1 with a 5.39 ERA over 11.2 innings pitched. He had one fantastic start and one bad one throwing to Whiteside last season.

The good news from last season is that Lincecum’s rate of strikeouts, walks and home runs allowed were slightly better with Posey catching him. Strikeout, walk and home run rates are less dependent on defense and luck than ERA and won-loss record.

Thus, while Lincecum allowed fewer runs per game and won more games with Sanchez catching last year, his core numbers were actually better with Posey catching.

If you prefer traditional stats like wins, losses and ERA, then Lincecum did throw better with Sanchez catching him last year. If you prefer modern, advanced stats like strikeouts per nine innings pitched, then Lincecum actually pitched better with Posey catching despite the sky-high ERA.

Posey has been the catcher when Lincecum has looked at his best so far this season. Posey could be the reason for Lincecum’s improved results over his last two starts. However, given last season’s results, it’s too early to conclude that definitively.

Lincecum could have made a mechanical or mental adjustment that is the reason for his improvement. Or, his results could be completely random and have nothing to do with who the catcher is. Perhaps the Padres lineup just isn’t very good.

Posey should continue to catch Lincecum because he’s a very good defensive catcher and Sanchez is not. Sanchez should honestly be in Fresno working on his game. It’s doing him no good to sit on the bench in San Francisco right now. Playing everyday at Triple-A would help improve his game much more than rotting on the bench.

However, even if Posey continues to catch Lincecum, that doesn’t guarantee Timmy will keep pitching well. For that to happen, Lincecum will have to keep making pitches regardless of who the catcher is.

If Lincecum is going to continue to have a successful season in 2013, it’s going to have more to do with the guy on the mound than the guy behind the plate. Posey can put the right signs down and steal a few extra strikes, but Lincecum will have to continue to show improved command of his arsenal.

After Lincecum’s last two starts, there are reasons to be optimistic about him again. However, it’s not fair to Lincecum to give all the credit to Posey. Lincecum deserves the majority of the credit for his outstanding recent work.

All statistics in this article are courtesy of ESPN.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Nobody predicted that the San Francisco Giants would conquer improbable playoff series deficits to climb atop the baseball world for the second time in three seasons.

The same critics that doubted the Giants last October claim the rival Los Angeles Dodgers to be the team to beat in the National League entering the 2013 season. It’s a supposed safe bet, given name-brand products and a payroll big enough to eclipse half of Hollywood.

Bad business decisions don’t render champions, though. Big money is a flawed formula, proven to be fallacious in professional sports; it’s tried and tired. Just ask the Red Sox and Yankees.

The Dodgers didn’t buy themselves a championship team. Instead, they bought a heaping landfill of bad contracts and wanna-be success. It’s not that the so-called “new blue” won’t compete with the reigning champs this summer, but checkbooks have never won championships, nor have clubhouse cancers, like Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez and Josh Beckett.

No sleek slogan is necessary for the Giants. The new season represents business as usual. Baseball-hungry fans, who have sold out picture-perfect AT&T Park for 180 consecutive contests, including postseason, will build on an already established reputation as the loudest fans in the game. The gentlemen in the clubhouse will pour grit and tenacity onto the diamond with one goal in mind: three titles in four seasons.

A team’s image is worthless when it doesn’t win. The Giants don’t have that problem. They have rings on their fingers to prove it.

It’s not even about beating the Dodgers. It’s about dominating October to climb atop the baseball world and prove critics wrong, again. It doesn’t matter that the Giants are chalked as average on paper because no team has ever won a championship on a legal pad.

The Giants return 22 of 25 players from last season’s triumphant team. The pitching staff is entirely intact and arguably better than ever, considering the resurrection of crafty lefty Barry Zito (15-8, 4.15 ERA, 114 Ks in 2012) and the potential revival of two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum, who surrendered just five runs in 17.2 innings pitched in the 2012 postseason.

The cornerstone of the franchise, and defending NL MVP, Buster Posey (.336 AVG., 24 HRs, 103 RBI in 2012) is officially signed up for the next nine seasons after inking a $158 million contract extension.

Rising stars Brandon Belt (.275 AVG., 7 HRs, 56 RBI in 2012) and Brandon Crawford (.245 AVG., 4 HRs, 45 RBI in 2012) consistently flash signs of steady improvement, demonstrated in outstanding performances this spring.

Savvy veterans Angel Pagan (.288 AVG., 8 HRs, 56 RBI in 2012) and Marco Scutaro (.306 AVG., 7 HRs, 76 RBI in 2012) lock down the top of an order consumed in the old-fashioned idea of simply getting on base, instead of blasting home runs.

The Giants sustain the most solidified team concept in baseball. On-base percentage (.327 in 2012) combined with stellar pitching (3.68 ERA in 2012) is the acumen behind two championships in three seasons, and the reason why they stand a chance to repeat in 2013.

There isn’t hype engulfing the Giants into unrealistic expectations, but they’re aware of what they’re capable of. The same critics dubbing the Dodgers preseason favorites claim the Giants can’t do it again.

It’s an old mantra that the Giants continue to prove wrong.

Paul Swydan of FanGraphs (via ESPN Insider) chalked the Giants as unfit for October before the playoffs last season, pointing to a surplus of wins against “inferior competition.”

The irony in that standpoint is that no team has proven themselves more capable of dominating October than the Giants. They’ve done it twice in three seasons, recording an astounding 8-1 record in two World Series appearances.

Why would 2013 be any different?

The big money Dodgers are ignorantly considered the favorites in the NL West this season, but the Giants are ready to reclaim their role as World Champs.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It was a big day in MLB for teams extending their star players.

And all these extensions will have a direct impact on the Boston Red Sox moving forward.

First, Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers came to an agreement on a five-year extension that will keep Verlander with the Tigers until 2019 with a vesting option for 2020. Total package could be worth $202, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Almost on the heels of Verlander’s deal was word that the San Francisco Giants were locking up star catcher Buster Posey long term with a nine-year, $167 million extension (via MLB Trade Rumors).

CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports that the Los Angeles Dodgers and star lefty Clayton Kershaw are talking about an extension as well. Given that the market has been set by Verlander, getting the 25-year-old Kershaw under contract seems like a wise idea.

Earlier this winter the Seattle Mariners locked up Felix Hernandez with a seven-year $175 million contract. It is great for baseball that a team like the Mariners can hold onto a player like Hernandez without crippling their team.

In the past, all of these players would have been linked to the Red Sox as they moved closer to free agency. Now, the Red Sox don’t have a shot at them or even a second-tier player like the St. Louis Cardinals‘ Adam Wainwright.  

What this means moving forward is that there are no quick fixes coming for the Red Sox.  

This will be the year to have one eye on what figures to be a pretty tight race in the AL East while having another eye looking at Pawtucket, Portland and the June draft. 

For all the attractiveness of free agency, the Red Sox in recent years have been really burned when signing free agents from other teams.

The recent examples are obvious—from Carl Crawford to John Lackey to Edgar Renteria. Committing big money to players who haven’t come up through your own system is never a sure thing, and doing so has backfired on the Red Sox.

Now when a star player hits free agency, he probably has an obvious flaw or a serious question mark surrounding him. Josh Hamilton and concerns about his off-the-field behavior or Zack Greinke and his ability to handle a high-pressure market come to mind.

The days of a Mike Mussina or a CC Sabathia or Mark Teixeira or Prince Fielder hitting the market appear to be over. MLB has done a very good job of spreading the wealth recently and almost every franchise is doing well financially.

Having players like Verlander and Posey skip free agency to stay home is a great sign for the game.

In the past, the Red Sox have been able to throw their weight around financially. Now the luxury tax has changed the way Boston and even the New York Yankees will operate.

With a more level playing field, every team in baseball should be able to retain the players they want to retain, meaning that Boston will have to be better at developing its own talent.

Looking at MLB Trade Rumors’ Tim Dierkes list of top 10 free agents for 2014, now that Wainwright’s off the board only Robinson Cano profiles as a true free agent star, and he plays a position where the Red Sox are actually set.

Developing Red Sox prospects like Jackie Bradley, Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster now takes on added significance for Boston. At some point, they will all have to have an impact in the major leagues for Boston to contend.

When the season starts Monday, the Red Sox are likely to field a team with six of the nine starters being homegrown. Looking at the current landscape, that’s a starting point for Boston.

Information used from Zach Links/MLB Trade Rumors, Jon Heyman/CBS Sports, Baseball Reference, ESPN, Derrick Goold/St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com