Kuzul

Relief pitchers in general, and closers in particular, have repeatedly proven to be terrible investments in free agency. Nevertheless, every offseason sees millions upon millions of dollars thrown at closers, particularly when they’ve put up stats like the cream of this year’s crop:

Jonathan Papelbon

After saving 30-plus games for six-straight seasons in the pressure cooker that is Boston, Papelbon has certainly proven that he has the mental toughness to handle the closer’s job. He also recovered well from a down year in 2010 to post a dazzling 0.933 WHIP this season (along with cutting his blown saves from eight to three).

Papelbon is only 30, so he should have several good years ahead of him. Boston may opt to shell out for his services, but wherever he lands, he’s in for a big payday.

Heath Bell

Despite rampant speculation to the contrary, San Diego opted to hang on to Bell at the trade deadline. The Padres, one presumes, expect to be able to re-sign their lights-out closer, but they’ll have plenty of competition.

Bell has saved at least 42 games each of the last three seasons, with ERAs no higher than 2.71. The only potential red flag is that his strikeout rate plummeted this season from a career-high 11.1 K’s per nine innings in 2010 to a career-worst 7.3.

Francisco Rodriguez

Milwaukee isn’t likely to offer its current setup man as much money as he can get on the market as a potential closer. K-Rod is now three seasons removed from his dazzling 62-save season as an Angel, but he’s an established commodity out of the bullpen (not to mention a fairly big-name acquisition for some club in free agency).

On the other hand, Rodriguez’s ERA as a Met (where he spent the first half of the season) was a disappointing 3.16. It’s hard to judge whether any team signing him will get that version or the one who went 4-0 with a 1.86 ERA as a Brewer.

Ryan Madson

Perhaps the best bet to be seriously overpaid this offseason is newly-minted Phillies closer Madson. He saved 32 games with a solid 1.154 WHIP, but one season of production in the closer’s role doesn’t necessarily translate to long-term success.

The former starter may yet become a reliable stopper out of the bullpen, but he’s also got a substantial possibility of blowing up entirely after signing a big contract.

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As we head into the dog days of August, Jays fans are just now starting to get excited over the prospects of this team.

Usually around this time of year, it’s the lull in the schedule where teams usually just try and play out the string until September, but for the Jays, things look completely different.

The Jays are fighting game in and game out, and are 57-55 in 102 games this season. The team was expected to maybe win at most 75 games this season, so they are definitely ahead of expectations.

If the Jays had the ability to close out games with more ease, they could likely have seven-10 more wins than they do this season.

But with that said, the Jays are expected to fall out of contention soon as they remain 11.5 back in the wild card and 12.5 back in the AL East. Their playoff hopes are fading fast, but the future is brighter than ever.

A main component of the future made his debut last night. Brett Lawrie, a native of Langley, British Columbia, made his highly anticipated Blue Jays debut in fine fashion coming up with an RBI single in his first ever at-bat.

After a bout of “erroritis,” Lawrie calmed down a little and finished out the game strong, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Lawrie’s debut last night set the country a blaze as it’s likely the most publicized minor league debut in Jays history. Lawrie, who has drawn comparisons to Ian Kinsler and David Wright, didn’t look out of place last night at the plate.

So that begs the question, since the Jays are ahead of expectations and .500 plus this year, would the Jays contend if they had three more players to add to the fold? Obviously these players would have to be good players.

But on the other hand, are the Jays just too young and inexperienced to contend right now even if they had those three extra players to add to the depth of the squad?

We’ll dissect the two scenarios right now.

Three Players

In my opinion the Jays would be in a better position if they have a closer, starting pitcher (a No. 2 or No. 3) and a second basemen.

The Jays this offseason should be looking at improving their bullpen. The relief department is filled with quality arms.

Closers available include Heath Bell, Jonathan Papelbon, Jose Valverde, Ryan Madson and Jonathan Broxton, all of whom would be better options than Jon Rauch.

A few others have options attached to their deals and may opt out such as Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez who will likely want to leave Milwaukee due to being a set-up man behind John Axford.

So the free-agent cupboard is stocked heavily for Alex Anthopolous to really make an impact this offseason.

The Jays have been in talks with Houston over Wandy Rodriguez, and he would likely fit into the mold of that No. 2 or 3 starter this team needs; however, I just think he’ll get murdered by the AL East bats. Even Baltimore, the worst team in the AL, could destroy this guy.

The No. 2 or 3 pitcher in my opinion will come from within, as the free-agent class for pitchers is rather bare.

As for the second baseman, Aaron Hill is still find is a useful player; however, his swing needs serious work.

After a great silver slugger year where he hit 36 home runs 108 RBIs and averaged .286, Hill’s numbers have plummeted into the abyss as he’s only hit .215 in the two seasons since (August 6th) and hit 31 home runs in 882 at-bats.

 Hill has abandoned his quick, smooth stroke for a more loopy and long home run swing, thanks to the hitting coach Dwayne Murphy’s philosophy of sitting on your pitch and letting it rip. Hill’s best season came under Gene Tenace.

Adam Lind credited Tenace with his great offensive numbers in the month of July and August 2009, saying: “The thing is, a lot of people can teach you how to hit, but not a lot of people can teach you how to hit in the big leagues.”

Hill has been struggling, hitting only .232 this season, as is Travis Snider, who is now in AAA again. JP Arencibia will never be a high-average hitter, but he should still average around .245 to .260, but he’s at a .216 clip right now.

Rajai Davis hit .284 last season, this season he’s been relegated to fourth OF duties and is hitting .242.

The rant aside, only a scarce few have improved under Murphy (Bautista, Escobar, Molina) and the Jays might actually be better served finding a new hitting coach as opposed to adding another bat in the offseason. Build from within, I would like to say.

We’ve looked at the three players side and I decided that a closer is a must for this team, and a bonus would be a legit starting pitcher and second baseman. However, we could probably fill those two positions from within for a much cheaper price.

Three Years

The Jays are one of the youngest teams in the majors right now and some argue they are still two or three years away from contending because of their lack of experience, and the fact they have quality depth up and down the minor leagues.

The Jays are blessed with a great deal of starting pitching depth down in the minors with as many as possibly 10 or more major league caliber starters.

Deck McGuire looks to be a horse, Henderson Alvarez is looking dominant with his 95 mph-plus fastball and Nestor Molina is mowing down the competition.

Justin Nicolino is a man amongst boys in the Northwest League. Noah Syndergaard looks to be the real deal as well.

Asher Wojciechowski is struggling somewhat in Dunedin, but the organization still has high hopes for him, as well as Aaron Sanchez, another one of those projectable high school arms the Jays drafted last season.

Chad Jenkins, Drew Hutchinson, Adonys Cardona, PJ Walters, Mitchell Taylor and Joel Carreno are looking pretty great as well down in the minors.

The Jays have also only signed four of their top 25 drafted players from the 2011 draft. The Jays could add Tyler Beede, Daniel Norris, Kevin Comer, John Stilson and Tom Robson to the fold as well.

The highest rated Jays prospect whom I nearly forgot about, Kyle Drabek, has struggled with his control this year and was demoted to AAA earlier this season.

He hasn’t made it back and has continued to struggle down in Las Vegas. When he figures it all out again, he’s that quality arm the Jays are searching for.

Most of these guys I would say are two or three years away from a chance at making in to the show. McGuire, Drabek and Alvarez are likely the closest to making an impact right now.

The Jays infield isn’t littered with prospects, but there are some good ones that may be worth the wait.

SS Adeiny Hechavarria has huge amount of upside as he projects more like an Edgar Renteria or Alcides Escobar types of shortstops. He’ll likely not hit for average, but he does have a gold glove caliber glove and some speed.

Dickie Thon, Chris Hawkins, Mike McDade, David Cooper, Kellen Sweeney and Jorge Vega-Rosado look to be serviceable MLB players down the line.

To add to that, the Jays might have the best stocked catching prospects in the minors as Travis D’Arnaud is looking like a top-five prospect in AA. Carlos Perez is having a down year, but may have even more upside in some scouts opinions. AJ Jimenez and Santiago Nessy are looking good as well.

Lastly we look out to the outfield and that’s where the Jays will obviously need to make moves. Already having long-term options in center and right, the Jays really don’t have a lot of need for outfielders at the MLB level; however the team is stocked nicely in the outfield.

Jake Marisnick is having a sick year down in Lansing, as he’s projecting more and more like Hunter Pence by the day.

Anthony Gose is striking out a ton in AA; however he’s already at 50 steals this season and looks to finish with a .250 plus average. His arm out in center is very strong and looks to be a part of the future.

The other three heads of the monster in Lansing, Marcus Knecht, Mike Crouse and Markus Brisker, are all making good strides down in Michigan.

Eric Arce is displaying some power down the GCL and Moises Sierra is showing a good bat and a strong arm down in New Hampshire.

As you can tell, the Jays are well-stocked in the minor league system.

Should the Jays continue to rebuild and wait the three years, or should they look to add those necessary missing pieces and make a run next year when the playoff format should likely change?

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I went to the Red Sox game against the visiting Athletics today, and it was one of the craziest games I have ever been to. It started with a bang when Adrian Gonzalez hit a home run over the Green Monster. Despite the fact it barely cleared the Monster, it was still a considerable feat considering he went opposite field.

After that, however, both offenses stalled over the next few innings. But the bats turned back on when J.D. Drew singled home Carl Crawford. This wouldn’t be the last time that would happen, however. The A’s quickly tied the game with two runs of their own in the sixth, but it didn’t stay like that for long.

The Red Sox answered with a 3-run sixth inning of their own to take the lead 5-2. The A’s narrowed the gap with a run, but again the Red Sox answered in big fashion, scoring two runs in the eighth inning to take a 7-3 lead heading into the ninth.

At the time, Jonathon Papelbon was warming up in the bullpen, and I wondered whether or not the Red Sox should bother putting him in with such a large lead. It turns out, they shouldn’t have.

The Sox indeed decide to pitch him, and he promptly came in to give up four runs, allowing the A’s to tie it up. And to make matter worse, amidst all of Papelbon’s frustration over calls of strikes and balls, he yelled at the ump and charged him. Needless to say, he was ejected. And soon after, Jason Veritek followed Papelbon’s poor example also arguing to no avail, getting the same result—an ejection.

Even without Tek and Papelbon, the game went on to extra innings. Things seemed bleak, though, when the Red Sox’ bats turned off for the next few inning, and the A’s were able to score a run in the 11th.

But with two outs in the bottom half of the 11th, however, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a double to send Jarrod Saltalamacchia home the game-tying run, sending the Fenway crowd into a frenzy.

But both offenses would stall for another three more innings before an outcome would finally be reached. This came in the 14th inning when Nancy—I mean J.D.—Drew stepped to the plate and, far exceeding the low expectations,delivered a walk-off single, sending Crawford home again.

In summary, after spending nearly six hours at Fenway today, I got to see 15 runs, a blown save by Papelbon, two ejections, five extra innings, and a walk-off hit by Drew. Certainly not your average day at the ballpark.

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If you watch enough baseball, you see umpires blow a call now and then. Yet, they do manage to stay calm and try to maintain some aura of objectivity. After all, that’s what they are paid to do.

On Saturday, June 4, 2011, an umpire took the field in an effort to hand a game over to the opposing team at Fenway Park.

Will we learn home plate umpire Tony Randazzo has been investigated? Will we hear he has been disciplined? Likely not.

What happened? Tony Randazzo, apparently thinking he is one of the cast of the Sopranos, iced Jason Varitek and Jonathan Papelbon, erstwhile catcher and ace reliever of the Red Sox in a ninth inning, with the game on the line.

Papelbon, not exactly a paragon of logic, went berserk and bumped the umpire after having turned away on the mound after throwing a strike past the batter.

Randazzo pulled off his mask and charged the mound, sending Papelbon into the stratosphere. You seldom see an umpire ripping off his mask and stepping toward the mound as if the Godfather sent him.

Remember the name, baseball fans. Razzle Dazzle Randazzo. He should have his own reality show because he is living in his own reality.

Yes, Major League Baseball head office personnel, you have a problem. Sox fans had the feeling we were watching a basketball game where referees are key players to ensure victory goes where it belongs.

This was a scandalous and unacceptable behavior from the umpiring crew, and this disgrace to umpires should be reprimanded, if not removed. He won’t, of course. That would be like MLB admitting they hired an incompetent official who forgot how to officiate the game.

Thank heavens we have moved into the 21st century, or fans would be screaming, “Kill the Umpire!”

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After struggling through a brutal month of April, the Red Sox began playing up to their potential during the month of May, going 19-10 and temporarily pulling into first place before slumping as the month came to a close.

The month included a seven-game winning streak, an 11-0 drubbing at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels and back-to-back wins in which the offense scored a pair of touchdowns.

The offense hit .287 in May and produced 156 runs (5.38 runs per game), but the pitching staff wasn’t quite as successful, posting a 4.01 ERA in the month.

The starting rotation won more games in May than it had in April (13, as opposed to 10), but saw its ERA increase by more than a quarter of a run (4.14, as opposed to 3.83 in April).

On the other hand, the bullpen was dramatically better…posting a much better record (6-4, as opposed to 1-5 in April) and lower its ERA by nearly a run-and-a-half (3.76, down from 5.13).

With the first weekend of June upon us, it is time for me to distribute my report card for the first two months of the 2011 campaign.

Over the course of the next two days, I will present my report card for the ballclub through the first two months of the 2011 season. Today, I start with the pitching staff… tomorrow I’ll examine the hitters:

The Starting Rotation

Josh Beckett: A-

He was surprisingly strong in April, and somehow managed to be even better during May despite not having a lot to show for it (thanks to paltry run support).

Last month, he went 2-1, with an exceptional 1.00 ERA (4 ER in 36 IP) and 1.17 WHIP (up from April, when it was just 0.85).

I am not saying he is the pitcher he was back in 2007-08, he is not—his strikeout-rate is three-quarters of a point lower and his walk-rate is nearly double what it was back in the day—and according to fangraphs.com, less than half of his pitches are in the strike zone (his zone rating is just 48.8% thus far in 2011).

Plus, his ground ball to fly ball ratio is nearly 1-to-1 thus far in 2011. These are harbingers of potential problems for later in the season…but all things being equal, the ballclub will take it. He seems to have reinvented himself on the mound.

He is pitching more to contact. He is relying less on his fastball (52% in 2011) and curve (17%) while using his cutter (17%) and changeup (14%) far more often.

He only averaged six innings per start throughout the month of May, but when the results are as good as they were it is hard to complain about length of outings… still, there is enough to be concerned about here that he doesn’t get an “A.”

Clay Buchholz: B

After sleepwalking through the month of April, Clay flipped the switch in May… it truly was a Tale of Two Pitchers. After going 1-3, 5.33 in April, he went 3-0, 2.08 in May.

But it is the peripherals that really underscore how well he pitched in May: opponents hit just .204 against him, his WHIP was 0.95, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was an outstanding 3.63-to-1 over 39 IP (he walked 8 batters all month).

His grade lags due to his slow start, and while I am cautiously optimistic moving forward, I see warning signs on the horizon: most notably, he has thrown just 44% of his pitches for strikes in 2011.

If hitters start to lay off his offerings, he’ll either issue more walks or have to give them better pitches to swing at…and then what happens?

John Lackey: F

A rough April turned into an unbelievably horrific May for Lackey, and after two starts early in the month he was shut down with a tender elbow, but the widespread conjecture is that his struggles have had nothing to do with any physical discomfort in his right arm.

Most pundits believe his struggles are a direct result of issues in his personal life—that is to say, his focus is lacking (no pun intended) when he is at the ballpark as a result of his wife’s battle with cancer.

While his dilemma is understandable and we can all sympathize with his plight, his manager and teammates need him to do a better job of blocking those issues from his mind when he toes the rubber.

It’s a lot to ask, but if he leans how to do it he may be able to use baseball as an escape from those things in life that really matter…

Jon Lester: B

Lester has got it all backwards. He is a usually slow starter who gets better as the weather heats up before faltering in the intense heat of August, but the 2011 season thus far hasn’t followed form.

He was strong in April (3-1, 2.52), raising Red Sox Nation’s expectations this would develop into his first Cy Young campaign… but those hopes were dashed by a brutal May—during which he posted a 5.50 ERA over 36 IP (though his record was 4-1).

He pitched well in Cleveland 10 days ago and it appeared he had turned things around, but the White Sox hammered him on Monday night (5.2 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 4 BB), so we are again left to wonder what is going on with our would-be ace.

Thanks to his offense, he was 2-0, with 1 No Decision, in three games in which he allowed 14 earned runs in just 17.1 IP; otherwise, he would be a .500 pitcher with nearly a 4.00 ERA through the first two months of the season.

Tim Wakefield: C+

With Matsuzaka’s career in Boston apparently concluded (or close to being finished), his regular spot in the rotation will reportedly be handed off to knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, though I think it should go to Alfredo Aceves.

I know I am beating a dead horse here, but Wakefield is getting older and he has a chronic bad back. Taking a regular turn in the rotation will not benefit either the pitcher or the ballclub… but we all know that he wants to set the mark for most wins in team history.

He threatens to be a sullen influence in the corner of the clubhouse (a la Nomar Garciaparra, in ‘03 and ‘04) if he doesn’t get his way, so it seems the manager is going to appease him by letting him have Dice-K’s slot at the back end of the rotation.

He is 2-1, 4.25, in sporadic starts in the rotation thus far in 2011, so it’s not like he’s been a disaster up to this point, but it remains to be seen what those numbers will look like after the grind of taking a start every fifth day wears on him throughout the summer.

Incomplete: Daisuke Matsuzaka

With his Red Sox career prematurely ended by an elbow injury and his impending Tommy John surgery, I will resist the temptation to dance on his grave.

He made eight appearances (seven starts) in 2011 and posted a 3-3 record, with a 5.30 ERA. It’s possible the elbow injury caused his ineffectiveness… let’s just leave it at that.

The Bullpen

Alfredo Aceves: B+

Aceves has been everything he promised to be when the Red Sox signed him away from the NY Yankees as a free agent back in February. He has appeared in 14 games (3 as the starting pitcher) and has posted a 2-1 record, with a 3.51 ERA.

He is 1-1, 4.50, as a starter (he should have had another win except for a Matt Albers meltdown against the Cubs)… he provided the club with two outstanding starts before getting battered in his last outing.

He has a career mark of 16-2, with a 3.28 ERA, so it would seem we will be in for more of the same from him throughout the summer.

Matt Albers: B-

I am a BIG fan of Aceves, but not of Albers… sorry, Albers fans. It seems that whenever there is an implosion in the Sox bullpen, he’s in the middle of it.

Frankly, I am not sure what the front office saw in a guy that posted an ERA of 4.50+ in four of his five seasons prior to coming to Boston—while playing for non-contending teams in Houston and Baltimore.

I don’t think he has the stuff to pitch meaningful innings for a team that has championship aspirations.

Daniel Bard: B+

In spite of decent results and a B+ grade, Bard has been a disappointment for me through the first two months of 2011.

I gave him a pass after posting a 0-3 mark in April owing to some bad luck he had, but May (1-1, 3.38) was only marginally better and not what I had expected from the guy who is Jonathan Papelbon’s heir apparent.

In my opinion, the next closer needs to post an ERA under 2.00, a WHIP significantly lower than 1.00, and a K-rate that is substantially north of 1.0 / 9 IP… Bard’s ERA is 3.29 (as opposed to the 1.93 mark he posted last season), his WHIP is in the vicinity of 1.00 and his K-rate is barely 1.0.

Maybe he is hampered by heightened (or unrealistic) expectations, but at this point he doesn’t seem ready to be the club’s closer in 2012.

If his performance remains the same throughout the rest of the season, could it set the stage for Pappy to return to the organization next season?

Bobby Jenks: F

He has been brutal up to this point of the season, posting a 7.59 ERA in 13 games. When he went on the DL in early-May, I wondered whether his early-season struggles could be explained by an injury.

But he has allowed four base runners in two innings of work since coming off the DL, so now I am left to wonder whether his ineffectiveness is an indicia that ChiSox manager Ozzie Guillen and ChiSox GM Kenny Williams were on to something when they cut him loose.

It seems plausible the Red Sox front office brought Jenks on board as an insurance policy for 2012, assuming Papelbon would leave via free agency at the end of this year and in case Bard proves incapable of assuming the closer’s duties by next season.

But with Bard struggling to become a lock-down closer and Jenks proving to be completely ineffective, it seems the Red Sox should (at least) entertain the possibility or bringing their resurgent closer back for the next three or four years.

Hideki Okajima: C-

Okajima’s ERA has increased in every season since he first became a member of the Red Sox (from 2.22 in 2007 to 4.50 last season). While his 4.32 ERA thus far was marginally better than last year, it isn’t what you want from your lefty specialist.

His ineffectiveness stems from lack of control (5 BB in 8.1 IP) and bought him a demotion to Pawtucket. He has watched as the Red Sox turned to Rich Hill, traded for Franklin Morales and has now promoted 29-year-old Tommy Hottovy.

Yesterday, he declared he wants to be traded—as opposed to being re-promoted to Boston. Sayonara, Okaji!

Jonathan Papelbon: B+

Pappy had been cruising along pretty well until about a week ago, then he allowed runs in three of four appearances (four runs in 4 IP)… as a result, his ERA increase by more than a run (from 2.29 to 3.42).

Last night, he came into a save situation against Oakland and he was overpowering in registering his 11th save of the season.

While it is a bit disconcerting that he has allowed runs in seven of his 24 appearances, the fact of the matter is that he is 2-0, with 11 saves and only one blown save… and at times he’s looked like the dominant closer you want at the back end of the bullpen.

While it has been assumed this year would be his last season in a Red Sox uniform, his performance (combined with the struggles of Bard and Jenks) makes it likely the front office will have to kick the tires on bringing him back in 2012.

Dan Wheeler: B

 Wheeler is another reliever the ballclub signed in the off-season in the hope of improving a bad bullpen, and he is another guy who has been a HUGE disappointment.

Like Jenks, he went on the DL in early-May, raising the possibility his early-season struggles were in part linked to an injury.

He has made four appearances since being reactivated and hasn’t allowed a run… lowering his ERA by more than three-and-a-half runs in the process.

His performance since his return (4.2 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K) leaves me hopeful that he will prove to be highly effective moving forward.

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The “Texas Red Sox Massacre” of this past weekend was not the opening series that Red Sox fans had dreamed about since December. Buchholz surrendered almost half as many home runs as he did all of last season, Lester made it clear that he knows which month this is and Lackey’s ERA is now sitting just north of 22. The bullpen wasn’t much better, as every reliever pitched and only Reyes, Albers, and Jenks failed to surrender a run. Still, serious concerns at this point are unnecessary- the team is bound to win at least a game before the season is out.

In all seriousness, though (opening series notwithstanding) the Red Sox look loaded. The additions of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez make the lineup borderline ridiculous, and GM Theo Epstein also significantly improved on last season’s greatest weakness, the bullpen. But, as with any team, some questions linger. Here are five entities on whom the team is, to one degree or another, crossing its fingers.

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Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon is entering the final year of his contract with the team.  Last year, Papelbon was not the dominant pitcher he has been in previous years, but was still a top closer.

Since Papelbon became a closer in 2006, he has posted ERAs of 0.92, 1.85, 2.34 and 1.85.  Last year his ERA ballooned to 3.90.  As the season progressed and Sox relief wunderkid Daniel Bard came into his own, dominating AL hitters, some fans began to call for Bard to replace Papelbon as closer.

Bard is not Papelbon, nor is he an elite closer.  He has the potential to one day be great, but he is an unproven commodity on a team of proven players.

How many times does a dominant relief pitcher transition to the closer’s role and all of a sudden lose his dominance?  Too many.

Think about Boston’s failed closer-by-committee experiment in the early 2000s: Mike Timlin and Alan Embree were both phenomenal in middle relief, but at that point in their careers, they were blowing far too many saves to reliably close.

The Red Sox are a team built to win this year (and their relative youth should continue the tradition of winning this year for years to come).  To rely on Bard would be a gamble, and this is a team that doesn’t need to gamble.

Sox manager Terry Francona has showed loyalty to “his guys” in the past.  Think about the David Ortiz slumps to begin the last couple of seasons.  It takes a lot for Francona to give up on someone.  Papelbon has not yet neared the level of inconsistency warranted for Francona to consider a change.

Despite Papelbon’s struggles last year, he still had 37 saves.  And this season, he starts spring training with extra rest.

Papelbon is a pitcher who has worked hard in every postseason for the last few years.  Generally, he comes to spring training with one month less to recuperate than other pitchers. 

Boston’s failure to make the postseason last year gave Papelbon an extra month of rest, and he said he has noticed a difference in how his body responded.

Papelbon is also in a contract year.  He doesn’t seem to be the type of guy who needs motivation beyond simple competition, but it never hurts to have dollar signs in the back of players’ heads.

While the Sox will not trade Papelbon this season, regardless of whether he has a career revival or not, they will almost definitely not re-sign him during the offseason.

Papelbon will demand top-player money, and the Sox already have a payroll near the top of the league.  Depending on whether Bard proves himself a worthy heir this season, the Sox will likely give him the opportunity to close next year. 

But Papelbon will be the Red Sox closer this season.  And if the Sox make the playoffs, Papelbon will be the guy on the mound when the season ends, for better or worse.

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Terry Francona has been given a Ferrari and is expected to drive it into the winner’s circle. But to maximize the potential, he will need to take good care of it throughout the rigors of a 162-game schedule.

It would be hard to really screw up this lineup, as stacked as it is, but there are some changes that need to be made to make sure the team runs like a well-oiled machine. He’s got the pieces, now its time to put them in the right places.

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This past calendar year has been nothing but heartbreak after heartbreak for New England sports fans.

(All 29 other sports regions/cities roll their eyes collectively).

We’re no Seattle or Cleveland, but these have been somewhat trying times for fans that have high standards for success.

A quick recap: The Red Sox didn’t make the playoffs due to freak injuries to their two best players; the Bruins blew a three game lead in the Eastern Conference semi-finals to a Philadelphia Flyers team made up of unwashed heathens; the Super Bowl favorite Patriots tanked in their first playoff game against the Jets; and the Celtics lose the NBA Finals game seven against the Lakers. Rough stuff.

Also, that NBA deadline deal which took Kendrick Perkins out of green was another unexpected occurrence that was unsettling, to say the least.  

And through all that, I’ve remained positive. Why, you ask?

Did you see who the Red Sox signed this offseason?

Honestly, I don’t think Boston was all that bad last season. Eric Patterson and Daniel Nava started more games than anyone should ever ask of them; John Lackey ate a whole lot of nachos; and Adrian Beltre really liked kicking people in the chest super hard.

Despite all that, they almost won 90 games last season. Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz proved to be a fearsome one-two punch to build a rotation around; Jed Lowrie showed some real glimmers of being a versatile major league baseball player; and that Daniel Bard guy threw the ball wicked hahd, dude guy.

Now, everyone is healthy, and there are some fresh faces that make this team the clear favorite in the American League.  

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When you spend a draft pick or auction money on a player, you are paying for their stats, not their name. So let’s look at a few stat lines that can be had at discount.

I did three 12-team mock drafts on three different websites back-to-back and averaged out the draft position for the projected rounds you see on each player. The stat lines are a projection I expect both players to be close to.  

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