Fireside Chats #68: Where we welcome Mr. Lackey and Mr. Cameron to the family

Wow...that was an unexpected flurry of activity. Join Paul and I as we break down the day during which the 2010 Boston Red Sox started to take serious shape. Are the Red Sox better this year than they were last season? Are they better than the Yankees? What does this mean for Matt Holliday and Jason Bay? or Josh Beckett or Adrian Gonzalez? So many answers today, yet as many questions. Thankfully we have Fire Brand contributor Troy Patterson on the line to help us dig into the action for the day. All that and more on this episode of Fireside Chats after the jump.

Red Sox ink Mike Cameron to two-year deal

[UPDATE by Evan, 9:00 PM] The Associated Press is reporting that the Mike Cameron deal is done. It's two years in the range of $15.5 million, according to Ken Rosenthal. I think it's a fantastic deal. Cameron has 20-home run pop while providing tremendous defense. It's unknown whether Cameron will patrol left or center. This makes Jeremy Hermida the fourth outfielder. Read on for more...

Lackey, Chapman to Boston?

UPDATE 2: Jon Heyman says that Lackey's contract is five years, $85 million. I'll wait a bit before passing judgment because initial contract term rumors end up being more "in the area" than accurate. I will say that if it's a fully guaranteed five years, I am very, very surprised Boston chose Lackey of all people to commit five years to. This seems to signal that Jason Bay will not return, although I'm sure the door is not closed just yet. Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse tweets that John Lackey is taking a physical with the Red Sox. If true (Price is working to confirm the rumor from a source he trusts), Boston at the very least has some sort of framework agreement in place with Lackey to bring him to Beantown.

Pressing reasons to improve the infield defense

There has been a lot of stress placed on the defense this offseason and that looks to continue with the interest in Adrian Beltre to replace Mike Lowell at third base. Other than the obvious value gained from a solid defense is there another reason to make sure you obtain positive gains this year in defense? I think I found it and it starts with Clay Buchholz. With Buchholz taking on the number three spot in the rotation there was an interesting number that seemed in common for our top three. That number is groundball percentage, which Buchholz led the team in during his limited appearances at 53.8%. Jon Lester and Josh Beckett have established new career levels above 47% meaning 3 out of 5 starts by the team should have a large amount of work for the infield.