In a division packed about as tightly as a can be, the emergence or decline of a single player can mean the difference between a playoff berth and an early end to the season.
With the AL Central race as wide open as any division in the MLB, each team will be counting on the contributions of every player on the roster – and praying for the breakout of their sleeper prospects. And, when it comes to those, there is certainly no shortage of potential breakout players.
Cleveland Indians
SP Justin Masterson: Though we could have gone with OF Matt LaPorta here, it just wouldn’t have been as fun as picking the home-grown talent.
Everyone in the Boston metro-area familiar with Masterson – or “Monsterson,” as some like to call him – and his impeccable set of offerings. The 6-6, 250 lb behemoth was the centerpiece that brought Victor Martinez over the Sox, paired with stud reliever Nick Hagadone.
A hefty price tag befitting of the elite catcher, Masterson now turns his sights toward the AL Central as the Indians’ number three starter…
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This one courtesy of James, aka “jgr jgr”. James submitted a few puzzling questions, though this one made me think the most:
“Is there some hitter or pitcher out there under the radar that you think will be wearing a new Boston uniform in 2010?”
Well, going off this question, we’ll avoid talking about the likely suspects, including Bay, Holliday, Harden, or Scutaro who have all received a great deal of coverage not only on this site, but on Sox discussion boards ‘Nation’ wide (Yes, that was a pun. No, I won’t apologize.)
As for truly under the radar names, we must look really deep into the free agent roster, probably to the point of back-end bullpen types or bench hitters. While these moves may not be exciting to the average layman, these are the transactions that make championships. Depth and injury/slump insurance is perhaps one of the most underrated aspects of building a championship team. John Henry could grab any fan off the streets to build a team that could win 100 games if everything were guaranteed to go as planned. However, the true talent and meddle of a front office is tested by their contingency planning.
When a team has the type of financial resources the Sox have, it’s difficult to pick a truly “under the radar” name that will make an impact, as the players the team is likely to sign are usually the top free agents, too big to fly below the hard deck.
But there is still value to be that the rest of the baseball world is not discussing. Here’s a few that I think the Sox may settle on before the off-season ends:
Value at Starting Pitcher
Assuming that the Cubs re-sign Rich Harden, while Ben Sheets and Erik Bedard find other suitors, I would love to see the Sox sign Carl Pavano. Though his 5.10 ERA left much to be desired, Pavano actually turned in quite a season in 2009, with a 4.00 FIP ERA to go along with a 3.77 K:BB rate. While his 6.64 K/9 was merely average, a 1.76 BB/9 rate is more than adequate.
If you have burning questions about Red Sox Baseball, please submit your questions to Mike_Silver_FireBrandAL@yahoo.com. We’d love to hear what’s got you thinking!
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I’ve got an article up at The Hardball Times, where I take the Sox to task for not acquiring either Chad Gaudin or Carl Pavano, both of who have been moved in the last 24 hours.
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There was absolutely nothing to laugh about.
Aaron Laffey was stellar out of the bullpen for the Cleveland Indians and any jokes made about Carl Pavano entering the contest were squashed, quickly.
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Justin Masterson has pitched impressively since joining the rotation. He has a 4.32 ERA starting which would be much lower had he not grooved a grand slam pitch to Evan Longoria. Pavano threw a gem against the Tigers, so may be coming around. Until he gets hurt.
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Fine Jason Bay, next time I WILL pick you for the Star of the Game. I got the message.
The New York Yankees, however, haven’t.
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This decade has been the most monumental in the franchise’s history. Not only did new ownership arrive, but Fenway Park was revitalized, a Nation was born (in the media, that is), a new generation of stars (Nomar, Manny, Pedro, Big Papi, Papelbon, Pedroia) put their stamp on their team… oh, and there were those two World Championships as well.
All this was done thanks to the incredible work that Theo Epstein and the rest of the baseball operations put in to give us the players that we root for every day. They are, to be certain, the reasons why we have our first two rings since 1918.
But let’s not count out Lady Luck. Lady Luck is a fickle mistress; you never know when she’ll turn on you.
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Victor Martinez should get back on track upon returning from injury. Martinez may not be a great catcher, but he actually has value outside of the batters box, unlike Hafner. I expect good things out of Martinez this season, maybe not great things, but good. Shoppach will handle some of the duties behind the plate as well, which will help Victor stay rested.
If Carlos Santana can make his way up to the big leagues this season, Victor could basically stay at first, and Shoppach could be moved for another piece, since they will need something, somewhere, eventually…
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It has become clear that the Red Sox plan on bringing in a veteran arm to round out the rotation that currently has locks Josh Beckett, Lon Jester, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield in it.
With CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and (likely) Derek Lowe out of the equation, who could the Sox bring in?
Evan Brunell runs through four main options: Kenshin Kawakami, Ben Sheets, Brad Penny and John Smoltz… then offers up some other pitchers who could head to Beantown.
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Hello folks. Jim Johnson here from The Bronx Block. I’m currently watching the Sox help the Yankees in their task of securing the Wild Card and I thought, [...]
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