AL Central Sleepers

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…

Evan Brunell’s 2010 MLB Predictions: Does Boston win it?

As the advent of spring training games are upon us, I thought I’d kick off everyone’s favorite little exercise by providing my own personal predictions as to how I think the season will shake out. Now, before I do so, a word of caution: predictions can change daily based on events. Heck, my predictions change multiple times a week. But I’ve gotta make predictions at some point, right? Point being, I might disagree with my own predictions a week from now. Most of the time, these kind of predictions are an exercise in fallacy, but it’s not going to stop me from trying.

I don’t know why I made things harder on myself, but I set out to present an exact record. This means I had to go into a spreadsheet and make sure all the wins and losses totaled the correct amount of games while also balancing out to a .500 record. Took me a while, but dadgum it, I did it. One thing I did not control for was the unbalanced schedule (in a total record sense), but I already strained my tenuous math skills, so I wasn’t about to complicate it further.

Click “read more” or the headline to find my predictions.

Assessing Boston’s shortstop options

With the departure of Alex Gonzalez to Toronto, it’s time to move on and explore what options are available to Boston to man the shortstop position in 2010 — and possibly beyond. I’ve gone through some potential free-agent and trade options and then tied it all in a neat little bow for consideration.

Internal options include Jed Lowrie and Jose Iglesias.

The free agent market has a bevy of options, but they all have their drawbacks. From Marco Scutaro to Adam Everett to Miguel Tejada to Craig Counsell — yes, Craig Counsell — we have you covered here.

Want to think trade? Stephen Drew, Cristian Guzman and Hanley Ramirez are considered.

Yeah, Hanley Ramirez. The New York Daily News has a note that the Marlins are talking to the Red Sox about a Hanley Ramirez trade.

Lester’s Case for the Cy Young

The Cy Young Award campaigns are getting real heated this time of year. The baseball media has zeroed in on four prime candidates: Zack Greinke, C.C. Sabathia, Justin Verlander, and Felix Hernadez.

Each of these pitchers has a great resume, but Jon Lester has had quite the season. Where does he stack up against the competition?

ERA

1) Zack Greinke – 2.14 – 1st in AL
2) Felix Hernandez – 2.45 – 2nd in AL
3) C.C. Sabathia – 3.31 – 6th in AL
4) Jon Lester – 3.33 – 7th in AL
5) Justin Verlander – 3.44 – 9th in AL

Sizing Up the Competition

With just under three weeks left in the regular season, the field is almost done filling out, with just five teams holding real hopes of reaching the post season: Boston, New York, Detroit, Minnesota, and Los Angeles.

Anaheim is up 6 in the West, Detroit is up 4 on Minnesota in the Central, the Red Sox are up 6 ½ in the Wild Card and the Yanks are about to clinch the East, up 6.5 games.

So, how do these teams stack up?

Time to give Youkilis credit: Deserves to be in MVP mix

As we get later and later into September, the question inevitably crops up: Who is the Most Valuable Player?

In the American League, Joe Mauer all but has the award sewed up. A .367/.435/.612 line out of the catcher position tends to do that. There’s also been the inevitable Yankee calls: Mark Teixeira is unquestionably the MVNP according to a Yankees beat writer. Derek Jeter is in the mix… of course. MLB Network’s Victor Rojas yesterday gave props to Miguel Cabrera.

I ask: Where’s the Youk love? (I asked this of Rojas, who said that we’ll probably start hearing Youkilis’ name bandied about. You are. Right here.)

8/13: Buchholz vs. Verlander

Clay Buchholz hopes to build off of his last start as he squares off with Tigers Ace Justin Verlander. Get the sweep, BoSox.

8/11: The battle of young, talented arms.

Junichi Tazawa makes his first Big League start against Rick Porcello. Let’s see what Tazawa is made of…

Zach’s 2009 AL All-Star Roster

Since the American League is once again wholly superior (seriously, one could make the argument that any of the top four teams in the East could win four out of the other five divisions, the West being the exception with the Dodgers) and the league I know better than the back of my hand, here’s my best shot at devising what should be true the 2009 AL All-Star Game Roster complete with nine starting position players, six starting pitchers, six closers and 13 reserves:

BOS 6, DET 3: Bay’s way

It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.