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.

Contingency Planning for an Ortiz on the Ropes

As Buster Olney stated in a recent piece, “the Red Sox may look to replace David Ortiz if he struggles again in the first half like he did last year.”

Certainly, the struggles of Big Papi have a lot to say about the success of the team. Like we profiled earlier, David Ortiz is undeniably on the downswing of his career. In what should be the last year of his contract, Ortiz will likely have difficulty living up to his $12.5 million price tag.

The plan outlined by Olney involves a specific scenario under which Ortiz repeats his 2009 first-half struggles, leading to a trade of Ortiz, acquiring a catcher and moving Victor Martinez to DH.

Quite the series of moves.

The first obstacle to any such move involves Ortiz underperforming to such a degree that he repeats his putrid April and May, in which he hit just one home run in 178 at-bats on his way to a .185/.289/.286 overall line…

Red Sox acquire Tug Hulett

The Red Sox today acquired Tug Hulett from the Royals for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Hulett, who will enter his age 27 season, has two years’ experience in the major leagues. In 67 at-bats, his slash line is .194/.270/.254. He can play second, third and short and has spent most of the last three seasons in Triple-A. His career minor league line is .284/.394/.418.

The left-hander is considered a possible Rule 5 draft pick, but Boston will likely stash him on their 40-man roster instead. While he won’t be handed the backup infield job, he will absolutely compete for it. I’m not entirely positive, but I believe he will have to clear waivers if the club intends to have him open the season at Triple-A. I fully expect him to start the season as Pawtucket’s second baseman.

Wakefield, Hoyer, and Squinting at Free Agents

Wake Undergoes Surgery

Tim Wakefield underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a herniated disk and loose bone fragment in his back. Wakefield is expected to pitch next year and should be ready for Spring Training. The 43 year-old vet was visually hampered last year, turning in a 4.58 ERA and 4.58 FIP despite his woeful last three starts (14 IP, 14 ER, 8 K, 12 BB).

Squinting at Free Agents

While we have gone at length discussing the top free agents and mapping out blueprints for the Sox’ offseason, there are a number of intriguing names on the market that are flying under the radar. Not all of them are the safest bets, with varying levels of performance or injury history, but they do have some sex appeal. Here are a few names to mull over. Special thanks to Eddie Bajek of MLB Trade Rumors.

OF Rick Ankiel: Ankiel came off a sub-par season in 2009, as his power was down, his walks were down, and his K’s were up en route to a .231/.285/.387 line.

Assessing Boston’s other left field candidates

Jason Bay. Matt Holliday. Jason Bay. Matt Holliday. Matt Holliday. Jason Bay. Jason Bay. Matt Holliday. Matt Holliday. Jason Bay.

Okay, let’s take a break from the two obvious left-fielder candidates and focus on other free agents that could be manning left field for the Red Sox in 2010.

I’m thinking that Theo’s going to give this club another run with a fill-in left-fielder because as comprised, the team is still very good. As comprised, the team can still hit 95 wins — if things go right.

To compete in a transition year, however, we’re going to need a left-fielder that can produce.

BOS 10, KC 3 – Clay Delivers, KC Flops… Again

Red Sox 10 – Kansas City 3

Apparently, playing spoiler isn’t as fun as the media makes it out to be. You get burned more often than you succeed.

With little more than a week left in the season, the Royals look to put the finishing touches on another disappointing campaign.

KC has played admirably in the last few days, though tonight they were clearly overmatched by a young fireballer at the top of his game. In the end, the Royals got their scheduled paychecks, while the Sox got additional restitution for Tuesday’s loss and draw one step closer to the Wild Card.

9/24: Buch-wild

GAME NOTES: Sorry for the late game thread, fellas… but boy, what a job this Clay is doing, eh?

BOS 9, KC 2: Do Unto Others…

Just one night after Paul Byrd dropped five runs in the first frame against the Kansas City Royals, KC found out what it was like to watch an entire game slip away in one inning. Behind a six run fifth inning, the Boston Red Sox gave the Royals one such beat down, taking their first win of the series off of KC, 9-2, last night. The win was their 90th of the season, and brought the magic number in the Wild Card Race down to five.

9/23: Beckett + KC lineup = Bloodbath

GAME NOTES: Josh Beckett looks to grab his 16th win and continue his exit from the doldrums. Boston will face Luke Hochevar, who recently learned that he was tipping his pitches and thinks it’s part of his struggles since entering the majors. He shut out the White Sox his last turn out, so maybe there’s something to his claims. We’ll see. All I know is that it took outsiders to let Hochevar know he’s been doing it for years. Ah, the Royals…