Finding the Bright Spots

I’ve never been the type of person who’s enjoyed giving people what they wanted. In fact, one of my favorite pastimes…

The Red Sox from a Roto Perspective

When I started writing about baseball, it was through fantasy baseball. My site is indeed aptly named Fantasy Baseball 365.…

Will Carroll’s Team Health Reports: Red Sox

Will Carroll is known far and wide as the “injury expert” — as his Twitter name suggests — and having…

Is Pedroia Headed for a Career Year?

photo © 2007 Keith Allison | more info (via: Wylio) Last week, I wrote an article for ESPN’s Sweet Spot…

2011 Red Sox Projected Stolen Bases

photo © 2007 Eric Kilby | more info (via: Wylio) ^ Bill James’s total projected stolen bases: 143 My total…

Is the Sox Offense Too Left-Handed Heavy?

The Red Sox have accumulated so much talent this offseason that they have a problem. OK, so it’s a good,…

A Quant Going Qual

My intention was to post Red Sox hitter projections but it appears that Charlie Saponara has that covered. Since my…

2011 Projections: Dustin Pedroia

Dustin Pedroia 2011 projection: AB AVG OBP SLG OPS HR R RBI SB 644 .300 .373 .477 .850 15 112…

Sox Farmhands Make Good: Buchholz, Kalish, Pedroia, and the Future

Last night's 6-0 victory over the Angels didn't gain the Sox any games in the standings. With the Yankees and Rays both victorious, Boston still sits five and a half games behind the AL East's co-leaders. You'd be forgiven, though, if you felt a surge of hope after the final out, because this game displayed all the reasons the Sox are still in contention this year, and a harbinger of the one recovery that might propel them ahead.

This season has been as trying as any in recent Red Sox history, but it has also been as inspiring. Going into the year, I anticipated this club to be one of my favorites, and it turns out I was right, but for the wrong reasons: while I was expecting a run-prevention monster with a solid, top-five AL offense, what I got was a ragtag crew beset by injury but still, through a better than expected offense and contributions from the most unexpected of places, managing to hang in contention all year. Between the strong and consistent pitching of Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester to the season-saving heroics of journeymen and minor leaguers like Darnell McDonald, Bill Hall, Daniel Nava and Ryan Kalish, this team has kept on the trail of a playoff berth when they should have been written off. And now, the day after Dustin Pedroia's emotional return, the most important cog in the team's machinery is back where he belongs. This season has defied every prediction so far, but if the Sox were to go on a tear from here on out, count me among those who wouldn't be in the least surprised.

Reflecting on Boston’s good contracts as a declining A-Rod hits No. 600

Yesterday, Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th career home run. While fanfare was mixed -- most non-Yankee fans could care less -- the one thing that jumped to my mind was how rough of a season A-Rod is actually having and how hard it was for him to finally reach 600 home runs. I then took a second look at his 10-year/$275 million dollar contract, which has seven years remaining. In my opinion, it could end up being the worst contract in baseball history. That got me thinking of some of the Red Sox current contracts and how they blow the A-Rod deal out of the water.

The first contract that stands out in my mind is the 6-year/$45.5 million dollar deal Dustin Pedroia signed before the 2009 season. Even in a "down year" last season, Pedroia was worth 5 WAR and even having missed a chunk of time this season he has already been worth 3.5 WAR. As a comparison, Alex Rodriguez, to this point in the season, has been worth only 2 WAR. Pedroia is signed through his prime seasons (27-31) and will make no more than $10 million, which comes at the end of the deal (also and $11 million dollar club option for 2015).