by jcookson | Mar 14, 2014 | Boston Red Sox, Brock Holt, David Ortiz, Devin Marrero, Garin Cecchini, Grady Sizemore, Grady Sizemore, Jackie Bradley, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonathan Herrera, Mike Carp, Mike Carp, Ryan Lavarnway, Will Middlebrooks, Xander Bogaerts
The 2014 edition of the Red Sox looks poised to contend again for the AL East crown. It’s a deep team with several stars and veteran leaders, balanced by some young talent. Baseball Prospectus predicts they’re an 88 win team. Every team has weaknesses though, and here...
by bcowett | Feb 28, 2014 | Andrew Miller, Boston Red Sox, Jacoby Ellsbury, John Farrell, Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara, Will Middlebrooks
I don’t even care that it was two college teams. The Red Sox played baseball yesterday. They pitched and hit and scored runs and stuff. It all still counts. We’re not always the optimistic sort, but the 2014 Red Sox look different and not as 2013-like. Is...
by jcookson | Feb 7, 2014 | Allen Webster, Anthony Ranaudo, Blake Swihart, Brian Johnson, Buster Posey, Christian Vazquez, Devin Marrero, Dustin Pedroia, Garin Cecchini, Henry Owens, Jackie Bradley, Jacoby Ellsbury, Luis Diaz, Manuel Margot, Matt Barnes, Mookie Betts, Nomar Garciaparra, Trey Ball, Xander Bogaerts
Here’s my ranking of the top 15 prospects in the Red Sox minor league system, ranked on their ability and likelihood to impact the major league club. The top ten players should all start the year at Double A or higher, giving an indication of the amount of talent the...
by bcowett | Jan 29, 2014 | 2014 Red Sox offseason, Alex Hassan, Boston Red Sox, Byron Buxton, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jerry Remy, New York Yankees, Xander Bogaerts
Guys, I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty spoiled here in Phoenix. It’s been like 75 degrees every day for the last few weeks. I can’t help how amazing it is at this time of year. He’s been the stalwart of the team since the early 2000s, and...
by dpoarch | Jan 26, 2014 | Alex Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Chris Davis, Derek Jeter, Evan Longoria, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jim Johnson, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Manny Machado, Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Wei-Yin Chen, Xander Bogaerts
Around this time ever year, we hit that tipping point where most of the offseason’s notable moves have already occurred. Sure, there are some free agents left to sort out (I.E. Stephen Drew, Nelson Cruz, Ubaldo Jimenez, etc.), but for the most part, the bigger pieces...
by akhatchaturian | Jan 11, 2014 | A.J. Pierzynski, Boston Red Sox, Daniel Nava, Detroit Tigers, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Minnesota Twins, Shane Victorino
After some extensive research in April 2013, I found that one of the reasons why pitchers are starting to dominate baseball is because first pitch strikes are up and first pitch swing rate are down league wide. These graphs from fangraphs.com showed how first pitch...
by bcowett | Dec 13, 2013 | 2013 Winter Meetings, 2014 Red Sox offseason, Ben Cherington, Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, Garin Cecchini, Jacoby Ellsbury, Michael Almanzar, Ryan Madson, Stephen Drew
Not the most exciting Winter Meetings for Boston, but then again, they didn’t have or feel a real need to improve coming into the Meetings. So it goes, I guess. It was a silent trip to the Winter Meetings for the Red Sox, but Ben Cherington did practically...
by jcookson | Dec 6, 2013 | 2014 Red Sox offseason, A.J. Pierzynski, Boston Red Sox, Chase Headley, Edward Mujica, Garin Cecchini, Jackie Bradley, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, John Lackey, Matt Kemp, Mike Napoli, Ryan Dempster, Will Middlebrooks, Xander Bogaerts
I’ve been surprised by how little negative reaction there has been in Boston to Jacoby Ellsbury leaving the Red Sox and signing with the Yankees. Most of this seems to stem from feelings that Ellsbury was overpriced, and the Red Sox were wise to let him go. While the...
by bcowett | Dec 6, 2013 | 2014 Red Sox offseason, Boston Red Sox, Edward Mujica, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Koji Uehara, Mike Napoli, Robinson Cano, Seattle Mariners, Xander Bogaerts
Holy offseason, Batman! Everything just decided to snowball this week. This week has been chaotic in terms of headlines and breaking news in baseball. The Red Sox aren’t making many big moves, but instead they’re just shoring up weaknesses right now,...
by bcowett | Dec 4, 2013 | 2014 Red Sox offseason, A.J. Pierzynski, Boston Red Sox, Jackie Bradley, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, John Lackey, New York Yankees, Ryan Lavarnway, Shane Victorino
Everything just exploded yesterday. The offseason got very interesting very fast and it was pretty damn hard to keep up with it, even for me. Absolutely crazy. Despite leaving for a hated rival, Jacoby Ellsbury is no Benedict Arnold. What he contributed to this team...
