Wednesday Links: Home runs victimize Ranaudo, Red Sox

The Red Sox began their second to last road series of the 2014 season with a loss against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. Two Pirates home runs, and an unproductive offense spoiled an otherwise effective start from the 25-year old rookie. Pittsburgh backstop...

Tuesday Links: Waiting until the end

After taking three games of four from the Kansas City Royals over the weekend, the Red Sox hit the road on Monday and traveled to Pittsburgh for the first time since 2011. Boston will send rookie right-hander Anthony Ranaudo to the mound to start the series, while the...

John Lackey, Jon Lester, and the 2015 Red Sox

It’s not entirely clear if this has been adequately reported or not, but John Lackey is signed for 2015 at the staggering rate of $500,000 (major league minimum) because he his contract stipulated just that were he to miss time significant due to injury. Oh, you...

Roster Power Rankings, March Edition

Every month during the season, here on Fire Brand, I take a look at the relative value of the 25 players on the current active roster. The criteria for the power rankings: 1) What is the value of each player on the Red Sox roster relative to the other players? If a...

2014 Free Agent Class: Possible Red Sox Reunions

The 2014 offseason is officially underway. The Red Sox don’t figure to be the big players in free agency this year that they were before the 2013 season, but depending on which players leave and which players stay, there will still be a few holes to fill. You’ll see...

Proven Closers Need Not Apply

The stress of the playoffs is killing me.  Everything from Tim McCarver and Joe Buck droning on about the most ridiculous of narratives; Farrell’s insistence on starting Jonny Gomes over Daniel Nava when facing right handed starting pitching (the last two nights...

Fire Brand 2013 Postseason Predictions

Back in March of this year, the Fire Brand writers got together and submitted their 2013 Preseason Predictions. Well, in short, they weren’t pretty. And, quite frankly, preseason baseball predictions usually are not accurate, evidenced by 4 of the 7 writers at...