The Advanced Scout – Houston Astros

The Advanced Scout struggles to find something good to say about the Houston Astros.

Bold Predictions for 2013, Part 1 — The Pitchers

With 19 days to go before pitchers and catchers officially report, let’s pass some of the long cold winter weeks by making some bold (and not so bold) predictions for the season ahead.

The Advanced Scout – Washington Nationals

The Advanced Scout recovers from his Del's Lemonade headache and analyzes the Washington Nationals

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...

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.

Possible in-season trade targets for BoSox

One reason why many clubs are shying away from doling out big-money free agent extensions (besides the economy, of course) is the potential to land gamechanging hitter at more favorable prices in-season from teams that experience a budget crunch. The Milwaukee Brewers are doing this; so are the Red Sox.

Let's take a look at what players could become available to the Sox as the season goes on...