4/20 Online Seats Game Thread: Boston Looks to Turn Around Against Texas

After dropping all four games to the Rays, the Boston Red Sox must do some quick catching up against Texas, as the Rangers begin a three game stand at Fenway.

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.

Lowell to Texas, Beltre to Boston… And a Cherry Named Maximiliano

Lowell to Texas, Beltre to Boston? This rumor has been cooking for a long time, and it may finally be ready for consumption. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Red Sox and Rangers have a deal in place that would send Mike Lowell to the Texas Rangers, with the Sox receiving top catching prospect Max Ramirez. Many expect the trade to be a precursor to the signing of Adrian Beltre. As per Rosenthal, the Sox would contribute a substantial portion of Lowell’s contract - in his words, with the Sox “eating nearly all of [Lowell’s] 12 [million dollar] salary.” Dan Barbarisi of the Providence Journal, on the other hand, has the Sox providing “at least half” of the deal. We likely won’t know for some time which of the two price tags will win out, but be certain that it will significantly affect the team’s outlook for the remainder of the winter. Is this the Sox answer to the Granderson deal in New York? Probably not. This isn’t the kind of blockbuster trade that substantially alters the team for 2010. In fact, the trade is curious in the sense that it would significantly hinder the team’s ability to maneuver for free agents for the rest of the off-season – and could put them out of the running for either Jason Bay or Matt Holliday...

Report: Red Sox acquire Max Ramirez for Mike Lowell

Ken Rosenthal on Twitter reports that the Red Sox are trading Mike Lowell to the Texas Rangers. In exchange for eating most of Lowell's $12 million salary, the Red Sox are receiving catcher Max Ramirez. Read on to hear about the potential fallout of the trade.

8/16: …

Junichi Tazawa makes his second start of a very short career. Once he settled in, and the defense actually started to play defense behind him, he looked good in his first start.

If Youkilis had any chance at MVP, even though Mauer is clearly the best player, then I think it went out the window with his helmet throwing incident. Now he is suspended, and because Drew is hurt, the lineup won't be as strong the next few days...

...But that is just one man's opinion.

8/15: Penny tries to give us a quality start.

Since Brad Penny's best this season seems to be six innings, three earned. Then that is what I expect from him. I just hope that he doesn't fare worse. It is a critical game, in terms of the Wild Card, so let's get a W!

8/14: Important series begins.

In what is a crucial series, one of our aces, Jon Lester, takes the mound against Kevin Millwood. Lester has been awesome of late, and Millwood has had a nice season, although somewhat lucky. Take two of three, Red Sox.

Smoltz’s Future

Now that John Smoltz has played his last game as a member of the Red Sox, it is time to ask the question, does he have anything left in the tank? A few teams think so, but his struggles point to a fading pitcher...

The Weekend Series Preview

With Thursday's game still to be played, the Sox look toward their three-game weekend series in Texas, back 5.5 of the Yankees; up 1.5 on the Rangers in the wildcard. This is a big set - don't take it likely...

7/22: Youth shall be served

Adam LaRoche and Chris Duncan in, Julio Lugo and prospects out....but none of them will be an impact in today's game. With the Yankees win today already in the books, tonight is all about Clay Buchholz.