Red Sox Banking on Some Great Genes.

If blood lines mean anything, the Red Sox may have hit a home run when they made center fielder Reymond Fuentes their first-round pick (28th overall) in the 2009 draft. The 19-year-old Fuentes is a first cousin of New York Mets’ All-Star center fielder Carlos Beltran – who also graduated from the same high school (Fernando Callejo in Manati, Puerto Rico) as Fuentes. Fuentes, a high school sprint champion, was rated as the third-fastest runner among draft-eligible high school players. He’s been clocked in 6.2 seconds for the 60-yard dash. Not surprisingly, Fuentes admits he models his game after his star cousin. “I consider myself very similar to Carlos because when he’s playing, he just plays the game and nothing else,” Fuentes told The Boston Globe. “When I play, I get very focused on what I do. I don’t pay any mind to anything outside the game.”

Breaking: Bryce Brentz signs.

Theo Epstien isn’t resting on the fact that the Red Sox organization made what many people around baseball consider the best overall draft in 2010 — he wants those drafted players in uniform. Following up on the word that both Kolbrin Vitek and Kendrick Perkins have agreed to terms with the Sox, Jim Callis is reporting that supplemental first-round (36th overall) pick Bryce Brentz is ready to join them and get his proffesional career underway. Brentz was previously drafted as a pitcher in the 30th round by the Cleveland Indians, after two more college seasons at Middle Tennessee State he is now one of the nations top outfielders. His contract with Boston is reported at being $892,000, and will report to the Lowell Spinners when they begin their season. Now with two of Bostons three first rounders wrapped up, the only obstacle left is LSU pitcher Anthony Ranaudo, and his agent… Scott Boras.

6/12 Online Seats Game Thread: Can Boston Bomb Blanton Too?

A day after the Boston Red Sox took the Phillies out to the yard to play yesterday. Today, Daisuke Matsuzaka will do his part against Joe Blanton, who has been struggling since his return.

6/11 Online Seats Game Thread: The Best of the NL

Sometimes interleague play brings you the Pittsburgh Pirates. Other times, it brings you the Philadelphia Phillies. Let's hope the Boston Red Sox can maintain their swagger as they take on one of the best squads in the NL.

6/10 Online Seats Game Thread: The Hangover, Masterson Edition

Justin Masterson routing Clay Buchholz to embarrass his former team was a forgone conclusion? Say whaaaaaa? After a stunningly, shockingly, horrifyingly inane loss last night, the Boston Red Sox will scrape up their shattered dignity and finish an otherwise strong series in Cleveland. And what better man to slam the door than Jon Lester? Certainly not Boof Bonser... that's for sure.

6/9 Online Seats Game Thread: The Masters Take On Masterson

Having taken the last two at Cleveland, the Boston Red Sox bring the fight to their former top prospect, Justin Masterson. Masterson, the feature piece in the Victor Martinez trade, has struggled since the trade with much credit owed to his inability to put down lefties. Clay Buchholz, on the other hand, looks to continue his tremendous start to the season.

6/8 Online Seats Game Thread: Wakefield Must Wake Up

On the heels of eight shut out innings by Dice-K, Tim Wakefield will lead the Boston Red Sox in another contest against the Cleveland Indians and David Huff, who was recently humbled by a monster line drive to the head off the bat of Alex Rodriguez just two weeks ago.

All quiet at short for once

It looks like we can finally spend our time harping on other things this year like A low K/BB from John Lackey or Jonathon Papelbon instead of worrying about our short stop production. Marco Scutaro won't be leading the box score every night or getting top billing in the recap, but you won't see him as the goat either. Since 2003 when Nomar Garciaparra totaled 5.4 WAR in his last great season the Red Sox have only had two Short Stops total more than 1.5 WAR. Jed Lowrie in 2007 and Alex Gonzalez in 2006. Some of those were in limited time so they were better than they seemed, but only these two seasons had a real chance to be greater than average in a full season. So far in 2010 Scutaro has been an average hitter totaling -0.5 batting runs above average. His contact has been better than ever only striking out 10 percent of the time. His 2009 season was solidified though with a 13 percent walk rate where he is only walking 10 percent so far this year.

6/7 Online Seats Game Thread: V-Mart Cowboys Up to Face Indians

The Boston Red Sox narrowly missed a series sweep of the Baltimore Orioles. Daisuke Matsuzaka will lead the team into Cleveland to take on the struggling Indians, who have been missing Victor Martinez, as V-Mart makes his first appearance back in Cleveland since last year's move.

Names to Watch on Draft Day

Heading into draft day tomorrow, the Sox are sitting pretty with four picks in the first two rounds. Their first selection at 20, the Sox have been tied to relatively few names -- making their intentions a mystery to many even on the eve of the draft. Still, the most important name to remember when things kick off tomorrow is Anthony Raunado – the LSU right-hander being the player most frequently quoted as the Sox top target. Picks: 1-20 (from Atlanta for Type A Billy Wagner) 1s-36 (compensation for New York Mets signing Type A Jason Bay) 1s-39 (compensation for Atlanta signing Type A Billy Wagner) 2-7 (from New York Mets for Type A Jason Bay) 3-28 (110) 4-28 (143) 5-28 (Repeating at 28 for remainder of draft)