Ted's Army: The Voice of Red Sox fans

Your Morning Dump...where who is getting the final spots in the 'pen?

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

After a transformative offseason that has earned them the mantra of Hot Stove League champions, the Red Sox will head to Fort Myers with few job openings. Barring injury, the most substantial competition will be among a handful of relief pitchers for the final two seats in the bullpen.

By virtue of their contracts and incumbent status, right-hander Scott Atchison and lefty Hideki Okajima may be slight favorites. But the field also includes right-hander Matt Albers, Hill and perhaps fellow lefties Andrew Miller and Felix Doubront, each of who represent intriguing options.

Albers, a free agent addition from the Baltimore Orioles with a penchant for getting ground balls, may push Atchison, nothing new for a 34-year-old who returned last year from two seasons in Japan and made an Opening Day roster for the first time last spring. And while Okajima’s numbers have declined each year since 2007, the Red Sox re-signed him for $1.5 million because they lack proven in-house lefty alternatives.

Doubront, 23, made both his major league debut and an eye-opening conversion to the bullpen last season with 13 strikeouts in 92⁄3 innings. But there is a feeling within the organization he will get greater long-term benefit from being a starter in Triple A than facing mostly left-handed hitters as a reliever in the majors.

Then there are Hill and Miller, both seeking a return to the majors at different stages in their careers.

Herald: Making pitches for Sox relief roles

You can't argue with Atichson and Okajima being the favorites heading into Spring Training. However, Albers will be the one to watch to grab one of those two spots, which means the bullpen will be pretty full. Counting these two spots, the Red Sox will be having  seven pitchers in the roster as Wakefield, Wheeler, Jenks, Bard, and Papelbon are already in there. These two pitchers will be getting little work and would be primarily used as specialists when Terry Francona decides to imitate Tony LaRussa. I think Oki and Albers will be taking the two spots, but Spring Training will make things a bit more clearer.. hopefully.

Comparing Red Sox prospect lists

We're nearing the time of the year when all prospect and general baseball annuals come out, and as can be expected, there is some disagreement between some of the prominent prospect raters.

Peter Abraham posted the top Sox on the Baseball America list:

1. SS Jose Iglesias
2. RHP Anthony Ranaudo
3. LHP Drake Britton
4. OF Josh Reddick
5. LHP Felix Doubront
6. RHP Stolmy Pimentel
7. 3B Garin Cecchini
8. 1B Lars Anderson
9. 3B Kolbrin Vitek
10. 2B Oscar Tejada

With our best guys now residing in San Diego, it's no surprise that Jose Iglesias or the uber-hyped Anthony Ranaudo are at the top. I personally am a bit surprised about Josh Reddick being so high, and even that Lars Anderson jumped back into the top 10 after re-establishing some value at Pawtucket last year.

By comparison, Kevin Goldstein posted the top 10 over at Baseball Prospectus:

Four-Star Prospects
1. Jose Iglesias, SS
2. Anthony Ranaudo, RHP
Three-Star Prospects
3. Josh Reddick, OF
4. Drake Britton, LHP
5. Kolbin Vitek, 3B
6. Brandon Workman, RHP
7. Yamaico Navarro, INF
8. Felix Doubront, LHP
9. Oscar Tejeda, 2B
10. Stolmy Pimentel, RHP
11. Will Middlebrooks, 3B

BP adds two levels to make more of a distinction, but the top two remain unchanged. They're not as high on Lars, who's at 13. Cecchini is five spots lower, but this year's 1st rounder Kolbrin Vitek, now listed as a 3B instead of a 2B, is considered much higher.

Everyone seems to lead off any Sox prospect talk with the depleted ranks, thanks to the Gonzalez deal, but let's be honest: It doesn't matter. Theo drafts superbly, and none of these guys (beyond Iglesias, Doubront [as a reliever], and potentially Luis Exposito, who's surprisingly low on both lists) is going to get a shot at the big club in the next few years. Our best guys are in their prime, and assuming we lock Adrian up, we're a contender for, realistically, probably the next five years. That gives Theo plenty of time to replenish the ranks.

Still, I'm glad to see Jose as top across the board. If we can get some shortstop stability, we'd only have one legitimate long-term concern, at the catcher position.

Your Morning Dump... Is Texas still a threat?

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

When it comes to the opposition, the focus in these parts will always be the Yankees, with good reason, and then maybe the Rays within the division. But the road to the World Series will eventually lead outside the American League East and, at that point, the Red Sox [team stats] will have to stare down a rival from somewhere else. Here’s one they should remember: Texas.

The Rangers reached their first World Series last year before falling to the Giants in five games. Though they suffered one humongous loss in the offseason when ace left-hander Cliff Lee departed for Philadelphia, it would be a mistake to write off the defending AL champions, who still return significant firepower and recently added ex-Red Sox All-Star Adrian Beltre.

Herald - Sox have eyes on Texas

The loss of Lee opens up the AL West once again. Sure Texas can hit the hell out of the ball, but I'm gonna bet the Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels win the division.

For those chomping at the bit for Spring Training, check out our new countdown clock at the top of left sidebar.

The rest of the links:

Maine Sunday Telegram: Sox  hope to rebuild era of backstop stability |Globe - Cafardo's Sunday baseball notes | ESPN Boston - Pedroia getting better everyday |

Your Morning Dump...Where tickets are on sale...NOW

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Go get 'em, people.

Herald | Theo Epstein offers healthy outlook | Underpaid Albert Pujols looking for major contract upgrade | Is Michael Young history? Maybe, maybe not | Globe | Goal: Be experts in their field | ESPNBoston | 10 Questions: No. 5 -- How will David Ortiz do?

What, us worry?

Tony Mazz details five worries for the 2011 Sox, but it's pretty obvious that it's a story an editor cooked up. His five choices: our shortstop situation, our catching situation, being stacked with lefties in the lineup, Papelbon, and Beckett and Lackey (thought of as one). Let's go through these one by one.

Our shortstop situation is in no way negative -- we have two suitable candidates, with the heir apparent, our no. 1 prospect Jose Iglesias on pace to start in 2012. Next.

Our catcher situation is certainly negative, but isn't a worry because our lineup is absolutely stacked. Oh no, Jarrod Saltalamacchia might OPS .700? Big deal.

Being overly dependent on lefties -- Crawford, Ellsbury, Gonzalez, Ortiz, Drew, plus Lowrie and Salty as switch-hitters -- was only a concern in one scenario: if the Yankees signed Cliff Lee. If the Yanks were rolling out Sabathia, Lee, and Pettite, having a bunch of lefties is a major issue. But they're not. They might only have one of them. The Rays' starters are predominantly right-handed, and there's no other prominent AL team to worry about right now. Over in the NL, the Phils have two lefties, so I guess it's a concern if we face the Phillies in the World Series. Not really something to fret about at this stage.

Papelbon -- sure, he had a rough year compared to what we're used to. The optimist's view: He's in a contract year, and he's talked at length about how important financial security is to him. He has the pedigree. He has the competitiveness. He'll be fine. The pessimist's view: He continues to be a concern...so we turn to Bobby Jenks and Daniel Bard. Again, this is not something to really worry about.

Josh Beckett and John Lackey are our one true concern. Even if Lester and Buchholz repeat last year's performances, we can't trust Daisuke (because he's Daisuke) and Wakefield (because he's a hundred and seventy years old). We need at least one of Beckett or Lackey to perform. A 10% improvement on last year's performance from Lackey would actually be suitable: If he could still pitch 215 innings, but knock the ERA down to 4.00, that would be very productive. Beckett is obviously the bigger turnaround. He was lousy last year, no question. He wasn't healthy, and the few times he was healthy he was atrocious. If he has a bounceback year -- not to 2007 levels, but maybe even 80-90% of that -- we are the absolute lockdown favorites for the World Series. Another 2010-like stinker, we may have issues.

The masses agree with me -- a reader poll shows more than 61% saying Beckett and Lackey are the concern. With our considerable resources, I have to think even if they are both terrible, we can still find a way. It's really hard not to be positive about the 2011 Red Sox.

The Red Sox are about ready for April

Theo Epstein stated that the Red Sox are about ready for April. He also said that they would like to work on the minor league rosters.

WEEI

“Who knows when there might be a waiver claim, or one more minor league sign,” said Epstein, “but, we’re more or less set.”

The GM did note that one area the Red Sox might add another piece for depth on a minor-league deal is in the form of a potential starter.

“We do feel OK about our starting depth. That’s one area we’re still looking, there might be a late minor-league sign, somebody who can go to Triple A,” said Epstein, who has already signed veteran starters Brandon Duckworth and Jason Bergmann for organizational depth. “But right now those guys are looking for major league jobs, so we’ll see. We do feel like we have some built in depth.”

It is nice to see that Theo is thinking about the minors since most of the top prospects were shipped away for A-Gon.

Don't forget to get your Josh Beckett charity T-Shirt

New partnership to benefit Josh Beckett's charity

We are proud to announce we are officially partnering up with Muze Clothing to sell Josh Beckett's charity TShirts.

The shirts cost $40 and the proceeds benefit The Josh Beckett Foundation... which supports Children's Hospital in Boston.  So please help Josh's fight by clicking on the banner below, or the same banner on the right side of the site. You'll see all the available designs there. Remember, this is Josh Beckett's official shirt... so please spread the word and help!

The inaugural class of the baseball name hall of fame

I'm a sucker for a good name. I found myself having trouble hating the Jets during the playoffs because they have players named D'Brickashaw and Brodney. I have trouble criticizing the light-hitting and poor-fielding Yuniesky Betancourt because, I mean, look at those syllables.

So this SBNation post is right up my alley: The Baseball Name Hall of Fame.

I'm not going to spoil all of them for you, because it gets more enjoyable as you scroll down. Suffice it to say, former Sox starter Oil Can Boyd is there. But is Oil Can as funny as, say, Ugly Dickshot? I think not.

My only quibble would be that Mr. UUU himself, Ugueth Urbina, didn't find his way on there. But maybe SBNation tried to avoid glorifying criminals.

Rumor: Albert Pujols wants 10 yr, $300 million contract

Via ESPN's Jayson Stark:

Is it possible that Pujols is a $300 million man?

There has never been one in baseball history, you know -- not even Alex Rodriguez. But scuttlebutt from other clubs is that that's where Pujols and Lozano began the conversation.

Ten years. At $30 million a year. For a total of $300 million.

And when the folks on the Cardinals' side of the table regained consciousness, they said something to the effect of: "You're kidding, right?"

But Pujols is not kidding. He's coming off a seven-year, $100 million deal that has turned out to be exceptionally club-friendly. So if it seems to you that the only side you've heard mention the word "discount" was the Cardinals, you don't need to get your hearing tested.

"Albert's side feels like they've already given their discount," said an NL executive who has negotiated hundreds of contracts. "He's saying: 'Now it's my turn.'"

Holy crap.

Pujols is certainly worth $30 million per season, but a 10 year deal pays him through his 41st birthday.

If this deal happens, the Red Sox could be affected:

OK, then how about the Red Sox? If Pujols signs before spring training, he'll almost certainly blow up the first-base payroll scale before Boston finishes extending Adrian Gonzalez's deal. But the Red Sox and Gonzalez's agent, John Boggs, are so far down the road on the terms of Gonzalez's extension that neither side expects Pujols' deal to affect Gonzalez's contract significantly.

Because Pujols is a once in a lifetime player, a deal of this magnitude won't set the bar for other players. It's crappy deals like the one Washington gave Jason Werth (7 yrs, $126 million) that destroy the market.

Your Morning Dump...where Pedroia tries to stay confident.

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

"My biggest mindset is I'm going to spring training and I'm trying to help us win, and the best way to do that is me being healthy and taking care of it the right way," he said. "I'm not here to do anything special, I'm here to find a way to help us win every day. I'm going to own it and try and go out there and do it."

Now, the true test is right around the corner. It's not so much how many hits Pedroia can muster, or even measuring his speed, strength, or dexterity. Executing the lessons of the last few months is now the priority. 

An offseason of ups and downs is now ready to be punctuated with the real thing -- Pedroia's return to baseball.

"The worse moment has been dealing with every day, mentally … shoot, your mind wanders. Some days you think you're not OK, then you're OK," he said. "That stuff is in the back of your mind all the time. It's hard to get away from. You have to keep telling yourself that you're going to wake up one day and everything is going to be normal. That's it. I always stay positive. I know I'm going to be fine, I know I'm going to have a great year, I know we're going to have a great year. Your mind can overpower a lot of things, and I'm banking on that.

WEEI: Pedroia not letting foot, uncertainty getting the better of him

This is probably the least confident I've ever Pedroia since he's taken over at second base. You can't blame him when the two people who've had a similar injury have had their careers ended or were pretty damn close to calling it quits (Yao Ming and Grant Hill, respectively.) He has a good mind set but we've all been their at some point in time when your mind wanders and you think of the worst case scenario. Once he can get some confidence with that foot, watch out for the laser show.

And we need him too. WEEI pointed out that the Sox went 44-43 while he was on the DL. He's one of the Sox leaders and his flexibility in the lineup (he can bat in virtually any spot) is a wonderful luxury to have.

The Sox will be taking all the precautions to make sure he gets back to 100% which probably means we won't see him playing a lot of games in Spring Training. That's fine as long as he's healthy.