AL East

Article first found at Boston Sox Journalism .

The original article is found at Boston Sox Journalism , the newest site dedicated to Red Sox journalism at it's finest.

The Baseball America Prospect rankings were released last week, a list coveted by fans and media, but otherwise superfluous for the organizations themselves, who have their own rankings and plans for their players.

The Red Sox minor league system has some gems, but the conclusions that BA came to should be slightly disturbing. The list of the top ten prospects, as I say, seems strong, with names that we have heard regularly, such as Casey Kelly, the shortstop-turned-pitcher, and Jose Iglesias, the first round pick and shortstop of the future.

Who ever thought that the Toronto Blue Jays would enter the ring and be in contention for one of the most hotly contested pitchers in the world? MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Blue Jays discussions with Aroldis Chapman are heating up, and met with him for a private workout on Thursday. 

So the Bay era is over in Boston. Probably a lot sooner than many Red Sox fans, myself included, had hoped.

Jason Bay, while no Manny Ramirez with the bat, provided the Red Sox with a very solid power stroke in a very walk-happy lineup (second in the AL with 659), hitting 36 home runs, and providing a very nice line of .267/.384/.537.

It will be interesting to see how Bay's style plays at Citi Field, as it is a very young ballpark, and while Fenway Park is noted as a hitter's park, it also can depress HR totals. Particularly for a right handed hitter.

After the markets best slugger was plucked off the table when the New York Mets signed Jason Bay to a five year contract, teams are now going to have to dive into the second tier of bats, (excluding Matt Holliday, whom I fully expect to re-up long term with the Cardinals), to fill their needs.

The best remaining bat on the market (excluding Russell Branyan, whom I expect to re-sign with the Seattle Mariners), appears to be former Atlanta first baseman Adam LaRoche.

Hell, I'm not going to kid myself into believing that I will achieve any of those things in 2010, so why not direct my New Year's resolutions towards my favourite team on earth?

In the '80s, it was all about "Who Shot J.R.?"

In the '90s, we had O.J. and A.C. cruising down the 405 in the white Bronco.

In the aughts 2000s '00s, Snookie's sucker-punch on Jersey Shore appeared to be the clear frontrunner for this decade's defining TV moment.

But that was before Johnny Damon appeared as guest host of WWE's Monday Night Raw.