Dustin Pedroia

A week after ending the longest sellout streak in baseball, the Red Sox helped fill their fans' hearts with pride after one of Boston's darkest days. Then they continued their own shocking revival.

New Red Sox manager John Farrell has his work cut out for him as he tries to pick up the pieces from last year's horrendous showing under Bobby Valentine. He's been tasked with patching up the leaking holes that led to the Red Sox' worst season in nearly 50 years—and then some.

If he can take anything away from his predecessor, it's a long list of don'ts.

When thinking about all of the things Farrell should approach differently this year than Valentine, the short answer is everything. But here are five crucial lessons to be learned for a guaranteed turnaround in 2013.

Well, you can now add Dustin Pedroia to the growing list of injured Boston Red Sox players.

The Boston Red Sox have the best offense in baseball and it's not close. 

They hold the top spot in runs scored, average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. 

With the best offense in baseball, you'd expect the Red Sox to have a player in the MVP conversation, but not three.

Eleven games into 2011, the Boston Red Sox are 2-9.

They've dug themselves a nice little hole to work out of, huh?

Amid the many things that are going wrong for the Red Sox, there are some things that are going right. 

David Ortiz is having his best spring in years. Adrian Gonzalez has settled in nicely. Josh Beckett and Jon Lester are both coming off superb eight-inning efforts.

I have made a decision: The 2011 major league baseball season began on April 8th.

I don't need to hear you tell me that I'm crazy, or stupid, or ugly, or a pervert; the voices in my head tell me that all the time (especially Paul; he's such a jerk!) This is not about logic, this is about survival. And we all know that the most important thing any organism can do, after eating deep-dish pizza, of course, is to survive. Don't argue with me, I didn't make the rules.

Click here to enter the 2011 Fantasy Baseball Team Name Contest



Here’s an updated and expanded look at the 2011 second basemen rankings:

When it comes to his lineup, Boston Red Sox Manager Terry Francona has a lot of difficult decisions to make. He was handed some of the best puzzle pieces around and was told to “Tetris” them together to the best of his ability.

Francona better invest in those extra big pencil erasers that you used to buy in elementary school. You know, the ones that fit onto the end of the writing utensil over the small eraser that’s already attached to the pencil. I think Tito will be going through quite a few of those.

One hundred and fifty million five hundred thousand dollars. That's an obscene amount of money. With that kind of cash, you could open thirty of your own Dunkin' Donuts franchises, buy the high school I attended, acquire all of the Honus Wagner rookie cards that may be left on Earth, and a Fenway Frank.

Or, if you're like the Red Sox, you craft a multi-year commitment to two pitchers that went a combined 20-17 with an ERA above five last year.

Previously The Fantasy Fix reviewed and gave projections for the 2011 Red Sox rotation. Now its time to dive in and analyze the Fenway Fearsome positional players.

Don't forget to check out our 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit

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