Jon Lester

Well folks, it's that time of year again. Regardless of what that groundhog said, spring has sprung. MLB teams have reported to their Spring Training venues in Florida and Arizona and rosters are beginning to take shape and it is time to start making predictions.

Fort Myers, Fla. is abuzz with Red Sox fans both young and old. With so many new faces in addition to most of the core from last year, it is going to be a fun spring. Here are some things to think about as the Sox break camp this year:

The Boston Red Sox came so close but they failed to make it past the ALDS by losing to the Angels in the first round of last year’s playoffs. However, it was an up and down year for the Sox that saw them finish with a 95-67 record.

Southpaw Jon Lester has evolved into the ace of the Boston Red Sox pitching staff. 

Two winters ago, there were many fans who urged the Sox to trade a package of players including Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury to Minnesota in exchange for then-Twins lefty Johan Santana. Potential, they argued, was not as valuable as production. Many of us pleaded with Red Sox GM Theo Epstein from afar to hold onto Lester in the belief he would develop into an ace. 

This Article Was Originally Published at GetOutofMyBallpark.com

With pitchers and catchers reporting TOMORROW (as well as many of the guys already in camp), it's time that we take stock of what has happened to the Red Sox in the past few months and accept some realities.

Jason Bay is gone. He's a Met now. The Sox let go of a guy who hit 36 home runs and had 119 RBI and replaced him with Mike Cameron.

Phew!

Baseball is recovering from the biggest day of this off-season thus far. The Boston Red Sox were at the middle of a lot of the days news, even if they were not involved with the biggest name.
 

Like many baseball fans, I have spent a good number of hours watching TBS over the past couple weeks. TBS' coverage has been jam-packed with colorful commentary and insight from the brightest baseball minds in the world. Given that the next game TBS will air could be their last of the season, I thought it would be nice to reflect on some of the most memorable things that I have learned.

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The Major League Baseball American League Divisional Series is upon as and it features two of the most successful teams in the league over the last few years. The Angels, who have won their division the last three years will face off against the Red Sox, who have also been in the postseason for the last three years.

Now Boston has a problem like really no other in baseball which is that they really have too much pitching depth on their roster. This is obviously a good problem for Boston and today I will analyze who really deserves to be in their starting rotation. I will give a short synopsis of each pitcher and see if they deserve a spot in the rotation. I will also see if they deserve to be where they are today.

Josh Beckett and Jon Lester

Mother Nature was unleashed in Boston last night and the Red Sox and their fans quickly retorted.

After an afternoon full of rain and a start delayed by five minutes, the Boston Red Sox failed to solve the enigma that is Ricky Nolasco and his 7+ ERA last night.  Five innings of baseball ended up being played; a Kevin Youkilis home run, and a David Ortiz crawl to first base on the ever-typical Marlins' error later, the rain came back with a vengeance and sent the game into and two hour and twenty minute delay before being called in favor of the visiting Florida Marlins.