Jonathan Papelbon

This past calendar year has been nothing but heartbreak after heartbreak for New England sports fans.

(All 29 other sports regions/cities roll their eyes collectively).

We're no Seattle or Cleveland, but these have been somewhat trying times for fans that have high standards for success.

Here is a debate for the ages. In one corner you have Jonathan Papelbon, who is arguably one of the most consistent closers in baseball on a consistently winning team. In the other corner you have Jonathan Broxton, who was considered the best closer in baseball going into drafts last season. Both suffered setbacks last season, but none bigger than Broxton.

MLB Spring Training has only just started, but the MLB buzz is continuous. There is already buzz about mid-season trades to come. There's also already buzz about the free agents after this season.

Albert Pujols and C.C. Sabathia will probably continue to dominate the MLB buzz. There are some other buzz stories past Pujols and Sabathia, though.

Here are some of the latest buzz in the MLB world.

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Josh Beckett, John Lackey and Jonathan Papelbon each face the daunting challenge of regaining the old velocity and movement on their fastballs.  That's a hard thing for any pitcher to do when their fastball has begun to decline.  

We here at Baseball Professor think about our readers first and ourselves second—albeit a close second. That’s why we decided to reach out to other bloggers (who follow their respective teams more closely than we do) to give you a deeper look into the important issues every fantasy owner has to come to grips with this season. Our seventh installment is with the Boston Red Sox and comes courtesy of Mike Silver from Fire Brand of the AL.

The Boston Red Sox agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Dennys Reyes on a minor league deal earlier today.

Earlier this offseason, Reyes had a $1.1 million deal in line with the Phillies, before it was nixed for unknown reasons.

The 33-year old and 14-year major league veteran posted a 3-1 record, 3.55 ERA, and 1.45 WHIP in 59 appearances with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2010. He owns a 4.18 ERA and 1.55 WHIP over his lengthy career.

Jonathan Papelbon's recent "struggles" in Boston have been well documented. Between his increasing contact and walk rate, and his penchant to occasionally melt down in dramatic fashion, Papelbon looked (gasp) downright hittable at certain points during the 2010 season.

The title of the article says it all, Red Sox Nation.  Let's do this.  But first, a few quick ground rules:

Some of the players on this list played part of their careers for other teams, but only accomplishments in a Red Sox uniform will be considered.

The era a player played in will be factored in when considering all statistics.  Players' numbers will be compared to their contemporaries, not just to players from other eras who played the same position.

Does any other MLB fan find it weird when a team goes out and buys former superstars, seemingly anticipating that putting them back together will magically bring back the spark from seven years before?

It's happening again this year, and it's certainly not the first time that two World Series champions have played on entirely different teams together. It's just weird to have it happen in the AL East and for it to not be the Yankees doing the purchasing.

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein has once again kept his record intact—he has never gone to an arbitration hearing with one of his players during his tenure as general manager of the Red Sox.

This afternoon, the Red Sox avoided arbitration with their center fielder and closer, coming to terms with Jacoby Ellsbury and Jonathan Papelbon on one-year deals that will keep the parties out of pending arbitration hearings.