Baseball

This week, the Red Sox have been in talks that will send Mike Lowell to the Texas Rangers for minor league catcher Max Ramirez.

This trade has raised many questions. One being, will Max Ramirez now be the third catcher in the Red Sox organization in front of Dusty Brown and Mark Wagner?

If Ramirez is the third catcher, it would upset me, as a Red Sox fan, due to the fact that Dusty Brown will most likely not get playing time.

This is the second time I've tried to ponder up how the Red Sox roster will look come opening day 2010. This is Part One of the updated Two Part series I wrote back in August (you can find the original slideshows here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/236857-the-potential-2010-boston-red-... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/240492-the-potential-2010-boston-red-...) about how the Red Sox roster might look in April of 2010.

This article does include speculation about (potential) future Red Sox players.

Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog points to a report out from Beisbol Invernal, which states that Alex Cora left a winter ball game with a back injury.

No additional information on the severity of the injury is available at this time.

This certainly isn’t good news for Omar Minaya, as he has faced criticism as of late for signing the veteran utility man to such a lucrative deal.

This coming season marks the 40th anniversary of one of the finest teams in baseball history, the 1970 Baltimore Orioles.

A dominating team, whose central cast of players were responsible for six first-place finishes in a nine-year period, the 1970 version of the Birds saw everything going right.

When Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings got underway on Dec. 7, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were said to be serious contenders in the bidding war for outfielder Jason Bay.

By week's end, Bay remained unsigned and Angels manager Mike Scioscia told reporters his team had “more pressing needs” to address.

Scioscia may have meant a new starting pitcher, but he might as well have been talking about his bullpen.

On Friday, the Angels announced reliever Jose Arredondo will undergo Tommy John surgery in January and miss the entire 2010 season.

The 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame election is coming up and there is a lot of buzz surrounding this one.

There are a few first year players on the ballot that will surely cause some commotion.

And of course there are players that have been on the ballot forever.

Members of the Bautista Appreciation Society , buckle yourselves in, because the next 24 hours could be a bumpy ride.

We will learn by 11:59 pm on Saturday evening whether or not the Blue Jays will offer Bautista a contract and thus avoid arbitration.

Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings have officially come to a close.

What we saw this week was a lot of talking and very little action from most teams, but a few intrepid general managers forged headlong into the free agent market, essentially setting the bar for all free agent signings that will follow.

Additionally, we saw a handful of teams able to strike deals with the intent of improving their fortunes heading into next season.

As is often the case, much of the winter’s action will happen in the weeks between the Winter Meetings’ conclusion and the opening days of Spring Training.

Last year, the Phillies had a battle for the fifth starter spot. It was mainly between Chan Ho Park, JA Happ, Kyle Kendrick, and Carlos Carrasco.

Well things have changed.

There is still a battle for the fifth spot in the rotation, but it has different contenders. Chan Ho Park is a free agent, Carrasco is with the Indians, and Happ is in the rotation.

So far the Phils rotation is Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, JA Happ, and Joe Blanton.