Boston Red Sox

It may have been small, but Boston Red Sox pitcher Daniel Bard recently took a positive step forward in his quest to reclaim his career.

After three seasons as one of the most dominant setup men in baseball, Bard converted to starting last season, which turned out to be an unqualified disaster.

Boston Red Sox right-handed pitcher Alfredo Aceves recently made headlines with a puzzling lackluster performance during a practice drill. Despite concerns that such actions could negatively impact a team newly committed to a positive clubhouse, Boston shouldn’t give up on him yet.

The Boston Red Sox should have a different clubhouse culture in 2013 than they did in 2011 or 2012. They have a new manager and an assortment of new players, and the organization has made establishing a strong clubhouse a primary directive.

Pedro Martinez is back with the Boston Red Sox, but not as a pitcher. 

There is no late career comeback for Martinez. 

He is now a special assistant to GM Ben Cherington and will have an impact on the pitching staff, even though Martinez is not going to be the one on the mound.  

The Boston Red Sox haven’t played an exhibition game yet, but they should already be worried about the future of Felix Doubront.

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.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester has enjoyed much success during his career, but it’s always seemed that he’s never reached his full potential. Declining production and his own surprising recent comments have further questioned whether he can ever really be an ace.

Former Boston Red Sox athletic trainer Mike Reinold could be facing some major legal troubles including violating Massachusetts state law and medical ethics law after information surfaced that he injected Red Sox players with the prescription medication Toradol.

Spring training games begin in a week, and the Red Sox still have work to do.

Boston is likely finished adding star players and major coaching personnel, but the team still has several tasks to complete before the games start on Feb. 21.

The Red Sox don’t have to figure out their rotation just yet. After Lester and Buchholz, the third, fourth and fifth spots are fair game. The order of the bottom half of the rotation will be determined during spring training.

More than a few eyebrows were raised when Boston Red Sox outfield prospect Bryce Brentz wasn’t one of the 19 non-roster players invited to this year’s spring training. As it turns out, his exclusion was for good reason, as he recently suffered a gun-related injury.