Boston Red Sox

That's right, Red Sox fans, baseball is back. The team is currently in the early portion of their Spring Training schedule, and all signs look good for the 2011 season.

But what should we be focused on in 2011? Who or what will most contribute to the team's overall performance this season? As with every baseball season, there are questions still left unanswered, and that's where we (the Boston Red Sox featured columnists here on Bleacher Report) come in.

The Boston Red Sox were as busy as any team in baseball this offseason. Although they lost Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre to free agency, they made two shift-of-power signings in Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez.

One of the best little news fragments to emerge recently from Red Sox spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., to me, was that Daisuke Matsuzaka is trying to alter his cut fastball and changeup to make them more effective in 2011.

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

Mixed League Rotisserie Auction Values in Parentheses

The Boston Red Sox weren't satisfied with their finish in 2010, and appear ready to climb back to the top of the AL East.

Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez are the highlighted names, but virtually every move Theo Epstein made this winter made good sense and improved the team. Boston now boasts a roster deeper and better-balanced than any other in the American league, and perhaps better than any other in baseball.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

After batting .301 with 70 steals in 2009, Jacoby Ellsbury made a strong case for being selected as a top 20 player at this time last season.

I am finally at the end of my series examining the relative strengths and weaknesses of the teams in the AL East, on a position-by-position basis. The players at each position have been ranked in relation to their peers within the division, with each team being assigned points based on where their player ranks in comparison to the other players.

Today, the series concludes with a look at the Designated Hitters.

The best player will earn 10 points for his team, with the remaining players being assigned points as follows: 7-5-3-1.

Terry Francona has been given a Ferrari and is expected to drive it into the winner's circle. But to maximize the potential, he will need to take good care of it throughout the rigors of a 162-game schedule.

It would be hard to really screw up this lineup, as stacked as it is, but there are some changes that need to be made to make sure the team runs like a well-oiled machine. He's got the pieces, now its time to put them in the right places.

It's that time of year again. The time when managers pull out their stat sheets, turn on the computer and enjoy the smell of virtual hot dogs, peanuts and beer (okay, maybe not that).

It's fantasy baseball season.

My focus here today is on two players, Jed Lowrie and Jarrod Saltalamacchia of the Boston Red Sox, and what their potential fantasy impact could be in 2011.