Boston Red Sox

Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball, highlighted key insights while presenting revolutionary and progressive baseball knowledge.

However, I disagreed with him in two areas.

No. 1: Speed

Lewis understood from Billy Beane (Oakland A’s GM) that steals are an unnecessary risk to take, presenting high risk and relatively low reward. Transitionally, Lewis argued that since steals are not important, neither is speed.

That is where I disagree.

For the Boston Red Sox, this offseason has been quite momentous. They landed Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, the two best available offensive (and two of the best defensive) players.

Over the next two weeks, I’ll examine the relative strengths and weaknesses of the teams in the AL East on a position-by-position basis.

The players at each position will be 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, I begin the series with a look at the catchers.

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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.

A big market city, such as Boston, comes with big payrolls and even bigger expectations.

Year after year the front office, coaches and fans expect a certain level of excellence from their players. If they do not live up to their potential then it's the general manager's job to find someone who can.

It used to be that most players, especially stars, would start and finish their careers in the same uniform. However, since the introduction of free agency that is now rarely the case.

Josh Beckett was a train wreck last year. He’s been alternating between great and decent years since 2004.

2004:  9-9, 3.79 ERA, 1.22 WHIP
2005:  15-8, 3.38 ERA, 1.18 WHIP
2006:  16-11, 5.01 ERA, 1.29 WHIP
2007:  20-7, 3.27 ERA, 1.14 WHIP
2008:  12-10, 4.03 ERA, 1.19 WHIP
2009:  17-6, 3.86 ERA, 1.19 WHIP

Before I get started, a tip of the cap from all of us in Red Sox nation to Theo Epstein, our maverick genius, our watchful protector, our Dark Kni-...never mind. But I stand in awe of what the 37 year old son of Brookline, MA has accomplished.

For the services of Adrian Gonzalez, he still managed to keep Jose Iglesias and our draft picks. Under the cover of darkness, he locked up one of the most complete outfielders in the game and disrupted the Yankee-Lee negotiations with his free hand.

The Red Sox have one of the most solid rotations in baseball, both in terms of on-field quality and stability.  They have six major league-ready starters and, barring injury, not many of their prospects will see a start. 

Jon Lester is one of my favorite pitchers in baseball.  I’ve loved him since 2008, when I stupidly refused to trade Shawn Marcum for him, and made sure I drafted him in 2009 and 2010.  

I mean, what’s not to like? 

With January winding down and February approaching, it’s time to get into fantasy baseball mode.

As we go through February and head towards March and everyone’s fantasy draft, we will start pumping out more fantasy articles in preparation.

Today, we will take a look at five guys who had their fantasy value drop and in some cases, plummet because events that happened in this offseason.

Here are the top-five fantasy losers from this offseason and guys you might want to stay away from on draft day.

On paper, the Boston Red Sox have the best and most complete team in the American League. To back up such a declaration, however, many of their prime talents must bounce back from a slew of injuries.

Last season, the team was held back as baseball’s version of the Portland Trail Blazers, a power built to seriously contend yet decimated by broken bones, surgeries and sickness.