Boston Red Sox

Being of Generation Y—loosely defined as the segment of the population who saw Jenny McCarthy's botox-ravaged face on New Year's Eve and wondered where the last 15 years went—I've become quite Internet savvy.

That means I can filter out much of what doesn't interest me and gravitate toward content that sits on my Mount Rushmore of Internet usage: Fantasy sports/real sports/attractive women/Wikipedia. There's nothing I need on a computer screen that doesn't fit one of those four categories.

The Designated Hitter—home of the offensively talented and the defensively challenged players. By not having to play the field many players have been able to prolong, or even make, a career through offensive contributions alone. 

With the new addition of former Chicago White Sox closer Bobby Jenks and a great 2010 from Daniel Bard, there has been a lot of speculation as to what will happen with Jonathan Papelbon.  There has been much talk of a trade, as Paps will likely test the market and walk after the season.  While these three arms could each close for the Sox in ’11 and see tremendous results, the team is best served with Papelbon remaining on the roster closing games. 

Since the recent acquisitions of studs Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, there has been much chatter regarding which batting order would best suit the 2011 Boston Red Sox.  If the season started today, the Sox boast arguably the deepest lineup in the A.L., maybe even the majors.  At the very least it should have very little trouble competing with a Yankee lineup that has earned the same accolade numerous times. 

Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe is reporting that the Boston Red Sox are close to finalizing a one year deal that would bring the left-handed reliever back to Boston for one more year.

The Sox had formerly non-tendered Okajima earlier in the offseason. He was due a pay raise on the $2.75 million he earned in 2010, a figure which the Red Sox didn't think he was worth.

To a certain extent this is excerpted from a recent write up on a battle between All Time Yankee's & All Time Red Sox, though while writing about Roger Clemens and all of his recent travails it certainly felt like an interesting enough, or topical subject onto itself.

So we fleshed it out a bit with remarks about particular periods of seemingly extraordinary performance and we hope you'll find it a worthwhile, conversational read.

That's it for the preamble, DR. 

BOSTON, Mass—A few days after relief pitcher Bobby Jenks finalized a two-year, $12 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, he had a few things to say about former manger, Ozzie Guillen. 

"How many times did he question my ability," Jenks told MLB.com report Scott Merkin. Jenks went on to say, "I'm looking forward to playing for a manager [Terry Francona] who knows how to run a bullpen."

This is the newest feature I am going to be doing as we head towards fantasy drafts.  In an effort to target which closers could be in jeopardy of losing their jobs, who to target for vulture saves, etc., we will be breaking down each team’s bullpen.  Let’s kick things off with a look at the Red Sox:

The Closer: Jonathan Papelbon

Field of Dreams: James Earl Jones (Terrence Mann) to Kevin Costner (Ray Kinsella): "Ray, people will come Ray."

"They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. 

Material for articles is never-ending. There is always something to write about when it comes to the world of sports.

Even on a quiet news day, a player or team can be analyzed. That’s what makes sportswriting in particular great.

On this day, three unrelated topics came to mind, two of which I would have known little to nothing about had I not hopped on twitter.