Boston Red Sox

David Ortiz started off the 2010 campaign very slowly, but that seems to become a trademark start to the year for him. He got off to the same type of start in 2009, but picked it all up and the same pattern carried on in 2010. Big Papi just hit his 31st home-run of the season, but nobody seemed to notice. 

During his time in Boston, infielder Jed Lowrie has been the butt of many jokes by Red Sox fans. He has been criticized constantly for his apparent lack of any visible baseball skill set and has been labeled "injury prone" by the hometown fans.

This is going to kill me because I am a die-hard New York Yankees fan, but in the pessimistic would that I live in, I can see the Yankees blowing it with ten games remaining and two big series coming up with their arch rival Boston Red Sox.

The New York Mets are targeting Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury and may seek to acquire the speedy outfielder this winter, according to the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo and multiple sources within the Mets organization.

Last year, I thoroughly enjoyed laughing at the expense of starting pitcher A.J. Burnett, who was all over the map in his first season with the New York Yankees after the team signed the then-31-year-old to a five-year, $82 million contract.

He had his fair share of solid outings, as his 4.03 ERA suggested, but he would also toss in a terrible start here and there; he allowed five runs or more eight times in 2009.

Dodgers' outfielder Andre Ethier has reportedly announced that he would "love" to play in Boston, according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. Given the Red Sox' myriad outfield woes this season and Ethier's .851 career OPS, the Boston brass would no doubt equally love to welcome the 28-year-old lefty to Beantown.

Many might contend it's a bit early to start dissecting the dynamics of the Red Sox' 2011 bullpen, but with Boston all but eliminated from playoff contention, the Nation needs something positive to even begin keeping the faith through an extended offseason.

The Boston Red Sox continue to use the rest of this season as a tryout for future bullpen roles as they have purchased the contract of former Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles starter, Rich Hill, from the Pawtucket Red Sox, who did not make the International League playoffs.

Hill, a left-handed starter/long-reliever, was a fourth round pick for the Cubs in 2002 out of the University of Michigan, where he quickly propelled up the Cubs minor league system and debuted with the team in 2005.

Just when you thought there was at least one reason to watch the Red Sox for the remainder of the 2010 season, Clay Buchholz reminded Sox fans that the final Sunday can’t come soon enough.

Not since David Wright's May slump have there been any serious rumblings about the Mets trading their star third baseman, but the question has recently been posed: Would Wright match up well with the Boston Red Sox, and would a trade be possible this winter?