With Spring Training in full swing for the Red Sox, the fun (and drama) can really begin.

After an off-season full of wheeling and dealing, Boston found itself with more players than it knew what to do with. Now, many of the long-time Sox players will slowly be pushed out of their starting jobs, and things could get very awkward.

The Boston Red Sox enter Spring Training with the starting lineup and pitching rotation essentially squared away. With the addition of players like Adrian Beltre, Marco Scutaro and Mike Cameron to the starting nine and the likes of John Lackey to the rotation, the major pieces have fallen into place.
But baseball is most certainly a marathon and not a sprint, and by the end of the season roster spot No. 25 can be as crucial as No. 1.

In Adrian Beltre the Boston Red Sox have acquired a Gold Glove third baseman to replace another Gold Glove third baseman in Mike Lowell. But the Red Sox may have gotten more than they bargained for.

Mike Lowell’s Quick Demise

Red Sox 3B Mike Lowell has been a class act since the day he arrived in the City of Boston. He was a throw-in from the Florida Marlins—added to the Sox haul in the Josh Beckett deal because The Fish wanted to dump his contract.

He is universally considered to be a positive influence in the clubhouse, serving as a liaison between the anglo and hispanic players on the roster. Off the field, he embraced the city. He routinely made himself available to Red Sox Nation, participated in the charitable endeavors of his teammates, and undertook charity work of his own.

I've been getting ready for fantasy baseball and came up with this idea for a Battle of the Blogs league. I have set up the league on ESPN.com and would like to invite any bloggers interested in joining. This will be a great way to compete with other bloggers for bragging rights as well as promotes everyone's blog.

I am hoping to get bloggers from all over the country. Below are the details of the league.

Battle of the Blogs Fantasy Baseball League is open to anyone with a blog. Your blog name will be used as your team name.

Getting Adrian Beltre for a guarantee of just one year and $10 million has to be viewed as a steal for the Red Sox. It's a huge come-down from Scott Boras's early demands of four years and $40 million, or more.

Article first found at Boston Sox Journalism .

Whispers wandered around the web earlier this week that the New York Yankees had called the Chicago Cubs to inquire about the availability of the Cubs' ace, Carlos Zambrano. A lot has been written already about that potential marriage, so I won't waste a lot of space on it other than to mention it as a foundation for the discussion I'm about to begin.

Who hates the Yankees? Okay, everyone outside of New York. But the hatred is especially deep in Boston, where the rival Red Sox watched the Bronx Bombers spend a billion dollars to buy a World Series championship in 2009.