Fan News

New Red Sox manager John Farrell has his work cut out for him as he tries to pick up the pieces from last year's horrendous showing under Bobby Valentine. He's been tasked with patching up the leaking holes that led to the Red Sox' worst season in nearly 50 years—and then some.

If he can take anything away from his predecessor, it's a long list of don'ts.

When thinking about all of the things Farrell should approach differently this year than Valentine, the short answer is everything. But here are five crucial lessons to be learned for a guaranteed turnaround in 2013.

The business of building rosters for the upcoming 2013 MLB season is now almost complete. With spring training now in progress, many teams will now begin the work of putting the best product on the field.

The question is, has each team constructed a roster that can take advantage of its home ballpark?

Baseball is unlike any other major sport in that its playing fields are not symmetrical. Parks are generally defined as either pitcher-friendly or hitter-friendly.

We all know guys like Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout will be the most sought-after fantasy baseball players in 2013, but as most successful fantasy owners know, it's the unheralded, under-the-radar finds that usually culminate in a league championship.

Whether the reason is a change of scenery, more experience in the big leagues or finally getting healthy, the following three players are poised for monster seasons in 2013.

Let's meet the candidates.

Picking from the scrapheap in baseball is a lot like picking your nose—while you aren't entirely sure what's going to come out, you're fairly certain that it won't be pretty.

It's a place where players far removed from their former glory wind up, desperately hoping for one more chance to occupy a roster spot and extend their playing careers. If this were college, we'd see general managers making the dreaded "Walk of Shame" back from the pile after inking someone to a contract.

Nobody wants to be associated with it.

The Toronto Blue Jays have done a tremendous job remodeling their team into a playoff contender during the offseason.

No. Make that a World Series contender.

I may be getting a little ahead of myself, but the odds makers in Las Vegas have them pegged as the clear favorites.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester has enjoyed much success during his career, but it’s always seemed that he’s never reached his full potential. Declining production and his own surprising recent comments have further questioned whether he can ever really be an ace.

Spring training is finally among us, and with only 42 days separating us from MLB Opening Day, teams everywhere have their work cut out for them as they prepare for a regular-season marathon.

Teams like the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays made major improvements to their lineups and rotations this offseason, and they promise to make a big splash once the season gets underway.

Liar liar, pants on fire. 

Melky Cabrera lied. He cheated. He disgraced himself and the game of baseball. 

Yes, he had statistics worthy of the National League MVP award last season. His .346 batting average was the highest of his career, and his 11 home runs and 60 RBI were impressive. He also had a career-high .516 slugging percentage. He was a big reason why the San Francisco Giants were playing well. 

Over the past several years, baseball has proven with multiple reports and documents that it still has further to go in order to rid the sport of performance enhancing drugs. 

First time offenders in baseball currently receive a 50-game suspension, second-time offenders receive a 100-game suspension, and a third-time offender is banished from baseball. 

The St. Louis Cardinals came into spring training this week with a number of questions about their starting rotation.

Who will win the fifth starter spot? Who will replace the injured Chris Carpenter?

Then a new guy showed up at camp—a skinny fellow with a small goatee. Well, he wasn’t a new guy, but he may as well be.