Kuzul

The population of third basemen in Major League Baseball is talented and getting increasingly young, and with the promotion of Manny Machado and impending ascension of top prospects Anthony Rendon, Nick Castellanos and Mike Olt (if he stays at 3B), the position is getting deeper and becoming even younger..  With that said, it should be understood the position has several question marks among the top echelon of players (ie, health issues, consistency issues), so in consideration of the depth of the position it may be advisable to wait until the middle rounds to make a selection if you do not get one of the top three or four options. Of course, even in the middle rounds there will be some questions that attach to your selection, but if you're going to select a third baseman with some questions it would be better to gamble with a fifteenth round pick than a fourth or fifth round pick. ...

Over the years, many fantasy baseball aficionados viewed the catching position as one that could largely be ignored in auctions and drafts. While there have always been a handful of catchers worth owning, they often went for too much money in auctions or far too early in drafts, so many owners filled their slots with $1 pick-ups (auctions) or late-round fliers in drafts. The best thing these owners could say about their catchers was "His batting average won't kill me" or "He will not get enough at-bats to skew my average."This viewpoint was not a ringing endorsement of the talent (or lack thereof) an owner was able to stick behind the plate.As we look ahead toward the 2013 baseball season, the position appears much deeper than it has been in many years, with four guys who appear to be something of a sure thing in terms of fantasy production and ...

Red Sox Hall of Famer Ted Williams was larger than life and possessed the stuff of legend. He was both a baseball hero and a war hero, serving as a naval aviator (USMC pilot) during WWII (1942-46) and the Korean War (1952-53).He was the last baseball player to hit .400 during the regular season while having enough at-bats to qualify for a batting title (.406 in 1941).He was famous for having a sometimes acerbic personality as well as his battles with the press and the sometimes-unappreciative Boston baseball fans, and he was renowned for being an avid and skilled fisherman. Legend has it Williams once told a friend, “All I want out of life is that when I walk down the street, folks will say, ‘There goes the greatest hitter that ever lived.’” That tale was woven into the fabric of the movie, “The Natural,” based on Bernard Malamud’s novel ...

Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz hasn’t pitched since June 16th, when he was pulled from his start in Tampa after allowing one run over five innings. The next morning, Red Sox Nation read that his back was acting up, and he might have to go on the DL.Word was that he would have to miss a couple of starts to give his back some rest, and the question seemed to be whether he would be able to return for a start before the All-Star break or whether he would be held out until the start of the second half.In the ensuing weeks, Buchholz has seen three back specialists…and he is scheduled to see a fourth on Monday. The Red Sox front office has typically held its cards close to its vest. I find it VERY curious team management has discussed Buchholz’ upcoming appointment as openly as it has. And I ...

After struggling through a brutal month of April, the Red Sox began playing up to their potential during the month of May, going 19-10 and temporarily pulling into first place before slumping as the month came to a close. The month included a seven-game winning streak, an 11-0 drubbing at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels and back-to-back wins in which the offense scored a pair of touchdowns.The offense hit .287 in May and produced 156 runs (5.38 runs per game), but the pitching staff wasn’t quite as successful, posting a 4.01 ERA in the month.The starting rotation won more games in May than it had in April (13, as opposed to 10), but saw its ERA increase by more than a quarter of a run (4.14, as opposed to 3.83 in April).On the other hand, the bullpen was dramatically better...posting a much better record (6-4, as opposed to ...

Amid all of the furor of heightened expectations leading up to the 2011 season, the BIG question that surrounded the Red Sox was how the No. 4 and No. 5 starters would perform. John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka were both coming off rough 2010 campaigns, and while Red Sox Nation had high hopes for a championship season, those aspirations hinged on the back end of the rotation. Should either of them fail, or be felled by injury, the ballclub knew it would be able to turn to knuckleballer Tim Wakefield…but, in truth, there were almost as many questions about him as there were about Lackey and Matsuzaka. He had a 4-12 record and 5.61 earned run average dating back to the end of the 2009 season. Many pundits thought you could stick a fork in him. In addition, he had sulked throughout most of the 2010 season, openly challenging the ...

The Red Sox consecutive-game streak was broken Thursday night, but the Red Sox got right back to work last night as staff ace Jon Lester started a new one. No, obviously, I’m not talking about a winning streak because, as we all know, the Red Sox won on Thursday night. The streak I’m talking about has to do with the starting rotation. While this edition of the Red Sox may have gotten off to an historically-bad start, Red Sox Nation shouldn’t forget this is a club that many pundits predicted would win 100 games. And while the offense has not shifted into high gear (yet), the high hopes for the 2011 club were equally dependant on the quality of the pitching staff, as well as on the production of the offense. The lineup continues to struggle to score runs, but we should not overlook the fact that the starting rotation has started to round ...

Major League Baseball formally released the draft order for this June’s draft this afternoon. The Pittsburgh Pirates have the first pick overall, followed by the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals. The Boston Red Sox will have four of the first 40 picks in the draft. The organization lost its own first-round pick— No. 24 overall— as compensation to the Tampa Bay Rays for signing LF Carl Crawford… but the club garnered two first-round picks as compensation for losing its own free agents— No. 19 (from Detroit, for Victor Martinez) and No. 26 (from Texas, for Adrian Beltre). The Sox then have two more picks in the supplemental round that follows the first round—awarded as additional compensation for the club losing Martinez and Beltre. They will receive pick 36 (for losing V-Mart) and pick 40 (for losing Beltre). They will then make the No. 81 overall selection (Round ...

It was truly unexpected. If anyone tells you they "expected" Josh Beckett to give the Red Sox the kind of performance he gave them against the New York Yankees Monday night, then they are telling a tall tale (be prepared for a story about a 65-pound bass they caught at the local fishing hole last year). It was unexpected because the native of Spring, Texas, went 6-6 with a 5.78 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 21 starts last season. It was shocking because he went 1-2 with a 10.04 ERA and 2.04 WHIP against the Yankees last year while allowing 40 hits in just 26 innings pitched. It was the kind of outing Red Sox Nation has been hoping he would produce for nearly two years, but it certainly wasn't something that anyone on God's good Earth could have expected. With the Red Sox offense sputtering and Yankees ace CC Sabathia on the bump for the club's archrivals, it seemed ...

A mere four days ago, Red Sox Nation was bursting at the seams with anticipation as the new baseball season was about to get underway in Arlington, Texas. Visions of a hundred-win season and a World Series championship danced in the heads of Sox fans everywhere. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez was entrenched in the heart of the batting order (hitting either fourth or fifth, depending on the opponent’s starting pitcher). LF Carl Crawford was entrenched in the No. 3 slot behind Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, and in front of Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz. The 2011 season promised a highly-potent offense, a solid starting rotation, an excellent bullpen and a well-rounded bench. After the opening series in Texas, some fans and many pundits have questioned whether the ballclub is as good as we thought it would be. Why? The current discussion is much ado about nothing. The sky is falling! It ...