Anthony Ranudo Earns Win in MLB Debut, New Look Red Sox Beat Yankees 4-3

Even with Yoenis Cespedes on the bench (his flight from Oakland arrived late this afternoon in Boston), I have to say that I looked forward to tonight's Red Sox (49-60 overall, 27-29 home) game as much as any others that I can remember from this very forgettable season. Seeing a team that was basically half Pawtucket Red Sox beat the Yankees (55-53 overall, 30-27 away) 4-3 at Fenway Park was pretty gratifying. Anthony Ranaudo (1-0) made his MLB debut and it was a good one: 6 innings, 2 earned runs, 4 hits, 2 strikeouts, 4 walks.

Former Red Sox Chris Capuano (1-2) got the start for New York and he continued to prove that he's nothing special at this stage in his overachieving career. They will probably lose a bunch of games from here on out but I'll give the Red Sox credit for addressing many (who needs pitching?) problems facing the team. You hear all the clichés but it really was cool to see new faces like Allen Craig (1st hit for Boston-a double) blend with youngsters such as Mookie Betts and Will Middlebrooks who are trying to win everyday jobs for next season.

Brock Holt tripled and Dustin Pedroia (2 for 4 w/run) drove him in with an RBI double in the third inning. David Ortiz knocked in Pedroia with an RBI single for a 2-0. Carlos Beltran cut New York's deficit in half with a solo homer in the fourth inning-his 13th of the season. Middlebrooks doubled in the fourth
and David Ross delivered an RBI single that ended with him limping off the field. Clearly his foot is in rough shape so he should be out for a while (DL?).

Beltran came through again with an RBI double in the sixth that scored another former Red Sox-Jacoby Ellsbury. Dustin Pedroia's RBI single in the 7th turned out to be the insurance that Boston needed as Derek Jeter hit a solo homer over the Monster in the eighth.

Another PawSox Tommy Layne pitched a 1-2-3 7th and Junichi Tazawa surrendered the homer to Jeter before Koji Uehara locked it down with a 1-2-3 9th (1 strikeout/13 total pitches) for his 22nd save of the season.

It's another wretched (at least on paper) pitching matchup tomorrow afternoon (4:05, NESN): Allen Webster (1-0) vs. Shane Greene (3-10). Did I mention that it's supposed to rain all day? So yeah, might want to skip out on the tickets that you know your friends, family and co-workers will be trying to dump on you.

UPDATE 8/2: The Red Sox sent Ranaudo back to Pawtucket (womp womp) and added Joe Kelly to the active roster. Additionally, Ross went on the DL and the Red Sox called up catcher Dan Butler from the PawSox. Finally, Yoenis Cespedes is in the lineup this afternoon and playing left field in his Red Sox debut.

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So It Looks Like This Red Sox Season Will Be Much More Interesting Than We Thought

Listen, we all figured that the Red Sox were toast a long time ago so there's no need to lie and say any sane person that we know felt otherwise. Still, I'm happy to report that Boston (46-52 overall, 26-26 at home) is finally playing some good baseball in 2014 (it only took them nearly 100 games!) as they blanked Kansas City (48-49 overall, 26-24 away) 6-0 this afternoon at Fenway Park for the three-game sweep.

The Red Sox have won seven of their last eight games to climb within six games in the Wild Card and 7.5 in the AL East. Jon Lester (10-7) continued to consistently perform like one of the top pitchers in MLB: eight innings, four hits, eight strikeouts and two walks as he lowered his ERA to 2.50. The only reason he didn't stay in for the shutout was that he threw 115 pitches. At this point, he is a serious Cy Young contender and with each outstanding start, his already hefty price tag continues to go up. If only he had accepted Boston's joke offer (4 years, $70 in spring training)!

There aren't many things you can count on in life anymore or at least you realize that when you grow up, however Kansas City never ceases to fall apart in the middle/dog days of the season. Seriously, will they ever truly be relevant again on a national level? Young fireballer Yordano Ventura (7-8) was no match for Lester's brilliance as he allowed six earned runs on nine hits in only 4.1 innings.

The Red Sox took the lead in the first inning as Dustin Pedroia's fielder's choice scored Brock Holt (2 for 5). Daniel Nava's (2 for 3, walk) ground-rule double knocked in David Ross (2 runs, walk) and Jackie Bradley Jr. (2 for 3, 2 runs, walk) in the third inning. David Ross' two-run homer in the fourth went over the Monster, his sixth of the season, and it also drove in Shane Victorino (2 for 4, double). Boston added the final insurance run a few batters later as Nava plated Bradley Jr. with a sacrifice fly.

The next two weeks represent Boston's best chance to really get back into those respective races that I mentioned. You see, they have 13 games in a row against AL East opponents: they go to Toronto for four games then Tampa Bay for three. The Red Sox return home to face the Blue Jays three more times then they host the Yankees in three games right after the Trade Deadline (July 31).

Toronto (51-48 overall, 3rd in AL East) is only 4-6 in their last 10 games but they've won their last two (vs. hapless Texas) heading into this critical series vs. Boston. Other than no Lester, the Red Sox' pitching lines up pretty well against the Blue Jays who still don't have an ace or No. 2 if we're being honest. John Lackey (10-6) faces Drew Hutchison (6-8) on Monday night (7:07, NESN) followed by Jake Peavy (1-8) vs. J.A. Happ (7-5) on Tuesday (7:07, NESN). Clay Buchholz (5-5) takes on knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (7-10) on Wednesday (7:07, NESN) then they wrap up on Thursday afternoon (12:37, NESN) with Rubby De La Rosa (3-2) facing fellow rookie Marcus Stroman (5-2).

I'm certainly not predicting it will happen but I'd like to note before the series begins that if Boston could sweep Toronto, they would be tied in the loss column. Something to keep in mind as the series progresses if the Red Sox win the first two or three games.

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Red Sox Beat Yankees 2-1 in Classic Pitcher's Duel

We know that enjoyable nights like this have been few and far between in the 2014 season for the Red Sox and that will most likely continue the rest of the way. It's precisely why you have to take them for what they are, Boston (37-44 overall, 17-25 away) beat New York (41-38 overall, 18-19 home) 2-1 tonight at Yankee Stadium in the middle game of a three-game series.

Jon Lester (9-7) came out on top of Masahiro Tanaka (11-3) who is a lock for the AL Rookie of the Year but also the frontrunner for the Cy Young (up to this point at least). Both of Boston's runs came on homers, fittingly enough at that Little League park. David Ross took Tanaka deep to left center in the third for his fourth home run of the season. Then Mike Napoli came through with a 355-foot "homer" (his 10th of the season) that ESPN Stats and Info noted would only go out in Yankee Stadium (it reached the first row), no other stadium in MLB. Oh well!

Lester went eight innings, allowing one unearned run (thanks Stephen Drew) on five hits with six strikeouts and one walk. Lester earned his ninth win at the new Yankee Stadium, four more than any other opponent. Napoli's homer was his sixth there since 2013, again the most by a visitor. Tanaka had the rare complete game loss: allowing seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.

Almost all of his teammates have suffered major drop offs from their performance levels in 2013 but not Koji Uehara. He pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts for his 17th save of the season. His ERA is 1.23 and with manager John Farrell in charge of the AL at the All-Star Game, you can bet he'll be making a trip to Minnesota in a few weeks.

It's been a pretty tough season at the plate for Dustin Pedroia (.268/.339/.377) but he had one of his better games going 3 for 4 plus he started a sweet double play in the eighth inning with Drew. Jacoby Ellsbury was the only Yankee with multiple hits, he was 2 for 4.

The series wraps up tomorrow night (8:05, ESPN) with another primetime game. John Lackey (8-5) takes on rookie Chase Whitley (3-1) in Sunday Night Baseball. Boston's top prospect Mookie Betts was called up earlier today and he's set to make his MLB debut tomorrow night, probably in right field. Rubby De La Rosa was the unfortunate casualty of this somewhat gutsy (and obvious) move by the Red Sox as he was sent back to Pawtucket. That's right, Jake Peavy is still in the rotation along with Brandon Workman.

A win would be nice for Boston, particularly because its the finale of this long and mostly painful (3-6) road trip. Tonight's victory made them 3-6 against the Yankees in 2014 with 10 meetings remaining.

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What's Up With Clay Buchholz?

There was a time when Clay Buchholz was one of the most talented starting pitchers in MLB. Of course, he could never really put it together for a full season based on his frail body and reluctance to play through any type of pain. Now, those days seem like a distant memory as he continually gets lit up (twice in four starts this season). Today he ruined what was a perfect Patriot's Day in Boston with the Marathon as the Red Sox fell 7-6 to the Orioles at Fenway Park in the four-game series finale which the teams split.

Buchholz (0-2) allowed six earned runs on seven hits in 2.1 pathetic innings. Boston (9-11 overall, 4-6 home) was down 6-0 in the third inning and almost completed another amazing comeback for the second day in a row but you can't expect that against a decent team like Baltimore (9-9 overall, 5-5 away) or any in MLB really outside of maybe the Cubs.

The frustrating part was that Baltimore didn't exactly crush hits around the ballpark, they just kept getting on base vs. Buchholz in the six-run third. Nick Markakis, Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis had RBI singles, a run scored on a fielder's choice, Steve Clevenger hit an RBI double and Jonathan Schoop ended Buchholz's holiday early with a run-scoring single.

Wei-Yin Chen (3-1) didn't have a great outing by any means but compared to Buchholz, he looked like Nolan Ryan in his prime. He went five innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

The Red Sox cut the lead in half with three runs in the fifth. Jackie Bradley Jr. started it off with an RBI double, Brock Holt (2 hits, run) had a sacrifice fly and Dustin Pedroia (2 doubles, 2 walks) played wall ball with an RBI double. David Ross made it 6-4 Orioles with a solo homer into the Monster seats, his first home run of the season.

Ryan Flaherty added an RBI single in the eighth for the Orioles which turned out to be a very important run because Mike Napoli hit a solo bomb in the home half of the frame and Boston could have put together a bigger inning if Xander Bogaerts didn't have a careless baserunning blunder.

Baltimore's bullpen is one of the things that will probably hold them back for contending for the AL East all season, personified by mediocre pitcher turned closer Tommy Hunter. Still, he got the job done today at least despite allowing a run on Napoli's ground out. Pinch hitter Mike Carp was the last out as he stranded Pedroia on third and David Ortiz on second. Ugh. The good news regarding him and the utterly useless Jonathan Herrera is that both should see much less playing time in the near future with Shane Victorino and Will Middlebrooks currently rehabbing in Pawtucket.

Boston's tour of the parity filled AL East (all five teams were separated by two games entering today) continues tomorrow with three games against the Yankees (11-8 overall) at Fenway. Then they have three in Toronto this weekend and three against Tampa Bay in Boston. The Red Sox-Yankees pitching matchups are Jon Lester (2-2) vs. Masahiro Tanaka (2-0) tomorrow night (7:10, NESN), John Lackey (2-2) takes on Michael Pineda (2-1) on Wednesday (7:10, NESN) and Felix Doubront (1-2) opposes not fat CC Sabathia (2-2) on Thursday (7:10, NESN).

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Red Sox Take Opening Series With Orioles

After losing the season opener on Monday, the Red Sox bounced back to win on Wednesday and tonight 4-3 against the Orioles (a team that has owned them the last few years) at Camden Yards to take the series (2-1). Boston (2-1) showed that it can win a close game, on the road, versus a quality opponent.

This game shouldn't have been so close since once again the Red Sox struggled with runners in scoring position (2 for 10) and they left nine on base. However, they put up 14 hits as a team so they were able to do just enough to scratch out their second straight victory.

It was mostly about the youngsters as Xander Bogaerts was 3 for 4 with two runs, Will Middlebrooks was 2 for 4 with a double and run while Jackie Bradley Jr. was 2 for 4 with a run and RBI. Felix Doubront (1-0) wasn't great (5.1 innings, 3 earned runs, 6 hits, 4 strikeouts, 1 walk) but David Ortiz was (3 for 5 with RBI) like always. I would say the most impressive contribution was Koji Uehara's 1-2-3 ninth for his first of the season; he threw only seven pitches and that included a strikeout!

Boston spread its runs out into four different innings. Middlebrooks killed a possible big inning with a double play ball in the second but a run still scored. Ortiz had an RBI single in the third and David Ross added one in the fourth for a 3-0 Red Sox lead.

Matt Wieters (3 for 4 with run and RBI) gave Baltimore its first run with an RBI double in the fourth, Delmon Young knocked him in with a single. Bradley Jr.'s RBI single in the sixth turned out to be important since Chris Davis (2 for 4 with double, 2 runs) scored a run on Brandon Workman's wild pitch. Things settled down from there as Springfield MA native Chris Capuano had a 1-2-3 seventh with one strikeout in his Red Sox debut. Junichi Tazawa worked around two hits for a scoreless eighth.

The action packed week continues for the Red Sox as they host the Milwaukee Brewers (1-2) this weekend at Fenway Park, the start of a six-game homestand that also includes three vs. Texas (2-1). Tomorrow (2:05, NESN) is the 2014 home opener where Boston will get their World Series rings and celebrate that team one last time.

As for the games, Jake Peavy faces Marco Estrada tomorrow, Clay Buchholz takes on Wily Peralta Saturday night (7:10, NESN) and Jon Lester (0-1) meets Yovani Gallardo (1-0) Sunday afternoon (1:35, NESN) in a battle of aces that should be awesome.

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Just When You Thought It was Safe to Root for the Red Sox Again, They Sign A.J. Pierzynski

You can say goodbye to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, his ridiculously greasy long curly hair, million strikeouts and almost that many blunders behind the plate. That's right, today the Red Sox elected to move on from their former starting catcher (who rightfully lost his spot to David Ross late in the playoffs) who was seeking a long-term deal. Boston agreed to a one-year deal with A.J. Pierzynski worth $8.25 million.

My natural reaction to this news (and probably your feelings as well) was to laugh mainly because Pierzynski is one of those guys who has been around MLB forever and seems to be a complete asshole. On the other hand, I felt much the same way about Jonny Gomes when the Red Sox signed him last offseason and how'd that turn out? Keep in mind that Pierzynski's (a two-time All-Star) career (729 runs, 1782 hits, 356 doubles, 172 homers, 800 RBIs) has been much more impressive than the journeyman Gomes, he also won a World Series in 2005 with the White Sox.

At age 36 (turning 37 on Dec. 30) and coming into his 17th MLB season (14th full-time) on his fifth team (Twins, Giants, White Sox, Rangers), Pierzynski has way too many miles on his body to be expected to serve as an everyday catcher. The good news is that you could say the same thing about David Ross and while Pierzynski is a left-handed hitter, Ross bats right-handed. Hello platoon! Also of note is that Boston has some depth at catcher in its farm system with Christian Vasquez projected to be in Pawtucket to start the season and Ryan Lavarnway still kicking around (although he stinks).

Salty had a career year last season but Pierzynski put together a fine year in Texas: in 134 games, he hit .272 with .297 OBP (yuck), .425 SLG, 48 runs, 137 hits, 24 doubles, 17 homers and 70 RBIs. The other thing that A.J. does better besides being a more sound hitter than Jarrod is that he's a better defensive catcher. Granted, that's not saying much since Salty was borderline hopeless behind the plate (but he improved so much!).

By winning the World Series, the Red Sox have made us believers again in terms of trusting GM Ben Cherington's roster moves. When all is said and done, this will probably go down as a nice addition to another playoff team in 2014.

UPDATE 12/3: Salty signed a three-year deal with Miami worth $21 million.

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Red Sox Win Game 5 3-1 to Take 3-2 World Series Lead Back to Boston

So here we are, a moment that nobody on the outside could have reasonably expected when the season began in April: the Red Sox lead the Cardinals 3-2 in the 2013 World Series and they're coming back to Boston for two chances at their eighth World Series crown in franchise history. Boston took two out of three at Busch Stadium (the only loss being Game 3 aka Obstructiongate), including tonight's 3-1 pitcher's duel as Jon Lester (2-0) certified his place in MLB postseason history and Adam Wainwright (0-2) simply couldn't match his brilliance.

Game 6 is Wednesday (8:07, NESN) at Fenway Park with John Lackey facing Michael Wacha. Obviously Mr. Redemption himself will be able to deliver the first World Series title for the home team at Fenway since 1918 (vs. the Cubs); talk about a storybook/movie ending if that's how it goes down.

Tonight belonged to Lester: he went 7.2 dominant innings, allowing one earned run on four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. All season, we've joked about Jacoby Ellsbury cashing in this offseason but Lester has also earned a juicy extension with his legendary October (4-1, 1.56 ERA, 29 strikeouts, 8 walks). Holy shit!

Speaking of postseason icons, David Ortiz (3 for 4, double, RBI) is 11 for 15 in the World Series with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs. If the Red Sox win, how do you choose between those two for World Series MVP? Boston had nine hits compared to only four for St. Louis. Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 4 with a run.

Wainwright (7 innings, 3 earned runs, 8 hits, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk) was way better than Game 1 but he still couldn't find a way to beat Lester or Boston. Dustin Pedroia and Ortiz had back-to-back doubles in the first as Boston got out to an early 1-0 lead for a change. Matt Holliday tied it with a long home run to center in the fourth but the Red Sox answered with two runs in the seventh on a double by David Ross and single by Ellsbury.

Lester only threw 91 pitches but John Farrell put closer Koji Uehara in with two outs in the eighth. He promptly struck out fat slob/pinch hitter Matt Adams on three pitches, stranding David Freese (2 hits, double) at second base. Uehara recorded his seventh save of the postseason with a 1-2-3 ninth including a strikeout of leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter.

As a Red Sox fan, we couldn't ask for anything more than this. They play great at home and these last two wins in St. Louis had to have taken their toll on the Cardinals' psyche. None of that matters if Lackey gets shelled or Wacha is lights out but who would bet against this team at this point?

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Red Sox Are 1 Win Away from the 2013 World Series After Another 1-run Victory

All season long, one of the Red Sox' M.O. has been bouncing back from normally crushing losses. That has carried over to the postseason as Boston beat Detroit 4-3 in Game 5 of the ALCS tonight at Comerica Park. Koji Uehara recorded (2nd save of the series, 4th of the postseason) the first five-out save in MLB this October, which featured two strikeouts.

The Red Sox lead the series 3-2 with two chances to win at Fenway Park: Game 6 is Saturday and Game 7 would be Sunday but let's not hope it gets to that.

Two themes from the entire series continued in Boston's favor: they won their third one-run game and it's all thanks to their top-notch relievers. After being basically unhittable in Game 1, Anibal Sanchez (1-1; 6 IP, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 9 hits, 5 strikeouts, 0 walks) came back to Earth in a big way. Jon Lester (1-1) was also better in Game 1 but tonight was all about surviving. He went 5.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and three walks.

The Red Sox scored all their runs in the first three innings, specifically three in the second and one in the third. Suddenly red-hot Mike Napoli (3 for 4, double, 2 runs) started the surge with a solo homer (his second of the ALCS) to dead center that was estimated to travel 460 feet. Lester's personal catcher David Ross even helped himself at the plate with two hits including an RBI double. Jacoby Ellsbury (walk, 2 stolen bases) reached on an infield single that scored rookie Xander Bogaerts (who batted eighth, started at third base and hit a double). Napoli made it 4-0 on a wild pitch by Sanchez.

Napoli's last run, which turned out to be huge, was a quality baserunning play. Completely different from Miguel Cabrera getting thrown out by Jonny Gomes at home plate in the first to end the first inning. Detroit has to be the slowest team in MLB, that's one thing the Red Sox have tried to exploit. Cabrera did what he does best: he kicked off Detroit's rally with an RBI single in the fifth.

Ross had run over Tigers catcher Alex Avila so he had to leave in the fourth inning with a knee strain. Enter backup catcher Brayan Pena who drove in a run with a single in the sixth. A run scored but Junichi Tazawa did his job by getting Cabrera to ground into a double play in the seventh-one of three turned by the Red Sox in Game 5. Craig Breslow got two outs, one of which was the hopeless Prince Fielder (1 for 4, saw 10 pitches) before Tazawa retired the last five Detroit batters in the game.

Game 6 is a rematch of Game 2 with Max Scherzer taking on Clay Buchholz. Scherzer was incredible but his bullpen totally let the team down as Boston rallied for the 6-5 win. I still like Buchholz's chances to have a good outing given his talent level. You have to feel like the Red Sox have the momentum too since they've won three out of the last four games (2 of 3 in Detroit) to put the Tigers on the brink of elimination.

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Down 8-3, Red Sox Rally For 12-8 Victory Over Yankees; Boston Now Has Most Wins in MLB

Don't look now but the Red Sox are suddenly the team to beat this October in the American League. It's hard to recall a team that has rallied so many times and pulled out one improbable win after another in a single regular season. Tonight, Boston (86-57 overall, 39-32 away) trailed New York (75-66 overall, 43-30 home) 8-3 after five innings but they managed to score five runs in the seventh and four in the eighth for a soul-crushing 12-8 triumph.

This was Boston's fourth win in a row and 11th in their last 13. Last night and this evening show what makes the Red Sox so tough to beat: they can win any style of game. Their offense usually carries them (see: tonight) but they get enough pitching and help from the bullpen to be in almost every contest. It also helps when they compete in a glorified Little League park like Yankee Stadium (foreshadowing!).

Dustin Pedroia (3 hits, double, walk, run) started the rally in the seventh with an infield single that scored David Ross (2 hits, RBI). Mike Napoli (3 hits, 3 runs, double, 2 walks) flied out to right, I mean got extremely lucky to hit a grand slam (sixth of his career; third this season) just over the reach of a leaping Ichiro to tie it at eight. It was his 19th homer of the season.

New York's clownshow bullpen lived up to that moniker (which I just created): Shane Victorino (2 hits, 2 runs)-playing center field and batting leadoff with Jacoby Ellsbury resting-hit a two-run homer (his 14th of the season), Daniel Nava aka Mr. OBP (.392) walked with the bases loaded and Stephen Drew (2 RBIs) made it 12-8 with an opposite field single.

Brandon Workman (5-2) got the win after playing the role of Junichi Tazawa and recording four outs (2 strikeouts). I'm not a fan of using Koji Uehara's precious right arm in non-save situations but he didn't seem to mind, retiring the Yankees 1-2-3 in ninth on 12 pitches/11 strikes (2 strikeouts). What do I know?

Earlier highlights were Alfonso Soriano's two-run homer in the first, his whopping 13th since he was traded to New York. Will Middlebrooks (2 hits, 2 runs) continued to rake out of the nine-hole with a solo shot in the fifth (his 14th of the season).

In a shocking development, both games this weekend are 1:05 p.m. starts. It's almost as if these teams are telling you to enjoy college football on Saturday and the glorious NFL on Sunday. Tomorrow afternoon (NESN), John Lackey (8-12) faces converted reliever David Huff (2-0).

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All I Know Is That The Red Sox Are Assembling The Best Beer League Softball Team In MLB

Twitter certainly takes away much of the intrigue and mystery of free agency in professional sports (RIP Hot Stove), perhaps none more so than in Major League Baseball. It seems like teams court guys for months or at least weeks before mercifully pulling the trigger on often minor deals. Today, the Red Sox and Mike Napoli have reportedly agreed to a three-year deal worth $39 million.

He will have a physical on Wednesday which is the delay before the club fully announces the move with the first baseman/catcher/designated hitter. Since he is so terrible on defense, no matter where he gets placed on the field, this move is all about what Napoli brings to the plate. He has never played more than 70 games at first base in a season (2010 with Angels) or 96 games at catcher (2009 with Angels). You know that David Ortiz won't make it through an entire season healthy so Napoli is certainly a capable replacement for Big Papi at DH.

Last season, he hit .227 with a .343 OBP and .469 SLG but the goobers in Texas voted him an American League All-Star for the first time in his career. He is known primarily as a power hitter and with Texas in 2012, he had 24 homers and 56 RBIs but he struck out 125 times with only 56 walks. It was a big drop-off from his career year with the Rangers in 2011: .320/.414 OBP/.631 SLG with 30 homers and 75 RBIs.

The most obvious question with this move is what will the Red Sox do with their three catchers: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, David Ross and Ryan Lavarnway? I suppose that Lavarnway can get more seasoning in Pawtucket (which he needs) and live with a Salty/Ross platoon. Maybe even an occasional Napoli game behind the plate. Not that I think Boston is close to making the playoffs as currently constituted but in Napoli, they get a guy that has been a clutch performer in October: in 32 games, he's hit five homers and 19 RBIs with .272/.373 OBP/.457 SLG.

I hate to sound like Carmine the computer and spout off useless numbers but in a very small sample size, Napoli has experienced success at Fenway Park: he is 19-for-62 with seven homers and four doubles in 74 plate appearances. I don't like projecting things too much since that's how Boston got so enamored with Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, John Lackey, etc but it looks like Napoli could succeed with the Red Sox. After five years in Anaheim and two years in Texas, he's hit 146 homers and 380 RBIS with .259/.356 OBP/.507 SLG.

He is 31 and will enter next spring in the eighth year of his MLB career, meaning that he's probably on the downslope of his career. Still, if he hits like he's capable of, he can provide some middle of the lineup pop. Like Johnny Gomes and Ross-Boston's only other moves so far this offseason, I will approve of this more if it leads to re-signing Cody Ross, getting Nick Swisher or Adam LaRoche. Oh and Boston still hasn't addressed its biggest hole at all: starting pitchers.

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Red Sox Begin Their Offseason By Addressing Their Biggest Need: Backup Catcher, Wait What?

You know that absolutely nothing of note happened in MLB today since Foxsports.com's Ken Rosenthal actually wrote a short article about the Red Sox' latest move: they signed catcher David Ross to a two-year deal, worth $6.2 million.

The best part was when he referred to Ross as "perhaps the best backup catcher in baseball." Listen, I'm not here to make fun of Rosenthal, who as far as I'm concerned does a decent job, but I just thought it was a funny way to describe a player. Talk about a backhanded compliment. It's like in football if you called someone the best backup quarterback, what does that even mean?

Semantics aside, this was Boston's first official move of the offseason and it can mean only one thing: either Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Ryan Lavarnway will be traded soon enough. The last thing they need is three mediocre catchers that are all in the same range in terms of ability. Saltalamacchia has the most power but he strikes out way too much and is average at best defensively. Lavarnway's best asset is that he's young and cheap, which ultimately might push him past Salty.

Ross will be 36 next season so he certainly won't be the starter. In 62 games with the Braves last season, he hit nine homers and 23 RBIs with a .256 batting average, .321 OBP and .449 SLG. The Red Sox are his sixth team and ironically enough, he actually was here for eight games in 2008 (which I totally forgot). In his 12-year MLB career, he's sported a .238 batting average, .324 OBP and .444 SLG so I'm going to assume he's known more for his work behind the plate.

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