Both radio stations, both major print sources, and hundreds of blogs coupled with the anonymous blabber machine of Twitter have allowed for the Sox contingency to hear every gripe and complaint coming from outside of Yawkey Way in 2012.

All the sports betting action you can imagine could not have won you any money this season. No one could have predicted that the Red Sox would have the lackluster year they have had after last September’s collapse.

Most of the media sources spent most of the year focusing on players who were cancers to the clubhouse, bashing injured players, with slight jabs at the Red Sox brass. Strangely, following the trading deadline, the media’s attacks on players have been completely abandoned and the focus is ALL on the ownership, Larry Lucchino, and Bobby Valentine.

Just yesterday, John Henry sent out an email to Boston media denouncing any thoughts that Bobby V. would not be with the team come September:

We all share in the responsibility for the success and failure of the Boston Red Sox….

 We are not making a change in manager.

In baseball, managers often get too much credit and too much blame for what happens on the field. That seems to be constant… There is often the thought in organizations, ‘This isn’t working so the manager needs to go.’ But an organization is much more than a field manager. To blame Bobby Valentine for the Red Sox being .500 at this point in the season is simply wrong. A lot has been written about injuries to key players this year. The impact of that on the Sox this year should not be discounted. There has been no lack of effort from our players and we have had a number of them playing hurt. I watch every game, and the effort our players put in night after night is very clear to see.”

Beautiful.

Following up on his surprise visit to the 98.5 The Sports Hub studios late last fall following the most epic collapse in baseball (maybe sports?) history, John Henry continues to show his frustration regarding the coverage of his team.

Somehow Fenway Park has become a non-stop season of Big Brother. The alliances are all fake and no one ever knows what truth is being divulged. Yet, we see and hear everything and think we know what is going on, but we don’t know if we do. Make sense? No, that’s why the masses are angry.

The biggest complaint when it comes to Red Sox ownership is that this club is a moneymaker for them. It’s always been about money. Even when it was about Championships, it was about money. The popular belief is Championships bring money and that is most true.

The media certainly has done a fantastic job of giving the Red Sox a stigma large enough to cause fans to think twice about throwing on that jersey for a random Saturday or put the game on television with friends over. The team has done a lot of this to themselves as well but the media certainly has manipulated it to the level that we have reached.

The conversation has moved on to trying to force the ownership’s hand to sell the team. As long as purchases are moving and beers are flowing, this group is going no where.

The answer is Larry Lucchino. Described by John Henry himself as the man who “runs the Red Sox operations”, Lucchino should be ready to stand up and accept responsibility. There is no success in business if you cannot accept fault and Larry Lucchino has far too many eyes on his mistakes not to admit when he is wrong.

Things have gotten downright absurd on Yawkey Way. For the first time in over a decade, there is more conversation on the suits than the guys on the field and there are no signs of this getting better.

Lucky for fans, there are still two months of baseball left. Plenty of time for another fire at Fenway, hopefully this time it involves personnel rather than the building itself. Though that is a win-win scenario.

• I am a fan of Bobby Valentine.  A lot of people have ripped on him so far this season, especially for the way he treated Youkilis early this season, but the fact remains he has gotten the absolute most out of the bull pen so far and his hodge podge lineups seem to get runs.  Great decision to put Shoppach out their for the 8^th inning pinch hit.  Tito always seemed a little too hesitant to pinch hit for struggling players.  That said, what was he thinking pinch hitting for Ciriaco in the ninth?  I mean, I like Punto.  He seems like a nice guy and all, and I understand that Ciriaco had gone 0 for 3 on the evening, but it seems like Punto has gone 0 for the season so far.  Mystifying.
• Youkilis is absolutely on fire.  It is still incredibly weird for me to see him in an opposing uniform.  I love Middlebrooks, he is definitely the future, but I miss Youk already.
• Speaking of which, remember all the media talk about Youkilis as the clubhouse snitch?  And remember how Josh Beckett was snitch-hunting more zealously than Harry Potter in a game of Quiddich?  Well, incredibly lame Harry Potter reference aside, I thought it was interesting that when Youk was first introduced to Fenway and the NESN camera crew got a shot of the pitchers, Beckett was the only one clapping.  Maybe there was less clubhouse drama than the media made it out to be.  Go figure.
• Lester needs to step up.  Preferably sooner rather than later. He’s far too talented to be knocked around like he has been.
• Did Valentine break a mirror or walk under a ladder?  Did he boast in the face of the baseball gods?  What is going on with the injuries on this team?  Maybe Ortiz is right, maybe this team is cursed.  These freak injuries are getting really old, really fast.  Losing the best hitter in the American League is a huge blow to the team.  Hopefully he comes back because we need a regular DH.
• Daniel Nava is quickly losing potency.   He has been a big contributor to the team so far this year, but he seems to watch a lot of strike three’s.
• Good to see Crawford and Ellsbury doing what they were designed to do.  Last night, they were a dynamic duo on the basepaths, terrorizing pitchers and catchers alike.  They not only add a whole new dimension to the offense, but also are incredibly fun to watch.
• Adrian Gonzalez all of the sudden displayed the power he was so lacking this season when he blasted an opposite field shot in game one against the White Sox.  If he can keep this up and Crawford can produce like he has in his first two games back, the season may not be over yet.
• There’s still a whole lot of baseball to play.

Given the pessimism, panic, and detest in the Boston media you’d think the Red Sox came together and announced that they were all Yankees fans and had given up on the season in order to root for their favorite team.  Most notably Boston.com’s Eric Wilbur’s call for the team to trade Adrian Gonzalez early in the season.  Wilbur called him apathetic, surly, and the unlikeable face of an unlikable team, as well as a racist, a neo-nazi, a communist, and a Christmas-hater. Not sure about those last few but it was scathing, to say the least.  The problem, Mr. Wilbur, is that it was all conjecture.  He failed to address Gonzalez’s ability to hit when it matters (.372 average with runners in scoring position) and while he may only have 6 homeruns, he leads the league in doubles.  So he’s having a down year so far, but that doesn’t mean you should trade away the team’s best hitter.  That goes for every WEEI caller who insists the Sox do so, too.

And for what it’s worth, in almost every interview I’ve seen with Adrian Gonzalez, he seems fairly likeable when the question isn’t completely asinine.

So, with all this negativity it seems only proper that we start with what worries me going forward in the season.

What worries me

The rotation: First and foremost is probably the biggest reason the Red Sox have had such a hard time this season.  Jon Lester and Josh Beckett have underperformed to say the least.  Clay Buchholz has had a horrific beginning, followed by a good recovery, followed by an injury to end this first half.  Daisuke Matsuzaka took forever to get back, and then just when he was showing promise, was reinjured.  Daniel Bard was a disaster.  Way to go there Red Sox.  Didn’t learn anything from how the Yankees handled Joba?  Aaron Cook’s bright spot was a complete game shut out against the Mariners, which sort of balances out his abominable first start.  Finally, Morales and Doubront were actually pleasant surprises.

Going forward, I’m worried most about Doubront and Morales who have been one of the few positives of this rotation.  Both are starting after being in the bullpen for several years, and so may very well start to break down as their bodies aren’t accustomed to the work load.  Aaron Cook will continue to be mediocre.  He’s out of his prime and his best season was in 2008 when he went 16-9 with a 3.96 ERA.  Other than that he is a lifetime 4.52 ERA with a 1.464 WHIP.  Not exactly Cy Young.  Still don’t really know why everybody was so excited about him.  Hard times for the back of the rotation ahead.

Bullpen:  I’m saying it right now.  Albers, Padilla, and Atchison are over-performing.  They have never been that good, none of them are particularly young, and none of them are going to start being that good now.  I worry that Valentine thinks otherwise and I fear that if he does, it’s going to cost us quite a few games going forward.  They are going to come back down to earth.  Hard.

Lineup:  Here I worry most about the injuries.  Is Crawford ever going to be healthy?  How someone can have so many setbacks is beyond me.  When they do get healthy, I worry that they will be rusty after having been injured so long, especially with Ellsbury and Pedroia, who seemed to be going on a tear when he rehurt his thumb.  Maybe it’s time to find a new trainer.  Also,  Mike Aviles, while he has so far racked up a nice RBI total has a .283 OBP.  He’s not getting better either.  Maybe the Scutaro trade wasn’t such a good idea.

 What I have hopes for

The Rotation:  I actually expect the front three in the rotation of Lester, Beckett, and Buchholz to start improving.  Lester in particular is still young and still extremely talented.  He hasn’t lost any velocity.  He just seems to be getting cutter-happy.  He is going return back to dominance.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.  The same may be said of Buchholz, though he has lacked Lester’s consistency, he has shown flashes of brilliance.  Beckett, meanwhile, may continue to pitch as he has.  Given that this is an even year, for whatever reason he will underperform.  But if he finishes with an ERA in the low 4’s, the Red Sox will take that, I’m sure.  That said, what all three of these pitchers will require is run support which has been denied specifically to Beckett and Lester so far.  Without timely hitting, the Red Sox won’t win too many games.

The Bullpen:  Mark Melancon is going to be the best bullpen pitcher we have by the end of the season.  How’s THAT for a bold prediction?  He’s still young, has a devastating curveball and is anxious to prove himself following his disastrous start to the season.  Andrew Bailey is promising too, if he can ever get healthy.  And who knows?  Maybe Daniel Bard can go back to being the ace setup man he was before the front office decided to fix something that wasn’t broken.  If those three perform with stability provided by Aceves and Miller, the Sox will have an excellent bullpen.

 The Lineup:  Finally we come to the lineup.  The biggest difference I expect here is Adrian Gonzalez.  He is too good not to start heating up.  Going into the all-star break he had begun to get in a groove, hitting .393 over the last 61 at bats.  He just needs the power to come through and he will once again be one of the best first basemen in the game.  I also expect Ellsbury to be a difference maker once he returns.  His speed on the base paths as well as his power and hitting ability completely change the dynamic of the Red Sox offence. When he is missing, they are a completely different, much less exciting, team.

Friday, the Sox are back at it, playing the Rays to begin a stretch of games that is unforgiving.  I don’t know why, but I have a good feeling about the team going forward.  They may yet live up to their potential.

Even casual Red Sox fans know that Manny Ramirez wore number 24 while with the Red Sox from 2001-2008, but Patrick Languzzi is focused on getting another outfielder who donned that digit for Boston the recognition he deserves.

For nearly 20 years in the 1970s and ‘80s, #24 belonged to a much more low-key but no less impressive ballplayer: Dwight “Dewey” Evans. He didn’t quite have Manny’s power, but Evans was an outstanding defensive player who developed into an excellent hitter – so good, in fact, that fan-turned-lobbyist Languzzi believes he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Languzzi has amassed plenty of stats to back up his Cooperstown claim. During the 1980s, for instance, Evans led the majors in extra-base hits and collected more home runs (256) than any other American Leaguer. He was also the premier right fielder in baseball for most of two decades, and is the only player in history to accomplish both the aforementioned slugging feats and also win eight Gold Gloves.

When it comes to combining offensive and defensive prowess in the Gold Glove era (post-1955), Languzzi attests, nobody is close to Evans. Henry Aaron is the only other player to both lead the ML in extra-base hits over the course of a decade (the ‘60s) and win multiple Gold Gloves in his career, and he “only” won three of them.

Take Evans’ spectacular defense out of the equation, and he’s still a viable Cooperstown candidate with higher lifetime numbers than the average Hall of Famer in runs, hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, walks, slugging, and OPS. He was great in the clutch too; playing in two of the all-time classic World Series (1975 and ’86), Evans hit .300 with 3 homers and 14 RBI in 14 games – along with making one of the greatest catches in postseason history.

It’s all right there on Languzzi’s website Call to the Hall, which the rookie webmaster has created to honor Evans and garner support for his Cooperstown candidacy. Dewey faces an uphill battle for sure, since he never collected more than 10.4 percent of the votes when initially appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot from 1997-1999. A player needs votes from 75 percent of the electorate (primarily sportswriters) to make it via this route; if he can’t crack that mark after 15 years, he is removed from the ballot and can only make it if nominated and then selected by the Veteran’s Committee.

More than mere idol worship compelled a self-proclaimed “average Joe” to create the website and an online petition that is quickly picking up steam. Growing up just outside Boston in Waltham, Mass, Languzzi was a huge Red Sox fan who “came of age” with the 1975 pennant-winners and loved watching the quiet, classy, and clutch way Evans played the game. Jim Rice was another of his favorite players, and he felt that both belonged in the Hall of Fame – Rice for his prodigious power hitting, Evans for his all-around play.

After Rice was elected to Cooperstown in 2009, Languzzi told his wife Ezzy that he felt Evans deserved the same honor. “She put her finger on my chest, and said, ‘If you feel that way, then do the research and prove it.” Languzzi recalls with a laugh. “I’m always up for a good challenge, so I started researching. And the more I uncovered, the more convinced I became that Evans belonged in the Hall of Fame.”

Figuring that the Veteran’s Committee (made up of senior media members, baseball executives, and Hall of Fame players) would agree if given the facts, Languzzi contacted Red Sox Vice President and Team Historian Dick Bresciani and shared his findings. Since it was “Bresch” who had compiled the rich statistical analysis that helped make the case for Rice’s election, his getting behind the project would be a huge endorsement.

Bresciani was so impressed that he put Languzzi in touch with Tom Catlin, who had been creating a documentary about Evans for the New England Sports Network (NESN), and Languzzi’s stats were worked into the program. Viewers saw just how valid an argument could be made for Dewey, especially when his numbers were put beside those of his longtime teammate Rice.

Although Rice had more “big” years, their core lifetime stats are very similar:  382 home runs, 1451 RBI, and a .854 OPS for Jim Ed; and 385 homers, 1384 RBI, and an .840 OPS for Evans. Rice had 2,452 hits; Evans 2,446. Yes, Rice had the higher lifetime batting and slugging averages, but Evans walked more and hit into far fewer double plays. And while Rice was a better defensive left fielder than he usually got credit for, Evans was among the best right fielders to ever play the position.

No less an authority than sabermetrics pioneer Bill James, a longtime senior advisor for the Red Sox, is also in agreement with Languzzi. According to James, the biggest problem voters have with Evans and his offense is that they recall his first several seasons as a good 20-homer, 70-RBI ballplayer, and not the second half of his career when he was a great 30-homer, 100-RBI one. Nobody denies his defense is of Cooperstown caliber.

“Dwight Evans is the very unusual baseball player who had all of his best years in his thirties,” James wrote in an essay entitled “An Open Letter to the Hall of Fame About Dwight Evans.” “Less than 5 percent [of players] have all of their best [offensive] years in their thirties. Dwight Evans is that unusual case.”

It was another challenge from his wife – “Why don’t you come up with a website?” – that prompted Languzzi to gather together all his statistical analysis and stories in cyberspace. Although he had never designed a website before, he came up with a very attractive, readable and easy-to-navigate portal into all things Dewey.

Through the process of his appeals for hardball justice, Languzzi has gotten friendly with Evans. He’s found his boyhood hero to be a quiet, classy guy, and learning that the three-time All-Star accomplished all he did on the field while caring for two seriously ill young sons has only further hardened Languzzi’s resolve.

“Not many knew about his sons being so sick when he played,” says Languzzi. “One of the things that drives me is that he’s so humble. You want to see somebody like that get into the Hall of Fame.”

Each three years, the Veteran’s Committee of the Hall of Fame meets to consider the credentials of players from the Expansion Era (1973 to present). To be elected, a candidate must receive votes from at least 75 percent or 12 of 16 votes cast. Evans was not on the ballot during the last such vote in 2010, because a player must be retired at least 21 years to be eligible. He last played in 1991 (with Baltimore), so Dewey will be up for discussion in fall 2013.

That gives Languzzi more than a year to keep building his case. Like a long Evans-to-Fisk peg trying to nab a runner at the plate, don’t bet against him.

Saul Wisnia lives less than seven miles from Fenway Park and works 300 yards from Yawkey Way. His latest book, Fenway Park: The Centennial, is available at Amazon.com and his Red Sox reflections can be found at http://saulwisnia.blogspot.com/. You can reach him at saulwizz@gmail.com or @saulwizz.

WHAT:                 Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), a national nonprofit committed to providing all youth and high school athletes a positive, character-building youth sports experience, will host the 1^st Annual Sports Leadership Breakfast, sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts, on June 26^th at Fenway Park.

The breakfast will feature a panel discussion with Celtics Coach Doc Rivers and Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine on the secrets of excellent coaching. They will be joined by distinguished fellow panelists Harvard Men’s Basketball Coach Tommy Amaker, Boston College Men’s Hockey Coach Jerry York and PCA Founder Jim Thompson. The panel will share personal experiences and explore the role of coaches as key educators capable of imparting critical life lessons and shaping young athletes’ futures.

WHO:                  

Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers

Boston Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine

Harvard Men’s Basketball Coach Tommy Amaker

Boston College Men’s Hockey Coach Jerry York

Positive Coaching Alliance Founder Jim Thompson

Moderators: Michael Holley and Glenn Ordway, hosts of “The Big Show” on WEEI 93.7 FM/850 AM          

WHEN:                 7:30 – 9 a.m., Tuesday, June 26th

WHERE:            

TICKETS:               VIP tables for seven can be purchased for $10,000; Tables of eight are available for $5,000 and half tables of four for $2,500. VIP tables include the opportunity to sit with one of the panelists.

Please email andy_crossley@positivecoach.org or call 339-237-8923 for reservations.

About the Positive Coaching Alliance

Founded as a non-profit within the Stanford University Athletic Department in 1998, Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) is committed to providing all youth and high school athletes a positive, character-building youth sports experience. To that end, PCA has conducted more than 10,000 live group workshops nationwide for more than 675,000 youth and high school sports coaches, parents, student-athletes and school/organizational leaders. Through workshops and companion online courses, PCA has impacted more than 4.5 million youth.
PCA’s partnership network includes more than 1,700 youth sports organizations, cities and schools. In 2012, PCA will conduct roughly 1,200 live, group workshops across the U.S., while assisting tens of thousands of other individuals via online courses at www.PositiveCoach.org.

PCA workshops and courses strive to establish these prevailing models in youth and high school sports:

• ·         The Double-Goal Coach^®, whose first goal is winning, and whose second, more-important goal is teaching life lessons through sports
• ·         The Second-Goal Parent^®, who concentrates on life lessons, while letting coaches and athletes focus on competing
• ·         The Triple-Impact Competitor^®, who strives to impact sport on three levels by improving oneself, teammates and the game as a whole.

PCA has the support of elite coaches and athletes on a National Advisory Board, including National Spokesperson and 11-time NBA Champion Coach Phil Jackson.

For more information on the Positive Coaching Alliance, Boston Chapter please visithttp://www.boston.positivecoach.org/.

After months of soul searching, it seems the answer is clear.

Since September of 2011, we have all become privy to A LOT of information regarding the Local 9 and everyone who has ever worked for the team. Things became painfully obvious that these players were not role models, they are not to be revered as the Kings of Boston, and no matter what the Fenway centerfield sign says the number of attendees to the game is, fans are proving this to the team daily.

The Red Sox, the Boston Red Sox, used to be a team. Period. Nothing more to that sentence.

When there was a slump, it was a team effort. The team wasn’t hitting, the pitchers were missing their marks, etc. No one assigned blame to specific names for the most part.

Since “The Collapse”, this team has become a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of “he did it” or “who did it?”.

When the team fell apart, it was Josh Beckett, John Lackey, and Jon Lester eating chicken and swigging beers in the clubhouse. It was Tito Francona popping pills in a hotel room before coming to work.

This year there is no unity on the Red Sox. It is painfully clear everyone is playing in the historic jersey for the paycheck coming in each week. Players don’t seem to enjoy each other for the most part, the players don’t like the manager, the manager is treading lightly so as not to open himself up for a mutiny, the suits don’t care about any of them.

There has been a ton of talk about why exactly Bobby Valentine was ever brought to Boston. It seems the thought was that he would provide some flair and take the heat off of the players a bit, which he hasn’t, and I don’t blame him.

Adrian Gonzalez is starting to be picked apart for not doing a damn thing when a leader is needed on or off of the field. This isn’t San Diego amigo and for the paycheck you are getting, you better start to figure out how things work in Boston.

Josh Beckett continues to do simply stupid things. “My thumb hurts, I am going to my own doctors” ended up being nothing but a simple complaint with no merit. Now his lat (“the whole lat”) is the problem but he is out playing golf two days before he skips his start due to that injury. But hey, his 2-3 record with a 4.45 ERA should hold his spot in the lineup, right?

Will Middlebrooks was called up while Kevin Youkilis hit the DL and in six games the kid has batted .346 with three homers and 9 RBI. Youkilis, in the 18 games he played has hit .219 with two homers and 9 RBI. Yet, Middlebrooks is already being told that when Youk returns, he gets his spot back automatically.

If you look at the Red Sox stats so far for the season, only four players are hitting better than .300, David Ortiz, Ryan Sweeney, Middlebrooks, and Dustin Pedroia.

Is it a case of players getting fat and happy with their long, overpaid contracts? Most likely. Papi usually seems to be exponentially better in a contract season and this continues to ring true in 2012 with his team leading seven homers and 23 RBI.

It is time the Red Sox cut ties with the dead weight on this team. Changing things up and finally admitting that this is what they are doing is exactly what this team needs to do. If they simply trade players like they did with Marco Scutaro in the offseason and call it a salary dump, fans won’t get it. If you trade away the cancerous parts of your organization, which will undoubtedly cost them a lot of money and continue the trend of Boston paying for players to play against them, and call it that, real baseball fans will understand.

This 2012 Red Sox team issue goes much deeper than the sport and the city. This team is absolutely UNLIKABLE and the fact that they are 12-18 with only four wins at home out of 14 tries only pushes for closure.

Ben Cherington needs to put the ax blade to the grinder and get to work and tell the fans and media what he is doing. Put some fear in the hearts of the team, if they even care.

It’s time to cut off the fat and gut the gutless.

It’s time for a new era in Boston baseball.

The picture that started it all for Strasberg.

If you are a fan of baseball and baseball history, then Baseball Fantography: A celebration in snapshots and stories from the fans is a must have for you.

This creation by Andy Stasberg is the true definition of looking at the history of the game both on and off the field. With pictures of many of the most fan favorite players of the past decades, all caught doing something other than playing baseball, this book for all ages really covers all avenues of the sport and it’s characters.

From the pictures of Babe Ruth’s gravestone to a 1975 picture of Willie McCovey with the San Diego Padrettes, Jim Rice blowing Bazooka bubbles, Don Zimmer and his wife in front of their Christmas tree, Mickey Mantel doing his best Munster impression to, of course, the fabled Fenway Park manually operated scoreboard, this book gives you a behind the scenes visual to mthe fun of the sport of baseball.

This book is more than a rental or one to download on your Nook, it is a visual masterpiece that will certainly be a conversation piece for any sports enthusiast. No fan of the history of the game of baseball can truly boast a complete collection without this literary treasure.

UNFORGETTABLE IMAGES OF OUR NATIONAL PASTIME

BY THE FANS. FOR THE FANS.

BASEBALL FANTOGRAPHY

A CELEBRATION IN SNAPSHOTS AND STORIES FROM THE FANS

To see samples of the snapshots, please visit address www.Fantography.net.

The two cases of Tommy John surgery opens up two slots in the rotation and unless you have been living under a rock, you know that the Boston media has full on hit the panic button.  Ben Cherington, completely handcuffed by the ownership made only token offers to Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt and instead hit the bargain bin and signed a series of what his predecessor referred to as “low-risk high-reward” signings.  That basically means that he signed a ton of pitchers who are either washed up or never lived up to their potential and hopes that one of them will pan out.

Given that Daniel Bard is the likely fourth starter, having converted to a starter after three dominant seasons out of the bullpen, there is only one spot in the rotation left open.  Injuries, mostly minor, have left only a few likely candidates for the remaining slot and so we’ll take a look at those who are still in the running.

Aaron Cook:

(Globe Staff Photo/Jim Davis)

In what was apparently a salary dump, Ben Cherington traded Marco Scutaro to the Colorado Rockies for Aaron Cook.  While the merits of trading your starting shortstop for a hopeful fifth starter with a career 4.53 ERA and who went 3-10 with a 6.03 ERA last year are rather questionable, Cook is now in the running for the fifth spot.  Red Sox fans may remember Aaron Cook as the man who pitched game four of the 2007 World Series for the Rockies.  Primarily a sinkerball pitcher, he also features a workable slider and an occasional curveball.  Cook’s best year was undoubtedly 2008 in which he went 16-9 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.344 WHIP, which earned him a spot at the All-Star game.  That said, he’s been on a slide every year after that with his ERA increasing by almost a run each year.  Leaving Coors field and moving to a different league may help him a little, but I still don’t expect Cook to contribute very much to the team.  At best, he may be a functional fifth starter, what he has been for pretty much his whole career. At 33, he’s not going to get much better.

Andrew Miller:

Bob Levey/Getty Images

The Red Sox signed the former first round pick last year and became enamored with his stuff.  Bringing him up to fill in an injury rattled rotation, Miller met mixed results.  The 6’7 left hander’s best start came August 25 against the Texas Rangers in which he went 6.1 shutout innings against the Texas Rangers giving up only three hits, walking two, and striking out six.  His worst start was his next, a week later also against the Rangers in which he went only one out into the second inning and was shelled for six runs before being pulled.  All told he finished last year with a 6-3 record and a 5.54 ERA.  The potential is there for Miller.  His fastball hits 95, but flattens out and becomes difficult to control at that speed.  His secondary pitches, a slider and a rare changeup, also have promise but he sometimes loses all ability to locate them.  Control is probably his biggest issue; he has a 5.4 BB/9 career rate.  He’s only 26, so he has growing to do, but he’s had 6 seasons in the league now and has failed to post an ERA under 5 in all but one season.  The window is closing on Miller and as he ages he will go from untapped talent to washed-up.  Also hurting Miller’s case is an elbow sprain that has kept him from the spring games.  Will he finally live up to that potential this year?

Vincente Padilla: 

Seems like Padilla has been around forever doesn’t it?  At 34, without a doubt the firey Nicaraguan’s best days are behind him.  The last time he was an All-Star, the best players on the Sox were still Nomar and Pedro.  Still, perhaps the front office is attempting to emulate the necromantic success the Yankees had last season when they were able to call forth the careers of Colon and Garcia from beyond the grave.  To be fair, Padilla has had a better history of success than Cook or Miller.  From 2002-2003 he won 28 games with 261 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.45 to go with a nice 1.227 WHIP.  He was the Dodgers opening day starter as recently as 2010 and he is certainly entertaining, if nothing else.  Padilla throws a good fastball that sits around 93-94 to go with a 70 mph curve and, best of all, a 50 mph eephus pitch.  That’s correct ladies and gentlemen, Padilla will occasionally loft up a 50 mph offering in hopes of freezing the batter.  Hey, it worked beautifully against Mauer back in Padilla’s spring debut on March 5^th.  The biggest issue with Padilla, other than his age of 34, is that he has a bad attitude.  He lead the league in hit batsmen back in ’06 and his antics on the mound have started more than one fight.  Other than that, he’s had trouble staying healthy and has only started 16 games in the past two years.  Best case scenario?  He throws a 4.25 ERA, wins 10 games, and only starts one or two fights.  Hopefully with the Yankees.  For a 5^th starter, I’ll take that any day.

Junichi Tazawa:

AP Photo

An outside shot at the rotation, Tazawa, unlike the previous pitchers mentioned here, could actually be considered a prospect.  Dominating in the Japanese Corporate league after high school, Tazawa skipped the Nippon Professional Baseball draft in order to come directly to America and signed with the Sox at the tail end of 2008.  During the injury-plagued 2009 campaign, he went on to start a few games for the Sox, the highlight being six shutout innings against the Yankees with only two walks and two Ks on August 22.  Tazawa also made a few relief appearances last year, having missed all of 2010 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.  His stuff is promising, he throws a low nineties fastball, with fairly good command, an average curveball, a slider, and a forkball that can be devastating.  If Tazawa can stay healthy and avoid the Daisuke issue of nibbling at the plate, he can be an effective 5^th starter.  If not, it will be back to the minor leagues for some more seasoning, where he has performed very well thus far. He is, after all, only 25.

Felix Doubront:

(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Last but not least is my favorite to make the rotation, Felix Doubront.  The Red Sox seem to like the cut of this tall left hander with the 94 mph fastball.  Doubront has shown promise; he posted a 4.32 ERA back in 2010 over 12 games including 3 starts and averaged a promising 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings.  Last year he met with a few hiccups in relief, ending with a 6.10 ERA, yet he only pitched 10.1 innings and if you take away the September 4 appearance against Texas, his ERA becomes 3.6.  Other than a good fastball, Doubront throws an impressive changeup and a curveball that is absolutely filthy when he can control it.  If Valentine is smart he’ll hang on to Doubront and if I were in charge he’d be my pick for the 5^th starter.  While Padilla might fare better, Doubront has more potential and is still only 24.  It’s hard to make a prediction for a guy who’s only made three career starts, but I firmly believe that if he becomes everything he can, he could one day be a solid 4^th or 5^th starter for the Red Sox.  Heck, he may even become a 3^rd starter one day.

Who knows?

The Tampa Bay Rays haven’t flown under anyone’s radar since the improbable run to the World Series in 2008. And with a Wild Card berth last year you would think they’d still be considered a force to be reckoned with.

But with a media circus following Bobby Valentine’s every move and the Yankees being… well… the Yankees, it’s easy to miss just how good the Tampa Bay Ray’s look heading into 2012. And that’s just the way they like it.

Lineup

The reason the Rays were able to snag the wild card in 2011 was a result of just about anything other than their line-up (707 runs scored). The anemic offense only produced a .244 team batting average, which was worse than any team in the majors, save for the Seattle Mariners.

The consistency and power this line-up does have is generally channeled through Evan Longoria, but with Longoria posting a dismal average of .244 in 2011, the line-up struggled to keep any consistency through the season. Longoria will have to establish himself as the .300 hitting, 30+ home run belting hitting machine that the fans, front office, and coaches all know he can be.

If Longoria can put it together for 2012 he’s still going to need some help, and he may find it in the electric Desmond Jennings. Jennings came on strong in August of last year (.333, 7 HR, 9 SB), and could be looked to for a much needed spark at the top of this line-up.

Rotation

The true strength of this team in 2012 is going to be the depth and poise of this young pitching staff, and it starts with ace lefty David Price. With two 200+ inning seasons under his belt David Price will look to cement himself as one of the most reliable lefties, if not overall pitchers, in the majors in 2012.

Behind him will be a cast of veterans and youth that should supply innings, quality starts, and depth to a rotation that may very well be one of the best in the league in 2012.

“Big Game” James Shields locks down the number two spot in the rotation, and with his filthy change-up, provides a solid one-two punch with Price. Beyond that is last year’s Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson, and many writer’s favorite for Rookie of the Year in 2012, Matt Moore.

With Jeff Niemann (11 – 7, 4.06 ERA in 2011) and Wade Davis (11-10, 4.45 ERA in 2011) rounding out the cast of possible 5^th starters this has the potential to be one of the best starting rotations in 2012.

They will certainly need the depth in the rotation, as this bullpen looks prone to streaks and getting overworked.

Bullpen

Kyle Farnsworth has always had closer velocity, and with career bests in ERA (2.18) and Saves (25) in 2011 it would seem he’s finally combined that velocity with some consistency. However the history books are littered with flame-out flame-throwers failing to repeat results as a closer from year to year.

Setting up Farnsworth will be Fernando Rodney, but with the emergence of Joel Peralta last season (2.93 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 8.1 SO/9) don’t be surprised to see Peralta get a chance at setting up Farnsworth the moment Rodney (1.69 WHIP in 2011) begins to get himself into trouble.

Another instrumental part of this bullpen will be it’s middle relief, and no pitcher’s rebound is more important for the Rays than J.P. Howell whom had a rough season in 2011 after returning to action for the first time since 2009. When Howell is on, he has demonstrated the ability to be one of the toughest bullpen lefties in the league (9.9 SO/9, 2.48 ERA, 1.16 WHIP between the ‘08-’09 seasons).

But in 2011, Howell failed to even show a glimpse of that kind of arm, posting an atrocious 6.16 ERA and an even more unsettling 1.57 WHIP.

Prediction

With Hellickson and Moore slated to get a lot of innings in 2012 it’s anyone’s guess as to whether their young arms will be able to carry the workload and help this team pitch it’s way into another playoff berth. In 2008 the Rays had 4 starters go wire to wire with no injuries. I don’t see that happening with this 2012 squad.

Price and Shields should provide quality starts more often than not, but Hellickson and Moore could be asked to carry too much of the slack beyond the top two spots in the rotation and could expose this already suspect bullpen that can ill afford to be getting into games earlier than the seventh inning.

On top of all of that, residing in a division with two of the most patient line-ups in baseball in the Yankees and Red Sox certainly won’t help that cause.

 Final: 89 – 73 (3^rd Place)

Another season removed from the post Vernon Wells era, and the Mike Napoli error, the 2012 Toronto Blue Jays look to make a name for themselves in the AL East that isn’t preceded by “4^th place” or “perennial basement dwellers”.

2011 was a solid step in that direction, finishing 81-81 on the season. But can John Farrell continue to mold this once one-dimensional team into a fundamentals first, speed machine that will give pitchers fits? Or will this be yet another Blue Jay team that prays to the altar of the long ball?

Line-up

While the bats of the Blue Jays have been traditionally mighty, there has been a changing of the guard ever since John Farrell put on his Jay’s uniform. It could be argued that he’s the most important body in a Jay’s uniform in 2012.

His background as a pitching coach has turned this swing-first-ask-questions-later team into a group of smart hitters and base runners. In 2011 the Blue Jays finished with over 100 stolen bases for the first time in a decade. This is part of a philosophy of disrupting pitchers by making them throw more and giving them more to think about on the hill.

This strategy has some serious upside for this club in 2012 and beyond, but it relies heavily on this line-up being more disciplined, consistent, and productive at the plate.

Rotation

With a one-two punch like Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow it’s not unforeseeable that this rotation turns out to be better than people are expecting. The success of this rotation is going to depend on whether or not pitchers can stay sharp for five or six innings a game on a regular basis.

While Romero and Morrow are excellent pieces for this rotation, it’s only Romero that has the make-up to go the distance. Romero has pitched over 200 innings in both of his full seasons in the majors, whereas Morrow has yet to record a 200 inning season yet. Working against Morrow is his bread and butter (10.2 Ks per 9 in 2011), but if he can reduce his walk totals there could be some room to be a threat to go seven innings more often.

 Bullpen

The true strength of the Toronto Blue Jays over the past 5 years has been there ability to produce a deep, versatile, and effective bullpen. The one struggle that seems to eclipse the strength of this bullpen is the starters lack of quality starts and the inevitable overuse of any and all arms available in the bullpen.

With Sergio Santos shutting the door (13.1 K per 9 and 30 saves in 2011 w/ White Sox) and Fransisco Cordero setting him up (1.02 WHIP last year, his lowest since 2002) there are serious reasons to respect, fear, and bank on this bullpen. It all comes down to how the starters in before them preform.

 Prediction

There are some real reasons to be excited about this team, but most of them aren’t looking like they’re quite ready to gel yet. Combine the youth up and down this roster with the fact that the Jays dwell in the AL East and there isn’t much sense in seeing the Jays get past 4^th place in this division.

 Finish: 83- 79 (4^th Place)