“We had an opportunity to exchange ideas with the club about a contract extension for Carl and it was clear to all of us that an immediate agreement was not going to materialize.  Thus, we all agreed to table discussions until the end of the year.  We’d like to minimize distractions for Carl and the club and keep the focus on baseball, so we don’t plan to comment upon Carl’s contract status again until after the season.”

Going into this winter I would have bet everything I had on the Red Sox employing either Jason Bay or Matt Holliday in left field on opening day. Their demands weren’t outrageous and I didn’t think the Sox would feel comfortable entering 2010 with 36 less home runs (Jason Bay’s 2009 total) in their lineup. Fast forward to right now and both Bay and Holliday have long since happily signed elsewhere while at the same time the Red Sox added John Lackey and Mike Cameron instead. Ellsbury will play left, Cameron will play center, and the Sox will likely have less thump in their lineup than they had in previous years. What I failed to consider at the time was the prospect of Carl Crawford hitting the free agent market in 2011.

If they do in fact have interest in Crawford, which is purely speculation on my part, then signing Bay or Holliday long term would have made signing Crawford nearly impossible. Not only would there be no position for him, but it would be tough to swallow another big contract when the team is already up against the luxury tax threshold. My best guess is this; Crawford is a younger and more dynamic player of which the Red Sox value higher than Bay and Holliday. He is also likely to command less on the open market. Combining the fact that the Red Sox like him more and that he would cost less than Bay or Holliday and ultimately signing him would be far more valuable to the club financially. This alone made it worth the risk of waiting it out even if they don’t sign him in the end.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Yankees also covet him, which you would expect as both the Sox and Yanks see the damage he can do more than any team in the league due to the unbalance in the schedule. The Yankees were silent when it came to Bay or Holliday and they also let one of their own, Johnny Damon, go to Detroit leaving left field to be occupied by Randy Winn and Brett Gardner. The Yankees spent the whole winter saying they had a hard budget of $200 million, which they spent up to, but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if they were saving their pennies to make a run at Crawford next year.

Regardless, Crawford will no longer be employed by the Rays past 2010. He will command much more than the tight stringed Rays are willing to pay. Even if the Red Sox don’t sign him, the news of him potentially leaving the AL East is nothing short of stupendous. Sure he could end up signing with the Yankees, but the effect he would have on that home run driven offense is less than that of most other teams. But just imagine for a minute having Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford in the same lineup? Yea, you can count me as on the bandwagon.

- Chris

According to ESPN.com’s John Clayton, LaDanian Tomlinson was released yesterday by the Chargers after nine years of service. Based on the lack of production from the running back position and the fact that everyone’s favorite thing to do on Monday mornings is shit on Laurence Maroney we are likely going to have to endure a few months of speculation on whether or not Tomlinson will suit up for the Patriots in 2010.

Despite still scoring 12 touchdowns, LT had his worst season as a professional in 2009. He had 223 carries for 730 yards and an unimpressive 3.3 yards per carry. Also, he only had 20 receptions for 154 total yards and no scores. LT has been in a steady decline since he peaked in 2006. Take a look at the below statistics:

What is most telling to me is the decrease in yards per carry. It is expected that a running back in his late 20’s/early 30’s will suffer from a decline in production. It’s unreasonable to expect him to have 320+ carries for his entire career. But when you only have 223 attempts, if you had anything left in the tank then you should be averaging at least four yards a carry, any less and you are hurting your team. To compare, Laurence Maroney has a career 4.2 YPC and last year was at 3.9. Not great by any means, but definitely solid production from the position. Maroney, however, has been getting run out of town for three years, even before he started fumbling. Is it realistic to think that Tomlinson would come to New England and be anything better than what we saw this past year?

Unfortunately, the answer to that question is no. Tomlinson is too beat up after years of carrying the load in San Diego and playing through nagging injuries. To expect him to come in here and solve the New England’s ground issues should not be expected nor wanted, and that is without even taking into consideration the fact that Tomlinson has done nothing but express his hatred for the Patriots and Belichick at every chance he had. Currently, the Pats have Sammy Morris, Fred Taylor, Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis, along with Maroney under contract and will likely be bringing back Kevin Faulk as well. All but Maroney and Green-Ellis are on the wrong side of 30. If the Patriots were to add another running back to the mix, which is unlikely considering they already have five, I would expect them to draft someone young who could potentially be a long term fix rather than a stop gap like Tomlinson.

The solution to the problem remains in house. There is not one thing that is glaringly wrong with the Patriots run game. Everyone deserves a piece of the blame pie including Maroney for fumbling too much, the coaching staff for calling the wrong plays, Belichick for having a short leash on Maroney, and Fred Taylor for being old and fragile. If in 2010 we can finally get away from the 2007 run and gun offense and be more balanced and committed to the run then the Patriots will be far more successful. Maroney has the talent and Taylor has the experience; combined, they could be quite the two headed monster in 2010.

- Chris

“Listen, I’d like to leave with this, a man who’s worth a billion dollars or more should be able to do everything he wants except kill somebody.” ~Bernard Hopkins on “LA Sports Live”

Everyone was thinking it, it just took someone who has made a living getting his head beat in to finally admit it. Imagine that.

- Chris

Recap – It certainly wasn’t pretty, but a win in LA is huge whether it be by one point or 20, even if Kobe doesn’t play a single minute. I was convinced that this game was going to end up in a loss for the Celtics the entire way. It had all of the makings of your typical 2010 Celtics loss. They came out hot building a quick lead only to give it away minutes into the second quarter. In true Celtic fashion they figured their shit out and went into halftime up by five. Once again the lead was given away early in the third quarter but something was special about last night. The old 2010 Celtics would have folded, especially in a hostile environment like LA, but they roared back and headed into the fourth quarter up by seven. The offense decided to take the fourth off only scoring 11 points but the fans were reminded that tough defense ultimately will win you just as many games as a great offense as we saw a tremendous team effort to hold the Lakers to only 17 points and a loss despite the Celtics not scoring in the final three minutes.

What I liked

- While I would have liked to see more out of the offense, it was encouraging to see the defense step it up. Even without Kobe, the Lakers are a hell of a team. To hold them to 86 points on their home court is no small feat. The Lakers only shot 40% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc. This was a typical 2007 win. Score enough and out play them defensively. Love it.

- Ray Allen looked rejuvenated last night. Maybe it is because he finally knows where he is going to spend the rest of the season, but whatever the reason, we saw the Ray Ray of old. He went 10-15 from the field and 3-5 from three point land. He totaled 24 points on the night leading all scorers and was guarding Derek Fisher when he missed the final shot of the game. It’s impossible to tell is this was just a one night flash, but the Celtics could definitely use more of the Ray Allen we saw last night.

- Kendrick Perkins had a big night pulling down 14 boards, 3 offensive, and scoring 13 points to go along with 2 blocks. Perk had been struggling a little since KG and Big Baby came back from injuries as all of his stats have taken a hit from January to February. Playing against Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum is no easy feat, and to put up big numbers against them should not be taken lightly.

What I Didn’t Like

- Rasheed Wallace needs to find his place on this team. Right now all he does is throw up three pointers and miss the majority of the time. He lacklusterly plays defense, and when he does try, he just ends up getting into scuffles at mid court and gets a technical. He is now only one away from an automatic suspense after he and Gasol got into it a bit last night. He may complain that Gasol was just as much at fault and deserved a foul as well, but that still doesn’t negate the fact that he has 13 on the year. Wallace needs to start doing what he does best, posting up. When Sheeds gets down on the block he has the ability to score a lot of points. He needs to use his range from outside as a secondary weapon. Right now defenders can play right up in his face because they know he isn’t going to try and bring them down low. This needs to change.

- Chris

WEEI.com – Did you get away from the split last year?

No question. No question. I think when you’re successful at one certain aspect of your game, and mine was being able to locate my fastball towards the end of the season, you’re successful with it, I tended to really kind of rely on that a lot. Until I got hurt with it, which was a big part of the season, I went with it. Hindsight’s 20/20 now, but obviously I’m going to take that into consideration, try to be a little more selective with my pitch.

Did you lose the feel for the splitter?

No question. That’s such a feel pitch. It’s a pitch that you have to throw a lot, just like a curveball. Any kind of offspeed pitch, it’s a feel pitch. There were times when I was choking it down a little too much and overthrowing it, and there were times when I was throwing it perfect. But like I said, that comes with experience, and this year I’ll be able to take that into the season right from the get-go.

Well there you have it. I was the first person to bitch about this and trust me, it happened long before the rest of the media finally figured it out. For much of last season people were befuddled by how Papelbon had suddenly become semi-mortal, not me. It was blatantly obvious the whole time. The reason Papelbon was so unhittable in the past was because of his ability to locate the fastball and the follow up with a split finger that by the time you realized it wasn’t a fastball it was too late. Last year, it was all fastball. He would get ahead of guys 0-2 what seemed like every at bat, but after two pitches hitters were getting a feel for the fastball. Next a series of foul balls ensued and then ultimately a blown save. I don’t want to discredit anything Papelbon did last year because he was still one of the top three closers in all of baseball. But if he is throwing his splitter and getting guys to swing and miss there is no pitcher I would rather have on the mound in the bottom of the ninth. Hopefully last years disaster against the Angels is enough for Papelbon to realize that he needs this pitch to be the best in baseball. That is the Paps that I want on the mound.

- Chris

WEEI.com – Longtime NFL.com senior analyst Pat Kirwan said the Patriots are the team that’s most likely to land potential free agent defensive end Julius Peppers. “I still think the Patriots are the team that had the most interest in him, and they struggled in the pass rush last season,” Kirwan said during a live chat Monday on NFL.com. “Bill Belichick has had great success with the hybrid players, like Willie McGinest, who can play in both three- and four-man fronts. The Redskins are notorious for spending money. But I think Peppers wants to play for a playoff contender, along with making a ton of money.”

Am I the only person who doesn’t want to see Peppers end up with the Patriots? Because honestly, I think it is hilarious that people are even considering it. The Patriots defense is built on versatility and smarts. There really isn’t a spot on this team for a pure pass rusher, especially at the cost that it would take to lock up Peppers. There is no doubting the mans talent. He can get to the quarterback better than most. But the majority of the time he is breaking containment and opening himself up to be burned by draws and quick runs/passes. You may think that it is a small price to pay in order to reap the rewards of 10+ sacks a year, but Belichick undoubtedly feels differently, just ask Adalius Thomas.

If the Patriots wanted to drop big bucks on a pass rusher they wouldn’t have traded Richard Seymour. He embodied everything the Patriots look for in a defensive end. Seymour would get to the quarterback when his number was called, but also knew how to play his position and draw double teams opening up the field for the rest of the defense to run wild. If you ask me who would Belichick rather have on his team all things being equal I would go with Seymour. Peppers just isn’t a good fit for his system.

This is obviously a terrible comparison because their skills are not even in the same atmosphere, but we brought in a pure pass rusher in Derrick Burgess last summer and that didn’t work out too well. His lack of versatility often led him straight to the bench.

The Patriots have four of the top 53 picks in this springs draft. A draft, mind you, that is loaded with 3-4 caliber defensive ends. It is much more realistic that they use one or two of these picks to bring in someone fresh who they can teach and develop from the get go. This is also a far less expensive route as well which is sure to come into play, especially when you have plenty of your own players (Wilfork, Brady, Mankins, Gostkowski, etc.) to worry about signing first.

It is easy to pin point pressuring the quarterback as one of the teams glaring weaknesses in 2009. But adding a man who recorded 10.5 sacks last year doesn’t immediately make everything all better.

- Chris

ESPNBoston.com — Daisuke Matsuzaka was back in camp Tuesday after tending to personal business in Boston but never made an appearance on the practice field. He left after working out inside and speaking briefly with Japanese reporters.

According to translations, the Kyodo News and the Japanese sports web site Sponichi Annex reported a few days ago that Matsuzaka, who was an early arrival here, had skipped his throwing session at the end of last week because of tightness in his back, and his no-show on the field Tuesday would suggest that the condition had not improved sufficiently to resume throwing. The Japanese media outlets had reported that the Red Sox were aware of the condition, though Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein did not mention it while discussing Matsuzaka with reporters on Monday.

We haven’t even made it to spring training yet and there is already word surfacing that Dice K is hurt? Come on. I was expecting big things out of him this year, especially after having a promising winter with the Athletes Performance Institute.  But this is not a good start. This kid has all the talent in the world but there is always something that is getting in the way of him succeeding. Even when he won 18 games in 2007, there was still plenty of bad things to be said about him. And it’s not like I can just call him a puss and tell him to suck it up either because that’s what he did last year and he blew nuts all year. Listen, Dice K obviously isn’t the key to the 2010 season. We could win the World Series without him making a single start. But if you give me half of the 2007 Dice K out of the fifth spot in the rotation and we could easily see the Red Sox starters pull in 80 wins during the regular season. Now get your shit together Dice and earn some of that money you are making.

- Chris

ProFootballTalk.com – The Colts had the best two-minute drive quarterback of his era, perhaps any era, and they chose to run the ball with Mike Hart instead. The Colts’ decision to go conservative late in the first half, more than any other, is ripe for debate… The following quote from Peyton Manning indicates that the decision to run came from above. “Had we gotten that first down, we were going to call a timeout and then go back to our two-minute offense, but Jim Caldwell told Tom [Moore] to try to get a first down, try to punch it out first,” Manning said. “We feel like you should convert that third down and we didn’t. Then we gave them a short field and gave them the easy field goal. That was a disappointing series,” he finished. (Manning unsurprisingly didn’t sound thrilled with the decision.)

Let me preface this by saying that I actually don’t mind the Colts, I know, it’s amazing. But for some reason I was always a fan. Obviously this happened long before they became the Patriots biggest and most hated rivals, but still, I think I look at them from a completely different perspective than most in the area. That being said, it really is ridiculous the double standard that is out there when comparing the Colts and the Patriots, and hell, even the Saints.

Coming out and blaming your rookie head coach for blowing the Super Bowl is quite the statement. If it was Tom Brady who said this he would be crucified for months and probably suspended from the league. At the very least he would be fined $10 million. This is a true statement, not just my opinion. The guy who supposedly has all the power in the offense and the ability to call whatever play he wants and change the play to whatever he wants at the line of scrimmage all of the sudden is blaming the play calling? I’m not buying it Peyton, you can’t fool me. Listen, part of being one of the greatest of all time is owning up to your mistakes. Whenever the Patriots lose a game, Brady is the first one to the mic taking the blame, even if he just threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns, Brady comes out and says he could have done something better that would have won them the game. When has Manning ever done this? Just off the top of my head I recall him blaming the kicker and his offensive line for losing playoff games in the past, and now, he is blaming the coach? No way. I didn’t see Jim Caldwell say one word on the sidelines this entire season, let alone in the most important game of the year. He is simply a figure head and it would surprise me if his head set was even plugged in.

Despite this ludicrous outcry, Manning, yet again, is getting a free pass. It’s almost like because he makes funny commercials and has won every regular season game of his life that he gets to just say whatever he wants and never take the blame for a loss. It can’t be Manning’s fault right? He is perfect in every way. Blow me, give me Brady every day of the week.

- Chris

Alas, the time has come. It may be dark when I wake up in the morning and dark when I leave work but spring is in the air. With only a few short weeks until pitchers and catchers report it is never to early to begin thinking about the 2010 Fantasy Baseball draft. While many of you won’t be drafting for at least another month, it’s the guys who start early that separate themselves from the pact come draft day and sail smoothly to victory going wire to wire in first place. To help you prepare we have been working on our ultimate draft kit with rankings, sleepers, busts, articles, and more. Until that is ready, here is a sneak peak at my top 15 players going into the season.

All stats are from the 2009 season

1 – Albert Pujols – 1B – 124/47/135/16/.328 (Runs/HR/RBI/SB/AVG)

Last year I made a strong argument that Hanley Ramirez should be in this spot and ended up putting him atop my rankings citing positional scarcity and the potential for 30 HR’s and 50 SB’s as the main reasons. However, Hanley has taken a step back statistically, at least in home runs and stolen bases while Pujols increased in HR total by ten from 2008 to 2009 and his runs and RBI by 20. While shortstop is still weak and first base is deeper than ever, feel comfortable taking Pujols number one. If there is one thing you want in Fantasy sports it is consistency and Pujols is as close of a guarantee as you can get.

2 – Hanley Ramirez – SS – 101/24/106/27/.342

That being said, Hanley is no slouch. Once again he posted above average statistics in all five categories and won the batting title with a whopping .342 average. It was disappointing to see his HR and SB totals not eclipse the 30/30 mark, but don’t take it as a sign of leveling off. After a slow start to the season Hanley finished as strong as ever and still has the tools to give you 30-40 home runs and anywhere from 30-50 stolen bases. Plus, he is still only 26 so the best is yet to come. Don’t feel too bad about missing out on Pujols, because Hanley is a close 1a in all drafts.

3 – Alex Rodriguez – 3B – 78/30/100/14/.286

Not quite what you would expect from a typical A-Rod season, but you must remember that he missed five weeks in the beginning of the season due to hip surgery. The same surgery that Mike Lowell had four months earlier that hobbled him for the entire season. Being a full year removed from surgery combined with the band box of a stadium he plays half of his games in and I would not be surprised if A-Rod hits 50 home runs this year, if not, it’s safe to say that the floor is around forty. It was a toss up here between Braun and A Rod, but outfield is pretty deep and Rodriguez plays in a much deeper lineup conducive to scoring more runs and driving more in.

4 – Ryan Braun – OF – 113/32/114/20/.320

Braun has been a fantasy star since the day he walked onto the field his rookie season. Outfield is a fairly deep position, but Braun has a step up on everyone. This kid is a five tool player bringing consistency and at only age 26 there is still room for growth. The power has always been there and in 2009 Braun showed everyone that he can hit for average as well when he hit .320 and lead the National League in hits. At this point in the draft you can’t go wrong with any one of the next few players, but if I’m picking fourth, Braun is the guy I have targeted.

5 – Chase Utley – 2B – 112/31/93/23/.282

In 2009 Utley was supposed to miss at least a month of the season after having surgery to repair a torn hip labrum. This had many experts pegging him for the early second round in fantasy drafts, but not this guy. Last year I picked fifth overall and took Utley without hesitation. The dude is a rock at a very weak position and went on to post his fifth straight season with a .900+ ops. This season, I have Utley in the exact same spot. His average dipped to .282 due to a very poor September. One might think he wore down towards the end of the season but he hit five home runs in the World Series so I think he was fine. You can usually count on Utley to post a line of at least 100/30/100/20/.300 making him a fantasy stud at second base.

6 – Matt Kemp – OF  – 97/26/101/34/.297

Kemp broke out last year thrusting himself into elite fantasy status. He missed the 30/30 club by only four home runs and at only 25 years old his power should only continue to increase. Considering he spent a large part of the season in the eighth spot in the lineup, his run and RBI totals are even more impressive. Hopefully Joe Torre is finally realizing the talent this kid has because in the middle of the order he could easily hit 35 home runs and steal 35 bases this year. If nothing else you will see his run totals increase by not having to hit in front of the pitcher ever again.

7 – Miguel Cabrera – 1B – 96/34/103/6/.324

Usually in the first round I like to snag guys who will contribute in all five statistical categories, but these next few are good enough that they don’t need to steal bases to make my top ten. Cabrera is another guy who is still entering his prime at only age 26. What he lacks in speed he makes up for with the rest of his game. Not only is he a lock for 100 runs, 30 home runs, and 100 RBI, but he has batted over .320 in four out of the last five years, not a small feat. He has had some problems off the field, but luckily all we care about in fantasy is the numbers, and this kid puts them up.

8 – Prince Fielder – 1B – 103/46/141/2/.300

I was able to get Fielder with the 19th pick in a 12 team roto league last year and boy am I glad I did. After a disappointing 2008 Fielder really came roaring back last year. After only hitting three home runs in April Fielder went on to hit 43 for the next five months. His 141 RBI tied him with Ryan Howard for the league lead. If Fielder was playing any other position he would likely be a top three pick but unfortunately first base is the deepest of them all this year. After a year of speculation, it seems like all that talk about being a vegetarian can finally cease.

9 – Ryan Howard – 1B – 105/45/141/8/.279

No one has ever doubted Howard’s power and run producing numbers, but with only a .266 average over the last three season there is always the question of whether or not the increased HR’s and RBI are worth the hit you take. He is always going to strike out a ton, but last year he proved a lot to me by hitting 23 home runs and batting .305 after the all star break. Many forget that he hit .313 in 2006 while hitting 58 home runs so it’s not like he has always been a dick punch on your average. It would not surprise me in the least to see Howard come in this year and bat .300, if he does, you can consider him a top four fantasy player. If he doesn’t, then I’ll still take the 40 HR’s and 130+ RBI late in the first round.

10 – Mark Teixeira – 1B – 103/39/122/2/.292

As much as I hate to take a Yankee player so early, especially one who left the Red Sox standing at the alter, you can’t ignore the numbers. In that ball park, with that lineup, Teixeira’s numbers could be expected to increase, especially considering his slow start to 2009. Now fully acclimated to New York and the pressure cooker that comes in Yankee Stadium Teixeira stands to be a perennial MVP candidate for the Yanks.  He may not hit 50 home runs or steal 30 bases but he is as consistent as they come, especially now that he plays 81 games in the new band box Yankee stadium.

The top ten are pretty much all agreed upon throughout the fantasy world, it is just a matter of being up or down one spot here and there. After this though it starts to get interesting, I shake things up from here on out and if you want to win your league, I suggest you follow suit. Just continue reading to get the rest of my top 15 and those who barely missed the cut.

Continue Reading…

ESPNBoston.com – The sources cautioned that nothing is imminent, but said the clubs are having discussions. The Bobcats have been searching for a power forward, and the 6-foot-9 Davis could be their man. The Celtics, meanwhile, have been longing for a backup point guard, and Augustin, who’s fallen out of favor with Charlotte coach Larry Brown, would be more than adequate. A straight-up trade would not work because Davis is a base-year compensation player, so other players would have to be involved to meet the financial requirements. That could be a sticking point in the deal. While teams don’t typically trade big for small, Boston is a bit aggravated with Davis, who’s had a few off-the-court problems this season. Most notably, he missed the first 27 games of the season after breaking his thumb in an early morning scuffle with a friend.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one. While the Big Baby act has gotten a little old, I feel much more comfortable knowing we have him as an emergency backup plan should KG miss any extended amount of time. That being said, if we really are relying on someone to fill KG’s shoes then we are probably fucked anyways. Augustin is a former lottery pick going ninth overall to the Bobcats in the 2008 draft. He is a solid point guard out of Texas with much more potential than Davis has. In terms of overall talent, Augustin has Davis beat and it really isn’t close. But for whatever reason Larry Brown would rather have Brian Scalabrine running the point than Augustin. Still, I’m torn. I want Rondo on the floor as much as possible, but as long as Augustin isn’t stealing any significant minutes then it could work well in the long run, especially once Ray leaves town.

This rumor serves as a reminder that Danny Ainge is nothing short of fearless when it comes to making a splash in the trade market. As crazy as trading Ray Allen and or Glen Davis sounds, knowing Danny, it really wouldn’t be surprising to see both of them gone by the time the trade deadline rolls around. That being said, he is also very likely to stand pat. Now, we can do nothing but speculate, and wait.

- Chris