The
Boston Red Sox are a team filled with many potential keepers for 2011, depending on your team needs and the level of risk you are willing to accept.
I'll start off with what I perceive to be a "no-brainer" keeper selection in staff ace
SP Jon Lester. Lester is currently ranked 30th on
ESPN's Player Rater and 29th on Yahoo!'s ranking and the 9th highest ranked pitcher on both sites. Here's a look at his statistics for the last three seasons:
2008: 33 GS, 16-6, 3.21 ERA, 1.27 WHIP
2009: 32 GS, 15-8, 3.41 ERA, 1.23 WHIP
2010: 30 GS, 18-8, 3.06 ERA, 1.17 WHIP
I think you know what to expect with Lester and keeping him on your roster for another season should continue to pay off with Cy Young-worthy numbers.
Another highly ranked Red Sox player isn't as clearly a "no-brainer" as one would hope.
3B Adrian Beltre is currently ranked 17th on both ESPN and Yahoo! and a player that deserves to be in all fantasy MVP award discussions (based on ADP vs. production), BUT there is the issue of
his 2011 contract and where he would be playing next season. I think he's a definite keeper in Boston but what if he chases a bigger contract to a place like Oakland or San Diego? Do you really expect .324/82/28/99/2 numbers from him there? Hopefully it's clear where he'll be playing in 2011 before you have to lock in your keepers.
While deciding whether to keep
C Victor Martinez or not, take into consideration his #2 rank of all catchers with his .299/58/18/73/1 line. He's seeking a four-year deal but should put up
similar, if not better, numbers regardless where he winds up playing.
1B/3B Kevin Youkilis was on his way to another .300/100/30/100 season (.307/77/19/62 in 102 games) when a torn muscle in his right thumb ended his season. Youkilis will only be 1B eligible in 2011, so you have to decide is he worth keeping or do you try to do better at first base. More than likely, the top-10 to top-15 first basemen are going to be kept in your league and Youkilis deserves to be kept, regardless of his ranking. Just keep an eye on news of how his rehabbing is going.
One player that has made a huge jump in the fantasy realm in 2010 was
SP Clay Buchholz. His 16 wins came from an ADP of 174 but you wont be so lucky in 2011. He's currently ranked 73rd on ESPN and 59th on Yahoo!. If you choose not to keep him, he won't be available very long. Unless you have a very favorable draft position to scoop him back up, your choices are keep him or bank that the 16 wins were a fluke.
Pundits continue to sing the mantra of "never pays for saves". I disagree. There's nothing wrong with paying for the elite and
CL Jonathan Papelbon has elite stuff. Statistically speaking, 2010 was a down year for Papelbon but you need to evaluate his 2011 potential within the confines of a keeper league. If he's the best closer you have on your roster, the chance of getting a better one (without getting super lucky) are slim. Other teams will be keeping guys like Bell, Rivera, Soria, Wilson and Soriano, so why not lock up a closer with 35+ saves and 10+ K/9 in each of his five seasons in that role in Boston.
Injury ended the season early for another of Boston's elite players,
2B Dustin Pedroia. If you stashed Pedroia on your DL for the second half of the season, you probably did so with the intention of keeping the former MVP. Pedroia is the kind of player that will come back with a vengeance in 2011 and make fantasy owners proud they stuck by the scrappy second basemen.
Lastly, I want nothing to do with
DH David Ortiz in 2011 as a keeper. It's hard to suggest not keeping a player that has hit 31 homers and drove in 96 runs but the roster limitation of a DH only and the early season slump are enough to steer me clear when identifying keepers. If I am a fan and want him on my roster, I'll take my chances that he'll still be out there to draft, when needed.
Are there any other players on the
Red Sox roster you'd be willing to use a keeper selection on for the 2011 season or do you disagree with my assessment of their roster? If so, open up the discussion by leaving me a comment.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
This has got to be some kind of Red Sox Bizarro World. Imagine someone in an "I Love To Eat Dinner At 4 O' Clock" t-shirt walking up to you last Spring in Fort Myers and saying, "Josh Beckett will finish 2010 at 6-6 with an ERA approaching 6.00. " Would you have believed him? Not bloody likely! Nevertheless, there it is. This preposterous season (the right Sox lost to the wrong Sox again, 5-2) has given us many head-scratching moments, but none more Tegrin-inducing than Beckett's performance. I still believe he has been hurt most of the year—but has refused to admit it in the same stubborn Texan way that Ratger insists he didn't do PEDs. It's just in the water down there. If Josh can return to form next year and Lackey pitches like he's pitched recently, the Sox can afford to deal Dice-K for Ethier and still have one of the best rotations in baseball. So, there is some hope. It's just positioned way out there in 2011.
Despite all the false hopes we harbored over the last 10 days, we knew it would end this way. This team that endured 19 trips to the DL (9 by All-Stars) could not possibly be a credible post-season contender. As we wrote back in July, Francona should be the Manager of the Year. So, I guess it's time to focus on Seguin and Welker and Shaw—oh my!
So, what do you think? Was Theo right not to deal away Clay Buchholz over the last couple of years? The young Red Sox right-hander notched his 17th win of 2010 with an eight-inning gem that saw him yield just one run in Boston's 6-1 win over a lifeless White Sox team. Oh, if only Papelbon could have done his job on Sunday!
Today is Johnny Pesky's 91st birthday. The picture above was taken 49 years ago, when Johnny was a mere 42 years of age. He's the second guy from the right. The little guy who's the first kid on the left is your humble Editor-In-Chief, mugging with the ex-Sox star for a Somerville Little League raffle (they actually gave away cars back then). Johnny was as kind to those little kids then as he is now. He is the ultimate Red Sox ambassador. Long live Johnny!
It could have been scripted. Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched one of his best games in a Red Sox uniform, only to have the ultimate villain—A-Fraud—wipe it all out on an 0-2 pitch.
All STAR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
