There is tremendous pitching depth in the Boston Red Sox organization, which could prove to be invaluable in the race for a title in the deep American League East division in 2009. In the first of a two-part series, I will take a closer look at the Red Sox's projected relief corps below, with a second piece previewing the club's eight-deep starting rotation running later this week. The Boston bullpen, on paper, appears to be one the strongest in the American League, as Theo Epstein addressed the club's need for middle relief and added to his stable of arms this winter. In a division with three teams projected to win 90-plus games, whichever team is least affected by the injury bug, or is most prepared to address any injury issues, is likely to earn a coveted postseason appearance. With the number of diverse and talented arms in the organization, the Red Sox appear to have the edge when it comes to pitching depth.

Here are profiles for each relief pitcher listed on the depth chart on the team's official website.

Jonathan Papelbon: Papelbon, primarily relying on a plus fastball, has emerged as one of the elite closers in baseball. Since he took over ninth-inning duties at Fenway back in 2006, he has produced value win totals of 3.2, 2.2 and 3.0, respectively, which are outstanding for a reliever. During his breakout in '06, he put up a Nintendo-like 515 ERA+ in 68.3 innings pitched. The hard-throwing right-hander was again effective closing games in 2008, posting a 198 ERA+, 2.01 FIP and rates of 10.0 K/9 and 1.04 BB/9. His K/9 rate came down a bit, but he more than made up for the reduction in Ks with an improvement in control and command; he struck out 77 batters against only eight walks. In addition, he also was more efficient with his pitches and posted the best ground ball rate, 49.2%, of his career, up more than 20 points from 2007. It is worth mentioning that his batting average on balls in play of .303 was a career high (he had posted BABIP clip below .240 in his first two full seasons), so look for that number and his traditional numbers (ERA, most notably) to come down if everything else remains constant.

Papelbon, a fourth-round pick back in 2003, threw his heater a career-high 81.2 percent of the time last season, averaging 95.3 MPH on the radar gun. With such an overpowering pitch, the lack of diversity in his arsenal is not all too concerning, especially if he can maintain his improvements on a control front. He also relies on a splitter, which he threw a career-low 12.6% of the time in '08, with the average velocity for that pitch coming in at 89.4 MPH. To keep hitters honest (and avoid giving up big home runs to hitters like Dan Johnson, who was clearly thinking fastball when he hit his walk-off blast in a big Tampa Bay Rays' win at Fenway Park last September), he needs to do a better job mixing it up. He also occasionally mixed in a mid-80s slider, going to the pitch 6.1 percent of the time.

Papelbon does what any team wants out of a pitcher who is counted on in high-leverage situations late in the game: he misses bats and avoids home runs (16 HR in 230.0 career innings pitched) and walks. He also has an unquantifiable mound presence and swagger, with a no-fear approach to pitching. All things considered, there is obviously a lot to like about the Boston relief ace, who should continue to rack up saves in bunches while providing stability to the back-end of the Boston pen. At such a cheap rate while under team control for the time being, he gives the organization great value, proving why developing cheap closers, when possible, is a much better strategy than overpaying for the proven, brand-name closer label on the open market.

Justin Masterson: Masterson, a second-round pick out of San Diego State back in 2006, could end up as a starter in the long term; he came up in the minors in that capacity. As of today, though, his role for '09 is still up in the air. More than likely the young righty will setup Papelbon, adding another capable arm to pitch in high-leverage, late-inning situations for the Red Sox. He was excellent in a relief role down the stretch in his debut, posting a 2.36 ERA and 29-to-12 K/BB ratio in 34.1 innings pitched. He also held his own in nine starts for the big-league club, but struggled with control at times; he walked 28 batters in 54.0 innings pitched as a starter.

Masterson, 6-foot-6, throws from a three-fifths arm angle, consistently inducing ground balls with a sinking fastball that sits in the low-90s. He prompted more than half of the hitters who he faced to roll over their hands, producing a 54.3 ground ball rate for Boston in '08. With two solid offerings--his heavy fastball (avg velocity: 89.5), slider (81.1)--and his deceptive delivery, he makes it difficult for hitters, especially right-handed swingers, to square up on the ball, but he will need to improve upon his change up to succeed in a starting role in the long run. Given his low arm slot, he is perhaps better suited for a relief job, anyway; left-hander hitters can see the ball better and could give him some trouble. For now, though, he should certainly be an asset in the pen for the Red sox, as he will have a solid defense behind him that will turn a lot those ground balls into outs. All in all, he is another cheap, young product from a deep minor league system and should be a key contributor at Fenway Park for a long time.

Hideki Okajima: Okajima was not quite as effective in his second go-round in the show. Hitters made adjustments and were not fooled as much by his famous "Oki Doke" change-piece as they had been in 2007, when the 32-year-old southpaw posted a 214 ERA+ and 3.33 FIP while serving as a reliable bridge to Papelbon. After his early struggles, manager Terry Francona used him less frequently in high-leverage situations down the stretch. He rebounded a bit in less-critical situations in the second half, though, as he was forced to throw a higher percentage of fastballs and develop a more conventional breaking pitch. He ended up limiting hitters to a line of .212/.283/.329/.612 OPS while producing acceptable peripherals (8.71 K/9, 3.34 BB/9, 0.89 HR/9) overall, but he did see a spike in his fly ball and line drive rates.

As mentioned above, Okajima threw more fastballs--53.9 percent of the time, to be exact--while cutting down on his change-up usage from 33.4 percent in '07 to 20.9 percent last season. Unless some of those fly balls turn into home runs and become a serious issue, he will remain a nice piece to the puzzle in the Boston bullpen. While his encore campaign in the United States was not quite as good as strong as the debut, there are a lot of teams out there that would take 62.0 innings of 177 ERA+, 3.62 FIP ball from one of their relievers; he was still worth 1.0 value win, meaning that he provided nice value for the franchise based on a dollars made/earned scale. Plus, since he is so tough on left-hander hitters, he could be effective as a situational arm now that Francona has so many other options to spread around in the most critical relief innings.

Takashi Saito: One of many low-risk, potentially high-rewards signings for Theo Epstein and the Boston front office this winter, the club added Saito to its relief corps back in January. The former All-Star closer underwent a non-surgical experimental procedure on his elbow last summer and is 39 years old, so there is no guarantee that he will stay healthy enough to make a real impact. According to reports, in fact, he would have undergone Tommy John surgery had the injury occurred earlier in his career. With the window for cashing in on his baseball talents closing fast, though, the veteran reliever decided against going under the knife; instead he opted for a guaranteed contract under $2-M, with the chance to make near $7-M if he reaches certain performance incentives, after the Los Angeles Dodgers non-tendered him.

With that said, Saito has quietly dominated the National League since coming over from Japan prior to the 2006 season. He racked up 81 saves in 91 chances while limiting opponents to a line of .182/.245/.264 during his closing days with the Dodgers. In addition, he has been a strikeout machine since coming over to the States, having punched out 245 in 189.2 career innings pitched. He truly has put up impressive overall numbers to this point: 1.95 ERA, 229 ERA+, 2.14 FIP and rates of 11.63 K/9, 2.47 BB/9 and 0.19 HR/9. His value win totals with the Dodgers were exceptional for a relief man as well; he put marks of 3.2, 2.0 and 1.7 from '06-to-'08, respectively. He continued to dominate hitters in the first half of '08, striking out 53 in 41.1 innings pitched before the All-Star break. The elbow issue surfaced at the end of June, though, and he then spent the majority of the rest of the summer on the shelf as L.A. pushed towards the postseason down the stretch.

Stuff-wise, Saito sits in the 92-93 MPH range (92.0 average velocity during his time in the majors) with his fastball. He also relies on a low-80s slider, which he has thrown just under 30 percent of the time during his career, and mixes in a curve ball and occasional changeup.

Saito has the chance to be a nice pick-up, at a cheap price, if he can put the elbow concerns behind him. While that is a big if, the Red Sox are only on the hook for a small amount of cash if the elbow indeed explodes for good at some point, so the processes behind the decision were sound. Saito has said that he has not felt any elbow discomfort this March, and will likely end up pitching somewhere in the late innings for Boston once camp breaks.

Manny Delcarmen: Delcarmen is a solid major league reliever, plain and simple, and is coming off an underrated performance for the Red Sox in '08. He was worth 1.5 value wins, a fine total. His ERA+ of 232 in '07 dropped to 141, but his peripherals actually improved and he posted a lower FIP (3.32). The Boston product and West Roxbury High School alumnus struck out just under a batter per inning, producing a career-best 8.72 strikeout rate. Even more encouraging, he induced ground balls (51.8%) at career-best rate and cut down on his free passes (28 unintentional walks in 74.1 innings pitched).

Delcarmen lives and dies by his explosive mid-90s heater, which he threw 67.3 percent of the time last season; he can get it up there in the high-90 MPH range, but his average fastball velocity fell at 95.5 in '08. He also throws a decent 12-to-6 breaking ball (77.8 MPH) and mixes in a change-up.

Consistency has been an issue for Delcarmen in the past, but, based on his success a year ago and plus fastball, he should again be a valuable, 1.0-to-2.0-win pitcher in the Boston pen.

Javier Lopez: Lopez, not be confused with former All-Star catcher Javy, is hardly lights-out, but he is a nice enough LOOGY, left-handed specialist, to keep around on a 25-man roster. His rates of 5.76 K/9 and 4.10 BB/9 in '08 were less than stellar, but he did what he had to, limiting left-hander hitters to an anemic line of .182/.305/.282. Righties, on the other hand, batted .311 with an .818 OPS against the veteran sidearmer. The stuff is not great, by any means, as his fastball sits in the 86-88 MPH range, but he can induce ground balls at a near-60 percent rate coming from a low arm angle to confuse hitters. If Lopez is used properly (usually to get that one left-handed slugger out), he can add some value.

Ramon Ramirez: Ramirez, coming off a nice performance with the Kansas City Royals, came over to Boston in exchange for center fielder Coco Crisp back in November. He was worth 1.8 value wins for the Royals in '08, as he posted a 2.84 FIP and 162 ERA+. He struck out nearly a batter per inning (8.79 K rate), and has been able to consistently miss bats during his professional career. Despite concerns about his delivery, his control is a bit above average; he walked 3.89 batters per nine innings with the Royals. The big concern with him, though, is that he does not generate a great number of ground balls, lacking sink on his fastball, and his 3.0 % HR/FB rate does not seem sustainable upon his move to Boston.

Ramirez relied on his heater 48.0 percent of the time in his career-best campaign, averaging 92.5 MPH on the gun. His arsenal also features a mid-80s slider (86.2 avg. velocity) and high-80s change-piece. He is another cheap bullpen piece who could finish a lot of valuable innings as the Red Sox look to capture a coveted postseason berth in the AL East. With Crisp expendable and getting expensive, the thought processes were again logical.

Daniel Bard: Bard throws smoke. Pure smoke. He lives in the 97-98 MPH range consistently, and has, according to some reports, been clocked as high as 102 MPH. And, after making the switch to relieving, he was able to translate his raw talent and arm strength into on-field results in a fine '08 campaign split between Single-A Greenville and Double-A Portland.

Bard, a former standout at North Carolina, struck out 43 batters in 28.0 innings in the Sally League, posting a 0.64 ERA. He was equally effective against advanced hitters in the Eastern League, where he continued to miss bats and put up zeros; he produced a 11.60 K/9 rate. He did struggle with control up in Maine, walking 26 in 49.2 innings pitched, but it would be hard not to label his Double-A debut a success.

Bard has some work to do, on a command front and in shoring up his secondary pitches; he has made improvements in his slider, which sits in the mid-80s. Either way, if he can command his pitches, with that velocity, he could succeed in a key relieve role for the Red Sox even if the slider does not develop as a plus offering. The 6-4, 200-pounder has caught the attention of the front office with a strong showing in Grapefruit League play, so, though he will get some more work down in the minors, do not be surprised to see him emerge in the Red Sox' pen at some point before the summer hits.

Tyler Hissey is the co-host of Minor League Notebook Weekly on BlogTalkRadio. MLNW airs every Monday afternoon at 3:00 Eastern. Click here to listen to the latest episode, as Tyler and Doug Gray discuss the top prospects in the American League East division.

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez ended up going under the knife after all. Rodriguez, who underwent a successful hip operation on Monday, is expected to miss between six to eight weeks. Although he will be on the shelf for a shorter time period than originally anticipated (four months), the news still represents a major hit to the franchise.

The American League East is loaded, featuring arguably the top three teams in baseball in the Boston Red Sox, New York and defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays; each team is projected to win 90-plus games, according to PECOTA.

In such a deep division, injuries are likely to play an important role in determining which teams advance to the postseason. Well, the first team to be struck with bad luck is New York, which was plagued by the injury bug in 2008 and now loses its best player until at the earliest the middle of May.

Rodriguez has his fair share of detractors, certainly; he is not a hard guy to root against. Objectively, though, he is a tremendous player, and has been nothing short of remarkable in Pinstripes. The amount of players who can come close to matching his on-field production can be counted on one hand. His ardent critics will point to his poor performance based on a relatively small sample size of at-bats in the postseason, but he has been exceptional since coming to the Bronx back in 2004; save the clutch debate for another day, please.

In fact, Rodriguez has put up two of the finest single-season performances in the storied history of the franchise; the odd-year Brett Saberhagen clich

Just wanted to point to the press release for the next edition of Minor League Notebook Weekly.

From I-Newswire:

Minor League Notebook Weekly returns for another edition on Monday, March 9 at 3:00 Eastern Time. Join hosts Doug Gray and Tyler Hissey as they focus on the top prospects in the National League Central division.

(I-Newswire) - Doug and Tyler will begin the show discussing the noteworthy prospects for each team in the division. Guest Erik Manning, the founder of FutureRedBirds.net, will then provide his take on the St. Louis Cardinals' minor league system.

Topics include:

•    Analysis of the top minor league players for every Central team, from the Chicago Cubs to the Pittsburgh Pirates
•    What 2009 will have in store for top outfield prospect Colby Rasmus
•    The development of stud hitting prospect Brett Wallace
•    Chris Perez
•    Analysis of the Cards' Top 10 prospect list

The 90-minute show will wrap-up with some World Baseball Classic chatter, and the hosts welcome phone calls.

Click on the link below at 3:00 on Monday to listen to the guys analyze the state of the farm system for each team in the N.L. Central.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Minor-League-Noteboo/2009/03/09/Minor-League-Notebook-Weekly

Call in live at ( 718 ) 508-9956 to participate in the prospect discussion.

Minor League Notebook was founded by Doug Gray in February of 2009. The site offers news and analysis from all across Minor League Baseball. To learn more about the website, contact Doug at dougdirt@cinci.rr.com.

Contact: Doug Gray
Email: dougdirt@cinci.rr.com
Website URL: http://minorleaguenotebook.com/

It should be a good show, so please check it out. Use the media player below to listen live.

Manny Ramirez will return to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Four offers and countless hours of talk radio speculation later, Ramirez and his agent, Scott Boras, have accepted the Dodgers' latest two-year, $45-M offer, ending a lengthy back-and-forth circus between both parties throughout the negotiation process.

Boras is a master at establishing a false sense of demand for his clients, a true magician, but there was only one legitimate team in the Manny Sweepstakes all along--Los Angeles. Thus, it was clear that no team was going to match the Dodgers' offer financially, which is why the news, reported late Tuesday by ESPNDeportes, is hardly a surprise. Alleged mystery teams aside, Ramirez would have been forced to accept a reduced rate had he signed elsewhere; the law of supply and demand is a fairly simple concept. With a glut of power-hitting, defensively challenged hitters available and the economy driving down prices, the market did not unfold as well as the super agent would have liked for one of his prized clients. In the end, though, he is still on the right side of this situation financially, especially when factoring the dramatic pay cuts that other sluggers were forced to take, and has to be relieved that the process is over.

The game of chicken was all for naught, though. For those scoring at home, Ramirez ended up agreeing to accept nearly the same amount of money that he was offered initially. Back when Boras dismissed the offer and branded it ridiculous, saying that he was "ready to entertain serious offers."

Ramirez will receive $25-M in 2009, with a generous player option valued at $20-M for 2010. He has the opportunity to enter the market again should he put up another monster performance, with a nice paycheck to fall back on if he gets hurt or loses interest.

Ramirez dominated National League pitching after coming over from the Boston Red Sox mid-summer by hitting .396/.489/.743 for an insane 1.232 OPS in 53 games with Los Angeles. He practically single-handedly turned the Dodgers' offensive attack from middling to dynamic, pushing the club over the top in the weak National League West division.

Regardless of his legendary offensive exploits, Ramirez should be happy to receive so much at this point, in this market, for a number of reasons. To start, he is a terrible defensive outfielder, giving back a lot the runs that he produces with his bat on the other side of the ball. He would be better suited in the other league, where he can DH and play left field as infrequently as possible. While his numbers are misleading because of the Green Monster during his days faking left field at Fenway Park, he has posted the following UZR totals since 2004, respectively: -7.2, -14.2, -18.9, -20.0, -2.3. Although he improved this past summer when he moved away from the Monster, he is a liability who costs his teams runs with his poor play in the outfield and is only going to get worse with age.

True, Manny is one of the best right-hander hitters of this generation, if not of all time, and is coming off a dominant campaign split between Boston and L.A overall. He combined to produce 55.1 batting runs, smashing 37 home runs with a .270 ISO figure and 164 OPS+. As immature as he can seem off the field on occasion, the man is always locked in when he steps in the batter's box and has a tremendous approach as a hitter.

Still, from predicating mutual funds to production on the baseball field, past performance does not guarantee future results. Ramirez, who will turn 37 on May 30, is a likely candidate to regress a bit from his outstanding levels with the Dodgers down the stretch. He will still be a major offensive asset, but, when factoring defense and positional considerations, odds are he will not live up to his annual salary; according to FanGraphs, he has eclipsed the $25-M mark only one time ('08), based on the value wins that he has provided above a replacement-level player, since 2002. Alarmingly, he was worth only 1.0 win, according the value wins data, in 2007, when he hit .296/.388/.493 with a 126 OPS+ and cost the Red Sox a great number of runs on defense. Expect him to fall somewhere in the middle in '09 for the Dodgers, perhaps in the three-to-four-win range. Since he is not filling in for a replacement-level outfielder, he should be worth around $15-to-18-M if he stays healthy and happy.

Speaking of which, there are some concerns about Ramirez' behavior and the baggage that comes with his Manny-Being-Manny antics. Granted, the Tim McCarvers of the world made way too big of a deal out of this last July when he was still raking while he was allegedly playing himself out of Red Sox nation, but this cannot be ignored. Some pundits have argued that paying him less than his asking price--the law of supply and demand be damned--would be a bad choice for this reason, affecting his mental state and increasing the chance that he will lose interest and take mental breaks. Still, while there is some added risk for this reason, those making these assertions are off base. Ramirez has plenty of motivation to perform--another pay day. If he puts up six-win campaign again, then perhaps he will land that final long-term extension that he wanted so badly earlier this offseason.

Some writers will also attempt use the star angle, arguing that Manny Mania will help increase tickets for the organization, a strong selling point in this economy. Most objective studies, though, have shown that winning drives attendance, not star power. The dread lock hats and merchandise sales help, but if the Dodgers are out of it after the All-Star break for some reason, all of the talk about MannyWood will probably become a forgotten memory.

However, the Dodgers are in win-now mode--after the Casey Blake, Orlando Hudson and Rafael Furcal signings, this is fairly clear--and bringing back Manny improves their chances of competing in the West in the short term. In fact, L.A. is now the division favorite, though the pitching staff is not expected to be as strong.

The Dodgers appear to have overpaid, but at least Manny is a Dodger. The franchise has been burned with some terrible signings in recent memory, from Andruw Jones to the sunk cost that is Juan Pierre, but due to being in the a large media market while playing in a weak division, their poor management will not prevent them from winning in the near future. With all of the eggs already in the '09 contention basket, the club had to bring back Ramirez. So, despite being an overpay and a win for the player, the processes used here were not all that bad for the organization, either. At least they overpaid for a good player this time.

Note: Scott Boras and the Dodgers have not confirmed the report yet. Expect the news to become official on Wednesday.

Tyler Hissey is the co-host of Minor League Notebook Weekly on BlogTalkRadio. MLNW airs every Monday afternoon at 3:00 Eastern. Click here to listen to the latest episode, as Tyler and Doug Gray discuss the Texas Rangers' highly rated farm system with Jason Parks of Baseball Time in Arlington. To reach him, send an email to TylerHissey@gmail.com.

Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden came one step closer to reaching his goal of acquiring every former Cincinnati Red on Wednesday, signing free-agent Adam Dunn to a two-year, $20-M contract.

Dunn is a model of consistency, having hit exactly 40 home runs in four consecutive seasons. Although he strikes out a ton and never hits for a high batting average, he has outstanding plate discipline and is also a safe bet to rack up close to 100 walks; he posted a stellar 19.1% BB rate combined between the Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008. He certainly has some flaws in his skill set, but he is a fine offensive player who offers a much-needed potent bat to the middle of the Nationals' lineup. The soon-to-be 29-year-old slugger has posted a career line of .247/.381/.518 with a 130 OPS+ since breaking into the Majors in 2001, only a few years after being drafted by Bowden out of a Texas high school.

As is the case with the other free agents in the glut of corner outfield/DH-types available this offseason, though, Dunn is a poor defender. As an outfielder, he has given back a lot of runs that he has produced with a bat in his hands, taking away from his overall value. With his new team, he is expected to play first base, where his defense should be less of an issue than it is out in left field. If he can learn the nuances of first base, the damage will likely not be as significant at his expected new position.

Marcel projects Dunn to hit .246/.374/.497 with 32 home runs and rates of 16.6 BB% and 31.3 K%, though he is likely to exceed the projected home run and slugging percentage totals. Although he will no longer be playing in a band box like Great American Ballpark, his power is legit. With his bat, he should provide at least 2.0 wins above a replacement-level player. Thus, in pure performance, he is likely to earn his annual salary. However, in this market (seeing the dollars given to Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell), this seems a like a bit of an overpay, perhaps because Washington at this stage is forced to pay a premium price to lure free agents to come play for a perennial loser. Also, he is not exactly stepping in for a replacement-level player. In fact, the Nats already had a surplus of outfielders--with promising youngsters Elijah Dukes and Lastings Milledge, in addition to Dunn's buddy, Austin Kearns, and recently acquired Josh Willingham--before this signing. The organization has millions of dollars tied up into its injury-prone first base duo, Nick Johnson and Dmitri Young, as well.

For a club that has such a clear need to fully commit to rebuild mode, it is imperative that Dukes and Milledge be given the chance to play on a regular basis. Each could break out, putting their troubles behind them once and for all.

This situation leaves an odd man out between Kearns and Willingham, who is a productive hitter but, like Dunn, a butcher in the field. Johnson and Young need to be looked at as sunk cost at this point, though, opening up first base for the new acquisition; with his on-base skills, the former could bring in solid value in return if he shows that he is healthy during spring training. Bowden would be wise to look to strike a trade, with the Seattle Mariners a logical match for Johnson.

With so many options already, though, adding Dunn does not add as much overall value as one would think; the Nationals are unlikely to be competing during the duration, anyway, and the addition of a corner outfield hitter did not exactly address a major area of weakness. Bowden could have allocated the financial resources at stake here more effectively, given that his team needs to commit a rebuild mode and try to improve its middling minor league system; to not sign Aaron Crow over the difference of under $1-M and then to do this is a bit concerning. The move does show the fan base in D.C. that the franchise is making a good-faith effort and spending the money to improve, but spending for this reason is generally not a great long-term strategy. At the least, though, Nationals fans will have one more reason to tune in to the team broadcast--other than listening to Rob Dibble on MASN, that is--as fans love the one thing that Dunn will certainly provide, the long ball.

Perhaps Bowden will be able to cash in Dunn for prospects at some point down the road, but his poor track record in this department suggests that this is unlikely. The Nats are certainly an improved team with the big lefty, but the roster is still in poor shape; there was not a clear need for his services. Outside of the slim win difference that he will add in the standings and a potential slight increase at the ticket window initially, this move does not make all that much sense for the Nats. Dunn, at least over the length of the contract, is almost certainly not going to be a part of the truly next great Washington team.

To reach Tyler Hissey, send an email to TylerHissey@gmail.com.