"The first look of him catching and throwing a ball, it looked very good. Yup, very good." Earlier in the offseason, Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington stated that Marco Scutaro would return as Boston's starting shortstop in 2012. The club picked...

August 10, 2011. (Pioneer Press file: John Autey) (John Autey) FORT MYERS, Fla. Today, he pitched his first bullpen session. "I felt good," he said. Blackburn had offseason surgery to repair an entangled nerve in his forearm. He was in a cast for 11...

The team has a new look this year, with young talent likely to round out the pitching staff and veteran bats in the lineup around centerpieces Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki. Those supporting players -- guys like Dexter Fowler, Marco Scutaro and...

The team has a new look this year, with young talent likely to round out the pitching staff and veteran bats in the lineup around centerpieces Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki. Those supporting players -- guys like Dexter Fowler, Marco Scutaro and...

Iannetta and Smith didn't have a "next level" in them. Never, ever, saw 73-89 coming. So if the certainty of last spring went belly up by the All-Star Break, maybe a little uncertainty won't be so bad this time around. Not that everything's an unknown,...

Then again, what’s managing without a good challenge? It’s a wonder, though, if Valentine had any idea as to how big a challenge this was going to be when he took over on Nov. 30. For, this was before GM Ben Cherington inexplicably traded veteran...

“I’m sure I will in about two weeks.” Probably not. Valentine has an unusual number of decisions to make for a team with high expectations. There are jobs to be won at shortstop, after the trade of Marco Scutaro; in right field, after J. D. Drew was...

MYERS, Fla. "I was definitely surprised because he's done well here the last couple of years," Aviles said. "He's been a big part of this team. You don't usually trade your shortstop. So it was definitely a surprise to me." That said, Aviles is eager...

MYERS, Fla. The trade of Marco Scutaro -- not to mention the implied budget restraints it represented -- has not sat well with Red Sox fans. But Valentine said Sunday he was involved in the discussions about trading Scutaro away and was not surprised...

There’s a competition for the starting shortstop position and there are spots available in the rotation and bullpen. The manager said he thought it was the right move for the organization to trade shortstop Marco Scutaro , which leaves Jose Iglesias ,...

MYERS, Fla. There were several funny moments during Bobby V's press conference this morning. The best came when he was asked about the trade of Marco Scutaro. We talked about that trade before it was done. I was all on board with it, totally. Believe it...

In today's column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe looks at the Red Sox's shortstop position after the trade of Marco Scutaro. Major league evaluators are skeptical that Mike Aviles and Nick Punto can get the job done, which could leave the door open...

“But I want to be emphatic.” Valentine believes in new beginnings and he believes in the leadership examples thus far displayed by Lester, Beckett, and even Clay Buchholz, noting that Buchholz led the first 300-yard sprint at a good clip. He said he was...

Depth will become more critical, meaning Chris Nelson, Jordan Pacheco and Wilin Rosario will need to produce when given at-bats, starting in mid-March. The lineup is reloaded, full of hitters capable of stringing together professional at-bats. But for...

And now? Call them the Kansas City Red Sox: Their biggest offseason move was to rid themselves of shortstop Marco Scutaro’s salary. Take that, Yankees. That’s why, as preparation for a new season that officially begins today with the tried-and-true...

Rockies manager Jim Tracy confirmed to the Denver Post on Friday that he is considering using Dexter Fowler or Marco Scutaro for the leadoff spot in 2012. Fowler is a career .265 hitter when leading off, with a .424 slugging percentage and 146 runs...

In contrast, the Braves have no ready offensive replacements and passed on opportunities to upgrade the offense in the offseason. Perhaps they will be able to trade pitching depth for offense at a later date, but they missed a huge opportunity in not...

.260 with a .832 OPS against them in Triple-A last year. Consider him a solid late-round Fantasy sleeper with upside. Want more? Join the discussion on our Facebook page and Google+ and follow us on Twitter for additional insight while interacting with...

In the interim, the corner outfielders flanking Jacoby Ellsbury are Cody Ross, Darnell McDonald and Ryan Sweeney. Not exactly Yaz, Rice or Dewey now, are they? Who's the shortstop on this team? Cherington saw fit to deal both Jed Lowrie and Marco...