"First things first, the Red Sox need to make the playoffs. But assuming they get there, the new season could be one of rebirth for Carl Crawford.

The $142 million left fielder has had a season with the Sox to forget, but he has come up big in the playoffs in the past. While his overall numbers (.253 average, three home runs, nine RBI, eight stolen bases) in four postseason series with the Tampa Bay Rays are pedestrian, he was a monster against the Red Sox in the 2008 AL Championship Series (.345, four RBI, three stolen bases) and then slammed two homers in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

"Carl was a stud," Rays manager Joe Maddon said last weekend in St. Petersburg, Fla., where the Sox were swept in a three-game series. "I know this is kind of an anomaly season for him right now, but you guys haven't seen everything he can do. He's very effective in those kind of (postseason) series because he can affect a game in so many ways.

"Even if he doesn't have a great night offensively, he can do something on defense or with his legs. Regardless of what's happening right now, if the Red Sox happen to make the playoffs, he has a chance to impact every night.""