"The starting rotation was supposed to carry the Red Sox in 2010. Instead it pretty much sank them. While Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz were outstanding, Josh Beckett and John Lackey, to be kind, were not. With their top five starters each under team control through at least 2012, what you see is what you get. The Becketts, Lackeys and Daisuke Matsuzakas of the world need to pitch better next year or the Red Sox will once again be on the outside looking in as far as the postseason is concerned.

The Red Sox were supposed to be a team that could win with pitching and defense, but as GM Theo Epstein noted, "we fell short a little bit in that area, the way it turned out."

Two words: Lester and Buchholz. The pair of All-Stars looked like world beaters for most of the season, and the shame of the team's third-place finish is that they won't each get to start twice in a seven-game series.

Lester basically picked up where he left off in 2009, when he solidified himself as one of the best pitchers in the game. He fell one win shy of reaching the 20-victory threshold for the first time in his career, but that's about the only negative as far as his season is concerned.

He struck out 225 batters and was one of the most difficult pitchers in baseball to hit, limiting opponents to a .220 average and a .628 OPS. The rest of the AL should get used to it, because Lester isn't going anywhere."