Five interesting players from the new Evil Empire.

J.D. Drew Forgotten in the bad season last year is the fact that his son had major surgery, which undoubtedly was a distraction. His walk rate of 15% and contact rate of 80% are both just at his career norms. Overall the power trends are down but I am willing to give him one last pass for 2008 and say he will rebound.

Jed Lowrie He is an intriguing guy who looks good on the surface, with a .300/.356/.500 line last year. However he may not be ready. In AA his K/BB split was 58/65. At AAA despite the good line above he dropped to 33K/12BB. He could see some time in the majors this year so stash him away.

Manny Ramirez The power is simply on the way down. He is still getting drafted far above what should be expected in 2008. He is 36 with older player’s skills and slugged below .500 last year. It could be a blip on the radar but I wouldn’t count on it.

Josh Beckett One would normally expect a bit of regression from his stellar 2007 but he may still have another uptick left. He greatly improved his control last year, and Baseball Prospectus gives him a 16% chance of a breakout and 46% chance of improving. That breakout rate sure is tantalizing. Go the extra buck.

Justin Masterson I want to make sure that I try to address a rookie or two in each of these articles. Masterson looks pretty solid to me. He has groundball rates of 73% at A ball, 55% at AA and 69% at AAA, with 59 K in 58 IP at AAA. Any pitcher with tons of GB and K is of great interest. John Sickels gives him a B grade, which is very solid. He will make a good reserve pick though he might end up as a reliever.