Noted baseball sabermetrician Bill James has returned to a position of power with the Boston Red Sox, according to the Boston Herald. How much influence will James have now is unclear, but the paper said that Henry wants to give James' methodology in pursuing players another chance in light of the team's recent struggles.

Principal owner John Henry told the paper that James had fallen “out of favor over the last few years for reasons I really don’t understand. We’ve gotten him more involved recently in the central process and that will help greatly. He’s the father, so to speak, of baseball analysis and a brilliant iconoclast who looks at things differently from everyone else.”

What effect should we expect James' increased role to have? Beane-ball to Boston? Player development and an increased focus on the minor league system - or influx of obscure, off-beat, and non-obvious player trades? All discussion is appreciated!