Daily Red Sox Links: David Ross, Ryan Lavarnway, Jose Iglesias

Before today's Daily Links, I want to take a quick second to thank all of the veterans in the Over the Monster family, and throughout the country. Without you guys, we'd be without baseball. So, sincerely, thank you from all of us here at OTM.

The big news for the Red Sox this weekend was signing backup catcher extraordinaire David Ross. It was a mildly shocking move, and one that gives the team a good amount of depth behind the plate. (Tim Britton; Providence Journal)

With Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Lavarnway already on the roster, some may wonder why they brought in Ross. Alex Speier breaks down the signing. (Alex Speier; WEEI.com)

Scott Candage needs some help getting excited about this coming Hot Stove season for the Red Sox (Scott Candage; Fire Brand of the AL)

One of the biggest mysteries in the analytical crowd of baseball fans is how much influence a pitcher has on their opponents' batting average on balls in play. Glenn DuPaul looks at the gap between FIP and ERA. (Glenn DuPaul; Beyond the Boxscore)

The Red Sox are almost certainly in the market for a starting pitcher, and Brandon McCarthy has been a rumored target. Dave Cameron argues that Scott Feldman wouldn't be a bad backup plan. (Dave Cameron; Fangraphs)

Yesterday morning, Buster Olney wrote about the sudden surplus Boston now finds themselves with behind the plate. (Buster Olney; ESPN.com) ($$$$)

The Sox obviously have a good number of holes to fill on this roster before the start of Spring Training. This is good news for Jose Iglesias. (Peter Abraham; Boston.com)

Steroids have been one of the biggest topics around baseball for the past 15 years or so. It seems that the league has been getting slightly more lenient to former users as of late. (Gwen Knapp; Sports on Earth)