Daily Red Sox Links: Jose Iglesias, John Lackey, Xander Bogaerts

Baseball is a very strange game, and there are always players who come out of nowhere to provide an important role on a team. Rob Bradford says Jose Iglesias has become one of those guys for the Red Sox this year. (Rob Bradford; WEEI.com)

It's been a tough go of late for Jon Lester, and that continued yesterday in Baltimore. Despite the results, he says he still made some gains in his start. (Gordon Edes; ESPN Boston)

John Lackey has been the butt of many jokes around Boston since signing his big contract, but he's finally showing the results everyone's been looking for since his arrival. (Ben Shapiro; Masslive.com)

A trend has been developing around baseball recently where young players are signing extensions earlier, which in turn has been diluting the free agency market. (John Tomase; Boston Herald)

With Clay Buchholz facing a possible DL stint, Tim Britton runs through some options for the Red Sox rotation over the next week. (Tim Britton; Providence Journal)

Tomorrow's double header against Tampa Bay just got a bit more interesting, as the Rays are expected to call up top prospect Wil Myers. (Bill Baer; Hardball Talk)

In a fantastic piece, Alex Speier looks at the great potential possessed by Boston's best prospect, Xander Bogaerts. (Alex Speier; WEEI.com)

Speaking of Bogaerts, he did pretty well against his first taste of AAA-competition. (Kevin Pereira; Sox Prospects)