By Nick Cherico | Observer Contributor
After having a couple of down years, in 2016 the Boston Red Sox finished 93-69 and first in the American League East for the first time since 2013. However it did not end too well for them because the Cleveland Indians swept them in the first round of the playoffs. Going into the offseason, Boston was looking to build on their success from the prior season.
At the the beginning of the season, the Red Sox already knew that they would be dealing with the departure of one of the greatest players in team history, David Ortiz. According to espn.com, in 2016 Ortiz hit 38 home runs, 48 doubles, and hit with a .315 average, which was good enough for 6th overall in the American League.
Ortiz’s production and leadership will be very hard to replace next season. To try and do that, the Red Sox signed first baseman Mitch Moreland. According to baseball-reference.com, Moreland has a career batting average of .254 and has hit 110 homeruns and 125 doubles. While Moreland’s production will definitely help out this team, it will not add up to what Ortiz has meant to Boston over his career.
Dave Dombrowski, President of Baseball Operations, also knew that he had to make a major splash if he wanted to solidify his starting pitching rotation and his bullpen. Dombrowski did exactly that by trading for both Chris Sale and Tyler Thornburg.
According to baseball-reference.com, in his 7-year career Sale has an ERA of 3.00 and 1,244 strikeouts. Sale has also been an all-star every year since 2012 along with being on the Cy Young Award ballot since 2012. The acquisition of Sale, paired up with 2016 Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, David Price, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Drew Pomeranz gives the Red Sox many different options to go with in their starting rotation.
Thornburg on the other hand, while not posting sensational numbers over his 5-year career like Sale, has proven that he can be a reliable option coming out of the bullpen. This is something that the Red Sox did not have a lot of last season. According to base-ballreference.com, Thornburg posted career highs in saves, strikeouts, and ERA over his 67 appearances last season. If Thornburg can improve on these numbers, he will be able to help a Red Sox bullpen that finished in the middle of the pack last season.
With all of these acquisitions and the talent that the Red Sox already had on their roster, they are already penciled in as one of the favorites to make the World Series. According to vegasinsider.com, the Las Vegas Pro Baseball Future Sports book gives the Red Sox the second best odds at winning the World Series at 11/2.
Predictions
Opening Day Starter: Rick Porcello
Record: 98-64 (5 more wins than 2016)
Playoffs: AL East Champions, World Series
While the departure of David Ortiz is going to be a huge blow to the Red Sox offense, they do still have plenty of other weapons on the offensive side that can get the job done. With the acquisition of Chris Sale, the Red Sox are believed by many GMs and writers around the league to now own the best pitching staff in the American League. Yankees GM Brian Cashman was even quoted as saying that the Red Sox are now “the Golden State Warriors of baseball”, or the new super team in the MLB. No other team in the American League has improved the way that Boston has, and with their young talent only getting better, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with next season.
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