9. The Red Sox will be good or a sideshow
The Boston Red Sox have been one of the more fascinating teams of the decade. They’ve experienced some incredible highs (2013 World Series) and some otherworldly failures (missing the playoffs in 2011, last place in 2012, 2014 and 2015). The 2017 season is set up to be one or the other.
Boston’s starting rotation features two Cy Young Award winners in Rick Porcello and David Price. Chris Sale has never won a Cy Young, but has finished in the top-six in voting in each of the last five seasons and is probably the best of the three.
Offensively, the loss of David Oritz hurts. But even without Big Papi, the cupboard isn’t exactly bare in Boston. Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts give the Red Sox one of the game’s most-exciting outfields. Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts are still rock solid up the middle. Hanley Ramirez is coming off of a good year. Even Pablo Sandoval looked trimmer as he had a solid run in the Grapefruit League.
Boston has potential to be a juggernaut. If things go well, they Sox will be an impressive team to watch. But if things don’t go well, they’ll still be must-see TV.
How will things be handled if Sandoval doesn’t perform well? What if his gut is noticeably bigger after a few months?
Sale has flown largely under the radar throughout his career. It’s not that Chicago is a small market, but the White Sox are its least publicized team. But even with that, we all learned that he’s got something of a temper in 2016, just ask Chicago’s 1970’s throwback jerseys if you don’t believe us. Any issues adjusting to Boston are going to magnified.
Price seems like a good bounceback candidate after a down 2016. But if it doesn’t happen, watch out.
Nothing with the Red Sox is going to get swept under the rug. The juggernaut potential exists with this team. But the potential for things to go haywire is nearly as strong.