Stocking up on Socks

Just a few years ago the Boston Red Sox dumped their roster to the Los Angeles Dodger. They sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett to the west coast and received very little in return.

The Red Sox were awful to finish the year and the future didn't look bright. Well what do you know, the Red Sox somehow pulled it together to win the 2013 World Series after trading three of their stars. The city of Boston needed the win after the tragedy back in April. The 2014 season began with the team losing Jacoby Ellsbury to the Yankees. The season wasn't looking great so they sent, soon to be free agent, Jon Lester to Oakland for Yoenis Cespedes who was just crowed Home Run Derby champion for the 2nd straight year.

The Red Sox have trimmed their roster quite a bit in the last few years, but they managed to have one great season. While the Yankees are suffering with Alex Rodriguez and other expensive, aging stars, the Red Sox appear to be going all in this offseason. Boston just signed Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. This would give the Red Sox a solid batting lineup that consists of: Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, David Ortiz, Yoenis Cespedes, Dustin Pedroia and Shane Victorino. 

The Red Sox would just need to build their rotation and bullpen to become an instant threat at the World Series again. Remember when the Red Sox traded away Jon Lester? Well now he is a free agent. Talk about a steal from Oakland, if they can sign him back. 

I've talked in the past about spending a lot of money on free agents. 

I support this strategy under two rules: 

1. The money is spread out over multiple players, not just one giant signing.
2. The contract is less than five years. 

One player can't carry a team, and it's not often a player stays consistent for too long. If a team is giving a player a large contract, odds are he already used up some of his good years. 

This should be a fun offseason to watch the Red Sox. If some of these deals don't work out, look for Boston to make a strong push for Yasmany Tomas. Tomas is a Cuban player who could fit nicely with their other Cuban player, Cespedes, in the outfield, but he could also be placed at third base.