There are Five Tools
But there is bad news here as well. Roster construction and talent development have been uneven, leaving hard questions and tough decisions. No matter what Bogaerts turns into, for instance, it is not likely to be a gold glove winner.
And while Pedroia will come back feeling and playing like the younger version of himself, he will still be 34, as will first basemen and already defensively-challenged Hanley Ramirez.
And new manager Alex Cora has already said that Martinez, who is well below league average on defense, will play a lot of left field. What does that mean for the team’s best center fielder, Jackie Bradley? Boston has been trying Betts in center recently, putting Bennie in left.
That could work, but there is still a lot of defense being sacrificed in the infield and outfield. However, if the starters remain relatively healthy, and the combination of speed and power this team is capable of producing materializes, the Sox will win their third straight division.
What happens after this season will determine if the team sees stars such as Price and Pomeranz leave the club. Without replacing them, or everyone stays in place as a follow-up to their 2018 championship run.
Of course, the other problem for the Sox is that they are the only team so far that plays in the same division as another on this list. That means we are headed south for our last stop.