The Red Sox
But the overall strength of this team will be on the offensive side. Though they go into 2020 without their best player and the league leader in runs scored the past two seasons, this is still an offense predicated on contact hitting and a strong top of the order. They switch out a sure thing in Betts for Alex Verdugo who has some injury concerns, but the top of the Boston Red Sox order is still one of the strongest in baseball even as they sit in peril.
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Xander Bogaerts was an under-the-radar MVP candidate last year and Rafael Devers turned in one of the best second halves in all of baseball after getting snubbed for the All-Star Game. On top of that, they still have JD Martinez locked down in the middle of the lineup and if Andrew Benintendi can cut down the strikeouts this season, one through four in the order will be virtually unstoppable.
On top of that, they still have Christian Vazquez coming off a career year with 23 long balls. They retain Mitch Moreland at the first base position. And they hold on to Jackie Bradley Jr. for the time being as one of the best center fielders in the game, not to mention bringing on Kevin Pillar to fill in for Verdugo in right field to open the season.
Dustin Pedroia is still a big question mark, but they brought in Jose Peraza who can play both infield and outfield, and Michael Chavis will be getting even more playing time this year with his exciting mix of power.
The question will be how they will fill in their bench. They have two catchers in Jonathan Lucroy and Kevin Plawecki to choose from to backup Vazquez, and they also have a mix of minor league guys that can see elevated roles with the departure of Mookie Betts still wafting through the air.
Look for Rusney Castillo to see a lot of playing time this year, especially in the beginning of the season with Alex Verdugo out. Look for Tzu-Wei Lin to get a lot of time as a utility gem with Pedroia highly questionable to play this year.
We may also be seeing a fair amount of Bobby Dalbec, Josh Ockimey, and Jonathan Arauz permeating the infield at various times throughout the season. This year’s Red Sox team will feature a strong lineup of veteran hitters as well as a good mix of some highly-touted prospects.
I don’t believe the Boston Red Sox will be in prime form this season, but they still have a bunch of good pieces to be happy about moving forward. Throughout the years, whenever the Red Sox are bad, they tend to be bottom of the barrel bad, borderline horrific. Very rarely do we see them be “okay” like they were last year.
That’s why I thought they’d finish this season 69-93 towards the bottom of the American League and fourth in the AL East though I’m wary of them potentially finishing dead last in the East. As it sits now, we still have no idea how many games will actually be played because of the ever-developing Coronavirus, but regardless of record, I still have the Sox finishing in fourth in the division.
Their pitching, which was a major issue for them last year, will once again come back to haunt them. And the Mookie Betts loss will deprive them of a big chunk of their regular offensive prowess.