The Bleacher Report has come out with their
post-Winter Meetings MLB Power Rankings—and it has very good news for fans of the
2016 Carmine Hose. Boston moved into fifth spot in the rankings—a seven-point jump over their previous spot. Dave Dombrowski's acquisitions of
David Price,
Craig Kimbrel,
Carson Smith,
Chris Young, and
Roenis Elias have pretty much met
most of the gaping holes in the roster. As such, the Red Sox trail only the Cubbies at #1 (who would've thought?), the Blue Jays at #2, the Cardinals at #3 and the Pirates at #4 in the Top 5. The website projects the 2016 Boston
line-up as: RF
Mookie Betts,
2B
Dustin Pedroia, SS
Xander Bogaerts, DH
David Ortiz, 1B
Hanley Ramirez, 3B
Pablo Sandoval, CF
Jackie Bradley Jr., LF
Rusney Castillo, and C
Blake Swihart. They see the
rotation order as: Price,
Rick Porcello,
Clay Buchholz,
Joe Kelly, and
Eduardo Rodriguez. This outlook might be a
little optimistic—as we still see the need for a young starter, another lefty in the bullpen and a
real first baseman. But, it's still good to see the team regarded so highly.
