Red Sox: The most crucial positions for the 2017 season

Rotation

After the 2016 season saw the Red Sox have the best scoring offense in baseball while leading seemingly every offensive category, it’s not far-fetched to think that slightly-down numbers might meet the bats of Boston’s baseball stars.

To compensate for that possibility and the retirement of David Ortiz, Dave Dombrowski obviously went out and pulled off the move of the offseason, bringing Chris Sale to Boston without having to give up Andrew Benintendi.

Now, the Red Sox have the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, to go along with former Cy Young winner David Price and the crown jewel in all of this, Sale.

Even more so, the Red Sox have the possibility of having five former All-Stars in the starting rotation if Steven Wright and Drew Pomeranz can remain healthy and produce at the level that got them to the All-Star Game a year ago.

What the Red Sox may not be able to produce one hundred percent of the time offensively will surely be eased by the dominance in the rotation it appears that the Red Sox have set up for future.

It takes a collaborative team effort to win a championship in professional sports, all 25 players on the active roster will be part of the grind should the Red Sox win a World Series in the fall. But the X-factor to me comes down to this rotation as it did last fall. Price and Porcello both faltered in their starts, with the Red Sox having to depend on Clay Buchholz in a game three, though fortunes seem to have changed in the Red Sox favor.

Next: Where the Flow Bros go, we go

Expect David Price to have a bounce-back season in his second year in a Sox uniform. Do not expect Rick Porcello to produce the same stats he did a year ago, but if he can keep the ball down and build on last year’s performance he could very well end up with near 20 wins and a 3.00 ERA again. Sale, time will tell how he’ll handle the Boston market, but given his desire to win and win at all costs — he’s in the right place at the right time.