Red Sox Preview: Bold predictions for the 2018 season

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BOSTON, MA – OCTOBER 08: Andrew Benintendi #16, Mookie Betts #50 and Jackie Bradley Jr. #19 of the Boston Red Sox celebrate defeating the Houston Astros 10-3 in game three of the American League Division Series at Fenway Park on October 8, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

In advance of the 2018 season, we’re making some bold predictions about the Boston Red Sox and how some of their players will produce.

A new season is on the horizon for the Boston Red Sox, making this the ideal time for everyone to roll out their predictions for how players will perform. Many fans have their own player projections but I want to stray from the path of conventional opinion. I want to be BOLD.

What is a bold prediction? Saying that Chris Sale will win the Cy Young isn’t bold. He was the runner-up last year and finished within the top-6 on the ballot in every season since 2012. We expect the Red Sox ace to be in the mix for the award.

At the other end of the spectrum, I’m not going to predict Blake Swihart as the MVP. Unless we’re talking MVP of the Grapefruit League. There’s no reasonable explanation for a fringe roster player to suddenly blossom into the league’s best player.

I want to be daring with my predictions while staying within the realm of possibility. The idea isn’t to throw out wacky projections that have no hope of coming true for the sake of being different. These predictions may not seem likely but there is at least a reasonable chance that it could happen.

With that in mind, here are my bold predictions for 2018.

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