The Red Sox need three big ticket items this offseason

"The Red Sox need three big ticket items this winter, but I'm increasingly suspicious they only add two. Specifically, the Red Sox need two big bats (which means bringing back Bregman AND grabbing one more big bopper), AND a legitimate No. 2 starter - a king to play behind Crochet's ace. You don't have to look any further than the gaggle of hideous performances in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Yankees to see how much lacking these necessities cost them."

"Brayan Bello faced just 11 guys and failed to get five of them out in a dreadful 2.1 innings of work, and the offense lacked the firepower to put away a series that should have been a two game sweep. The goal this offseason needs to be to address these deficiencies! However, what I'm afraid the Red Sox are going to do is sign just one big bat and trade for one quality pitcher from their surplus of outfielders and call it day."

"The concern here is that ownership will shy away from the second big bat because that would require them to puncture too many layers of the luxury tax, and we all know how much they hate to do that. If this turns out to be the case, the only alternatives would be to either go forward with an inadequate lineup, or make a second big trade for the final big ticket item, which could damage the crop feeding the young core"

The Red Sox require two big bats (including re-signing Bregman and one additional power bat) plus a legitimate No. 2 starter behind Crochet. A shortfall in those areas showed up in the Wild Card Series, where Brayan Bello's brief outing and insufficient offense cost a likely sweep. The likely ownership approach is to add one premium bat and acquire a pitcher via trade to avoid heavy luxury-tax penalties. Avoiding a second top-market bat risks an inadequate lineup or costly trades that would deplete the prospect base. This winter will reveal payroll willingness to maximize the current competitive window.

Read at Over the Monster