Red Sox Reality Check

Here's how it works, borrowing from behavioral finance. What's mine is good, what's yours is okay, and possession affects perception. . Boston: We get a former Cy Young Award pitcher to bolster our staff down the stretch run. We trade an outstanding young defender with limited offensive production and some minor leaguers including a young power arm. We deal from a position of strength and get stronger. We have major league ready players to step in. We take on salary without trading our elite prospects. We are confident that we have strengthened our team. What's not to like? . Detroit: We protect ourselves (with a suspension coming in all likelihood) by getting the top infield defender in baseball. This bolsters our pitching and we have a strong offense that needs to be supplemented by augmented run prevention. We surrender a promising young outfielder. What's not to like? . Chicago mentality: We get a top outfield prospect and other prospects. We trade a startin...

The Red Sox have enjoyed a wonderful season...and all the players, coaches, and management deserve a healthy dose of credit. But I'm not a believer. Over the long pull, team spirit and very good players can win a lot of games, but talent wins championships and the Red Sox don't have enough as currently constituted. Their pitching, especially the starting pitching without Clay Buchholz is not championship caliber, despite good efforts from Lackey, Lester (recently), Doubront, Dempster, and Workman. In a short series how do you feel against Verlander and Scherzer, or Price and Moore...and more? Their offense, despite leading the league in runs, has been spotty more recently. You say "it's good pitching." Well that's what you face in the playoffs. Michael Young, greybeard, for Will Middlebrooks? That's asinine. There isn't one player they can get who puts them over the top, and if Ben Cherington drives up to my house and tells me differently, I'...