It was a good Monday for Red Sox Nation. They signed both Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval today to five year deals, and almost instantly Red Sox fans were boasting about going from first to worst for a second time after doing it in 2012 and 2013. I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, but the Red Sox of today are not even close to winning another championship, yet alone even making the playoffs. Don’t get me wrong the Red Sox are much better today than they were when you went to bed last night, however last time I checked pitching is still part of baseball.

First, lets take a look at what these recent signings bring to the Red Sox. I think that the signing of Pablo Sandoval is a steal for the Red Sox. Last year in a very spacious AT&T Park, Sandoval hit 16 homers, in a hitter friendly Fenway Park he will be able to use the Green Monster and the short wall in right to add possibly 10 homers to that total; which is a major upgrade from Will Middlebrooks. Forget the numbers, Pablo Sandoval will be a major fan favorite among Red Sox fans and should contribute to a positive clubhouse attitude. The more interesting signing to me is Hanley Ramirez. The reason this signing doesn’t make sense to me is the Red Sox pride themselves on team chemistry and Hanley is the exact opposite. Ramirez has always had an attitude problem and I’m not sure that he will fit in with the core group of guys that the Red Sox have. Also it’s important to recognize that Hanley Ramirez is an injury prone player. Ramirez who has played an average of 107 games a season over the past two years is entering his age 31 season and will need to play more than 107 games for his five year deal to become worthwhile for the Red Sox.

The biggest reason why as of now I don’t see the Red Sox as a playoff team is they have nobody to pitch, we saw it last year when the Yankees signed Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Carlos Beltran, but they had nobody to pitch and they ultimately didn’t make the playoffs. Right now the Red Sox pitching staff is led by Joe Kelly and Clay Buchholz, while Joe Kelly is a decent pitcher, he is a number three starter at best and if Buchholz pitches like he did last season he should be a good number two starter on the PAWTUCKET Red Sox. All of these signings are good and great, but they are essentially worthless if they don’t get a number one starter and another better than average pitcher. The option that makes the most sense it to bring back Boston hero Jon Lester, but the question is can they outbid former friend Theo Epstein for the lefty’s talents. Whether or not they get Lester, the Red Sox have a plethora of outfielders as well as prospects, most noticeably Yoenis Cespedes to trade. There is no place for Cespedes to fit in any more now that Hanley Ramirez will be in left field for the foreseeable future and he should bring in a good return in the trade market. I spoke to a source from Philadelphia who said “it’s always a possibility,” concerning Cole Hamels as a potential fit in Boston. You would also have to think that the Red Sox will speak to the Nationals about Jordan Zimmermann and the Reds about their arms that include Johnny Cueto and Mat Latos.