The Boston Red Sox watched everything go right for them in 2018 when they won the World Series. They were the best team that season but they also steered clear of significant injuries. Manager Alex Cora pushed all the right buttons and the team roared through the playoffs and won the World Series. In 2019, though, everything which didn\u2019t go wrong in 2018 suddenly went wrong. The Red Sox stumbled, the lineup didn\u2019t come together and injuries took a toll. While the Red Sox still won 84 games, they didn\u2019t even make the playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The offseason has been a complete nightmare as one of the richest franchises in all of sports traded their former MVP Mookie Betts because they didn\u2019t want to open up the pocket book for him. Beyond that, manager Alex Cora was fired because he was part of the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal. That\u2019s led to the Red Sox futures tumbling down the board as they\u2019re now not even expected to make the playoffs. What should bettors expect from them in 2020?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TO WIN WORLD SERIES: +3300 The Red Sox traded Mookie Betts and David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers for super-prospect Alex Verdugo and two other high-profile prospects plus cash. The team also acquired left-handed starting pitcher Martin Perez and also signed Jonathan Lucroy and Kevin Pillar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Betts-Price deal was a spectacular capitulation as Boston claimed it needed to save money and resources, which is out of line with one of the most profitable franchises in baseball in one of the sport\u2019s most enthusiastic big-city markets. We\u2019ve hardly ever seen them pinching pennies. Betts was not just an excellent player; he was a thoroughly popular player in Boston. Price was not a popular player due to his playoff struggles (though he did help the team win a World Series, so it is not as though he was a complete villain) and his contract was an albatross, so it\u2019s good they got out from under that, but Betts was the toast of the town. Shipping Betts is a baffling lack of perspective from the Red Sox organization, a move they are likely to pay for this year and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Red Sox, in a best-case scenario, probably cannot be expected to defeat the New York Yankees for the American League East Division championship. The scenario where everything goes right for them is the batting lineup doesn\u2019t take a big step back while the rotation gets back a healthy and effective Chris Sale. If that\u2019s the case, maybe Boston can beat out the Tampa Bay Rays, who were remarkably effective with a lot of obscure, no-name players last season, but the Yankees seem out of reach for Boston, which finished well behind the Bombers last year. Boston seems to have a ceiling in or near the 85-win mark. Losing Betts (more than Price) lowers the heights to which this team can climb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Red Sox could finish with only 75 wins. Is it likely? Probably not. It is, however, possible. Morale is probably very low in the clubhouse after the Betts trade and the Cora firing. The lack of Price on the roster will mean that other pitchers will have to eat up innings and that\u2019s a big concern because we\u2019re not exactly sure what Sale will do this year. He\u2019s going to begin the season on the injured list. How good is a rotation that\u2019s headlined by Nathan Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plus, the super-prospect from the Dodgers the Red Sox traded for in the Betts deal, Alex Verdugo, was revealed to have had a structural injury which will keep him sidelined for months, not merely weeks. The Red Sox\u2019 doctors should have identified the problem before going through with the trade, but they didn\u2019t. That deal is a disaster relative to the 2020 season, because Verdugo isn\u2019t likely to play very much, and if he does play, he probably won\u2019t be at full strength. The best the Red Sox can hope for with Verdugo is for him to be 100-percent healthy before the 2021 season. This year figures to be a rough one in Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Get the latest MLB baseball odds and information–follow BetOnline.ag on Twitter<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TO WIN AL PENNANT: +1600
REGULAR SEASON WIN TOTAL: 84.5<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nOFFSEASON CHANGES<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
IF THINGS GO RIGHT\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
IF THINGS GO WRONG\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n