Reason for optimism: Getting 32 starts from David Price instead of Wade Miley is a huge upgrade.
Reason for pessimism: Unfortunately, Price can't replace Joe Kelly's and Rick Porcello's starts as well.
I told you so.
Last year in the Red Sox preview and more forcefully in a blog entry that expanded on the analysis, I expressed wonder that the team that won an auction for Pablo Sandoval's services played in an environment that was the worst match possible for his skill set. As predicted, Sandoval had the worst year of his career in every meaningful offensive category, to the point that considering the amount of playing time he got, at -2.0 fWAR, he was the worst player in the major leagues. That and the just-as-curious-decision to sign Hanley Ramirez to play the tricky left field position in Fenway Park are what doomed Boston to, amazingly, its third last-place finish in the AL East in the past four seasons.