I feel like the answer here depends on a few questions:
-- Can JBJ get past these growing pains and contribute at the plate?
-- Can Bogaerts improve his defense enough to stay at SS?
-- Can Middlebrooks become a reliable source of power (reliable enough to outweigh his contact deficiencies)?
-- Can we fix Buchholz?
-- Can Doubront become a consistent #3/4 starter?
And, frankly, a lot more is riding on the answers to those questions than just whether the current roster can win the AL East in 2014. These are questions that determine the long-term strategy of the organization. So I think we are sort of stuck waiting for the answers.
That's what a bridge year is. I'm glad we're having it the year after a championship. And I'm glad that we have reasons (expected upwards regression from Pedroia, abundance of prospect depth in case of a major injury or if Peavy craps out, and, most of all, the general mediocrity of the division) to hope that, even if we don't get the answers we want to those questions, we'll be playing meaningful baseball in September.
-- Can JBJ get past these growing pains and contribute at the plate?
-- Can Bogaerts improve his defense enough to stay at SS?
-- Can Middlebrooks become a reliable source of power (reliable enough to outweigh his contact deficiencies)?
-- Can we fix Buchholz?
-- Can Doubront become a consistent #3/4 starter?
And, frankly, a lot more is riding on the answers to those questions than just whether the current roster can win the AL East in 2014. These are questions that determine the long-term strategy of the organization. So I think we are sort of stuck waiting for the answers.
That's what a bridge year is. I'm glad we're having it the year after a championship. And I'm glad that we have reasons (expected upwards regression from Pedroia, abundance of prospect depth in case of a major injury or if Peavy craps out, and, most of all, the general mediocrity of the division) to hope that, even if we don't get the answers we want to those questions, we'll be playing meaningful baseball in September.