That 2012 Red Sox team was not as bad as this year's team. That team lost 93 games and had a -72 run differential. The wheels only fell off after August, when the team pulled the trigger on the Punto Trade and went into a full-on tank. That team's Pythagorean win-loss was 74 wins, and their true talent likely above that because they spent the last 60 games of the year playing with a skeleton crew.
This team already has a -76 run differential and is 14 games below .500, with a Pythagorean W-L of being 15 games under. They're on pace for just 69 wins based on that run differential and that is before they start playing the young guys. With Buchholz likely gone all year and lumps likely to be swallowed by rookies getting called up, I would bet the under on an over/under of 69 wins this year.
Perhaps most importantly, the 2012 team got a clean slate in a variety of ways. The tragicomedy of Bobby Valentine was wiped away, and The Punto Trade allowed the FO a clean slate to retool the team. John Lackey also bolstered the 2013 as a free addition after missing all of 2012. The freeing of payroll allowed them to sign Ross, Gomes, Drew, Victorino, Napoli and Uehara for ~$60M in 2013 salaries. Barring a similar trade where the team can dump Sandoval or move a few other deals, they will have nowhere near that kind of flexibility. They have over $140M committed to Ramirez, Porcello, Sandoval, Ortiz, Pedroia, Buchholz, Castillo, Craig, Uehara, Miley, Hanigan, leaving them ~$40-50M to fill the other 15 spots. Guys like Bogaerts, Betts, EdRod and Holt will help offset that, but they should use some of the remaining payroll space to extend those four long-term.
This is going to take more than a few tweaks to fix. The team is worse than they were in 2012, with less roster and payroll flexibility. That's a really bad combination.