It looks like the Red Sox should start by signing Cliff Floyd.

This is nice and all, but it’s missing some key components.  The one that comes to mind is for 2007 Rockies: emergence of Tulo.  Or for the Reds, Scott Rolen was added late in mid-2009 and Joey Votto began his reign in 2010. The 2007 Indians also benefited from a breakout (fluke) season from Ryan Garko, domination from C.C. Sabathia, and and successful move from bullpen to rotation for Roberto Hernandez.

For the Red Sox, they need key players like Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, and Dustin Pedroia to play to their potential.  They need Will Middlebrooks to take steps from year 1 to year 2, a process that will be hampered by missing the final months of the 2012 season.  They need to add other pitchers to the mix, but free agency doesn’t offer much in terms of quality arms.  A player like Edwin Jackson or Hiroki Kuroda would have been great this year, but the Red Sox lost out on those players.

The Red Sox won’t get anywhere in 2013 just by changing managers and signing guys like Ted Lilly, they also need what the Reds, Rockies, and Indians had: emergence of talent.

Good post Ravi, but the article Alex linked to made many of the same points.  This chart wasn’t meant to be thorough, it is a concise summation of what he explained in his earlier column.  He explains that these teams generally didn’t make massive additions, it was the improvement or emergence of the players they already had, with some smaller changes at the edges.

may be most ridiculous article ever written. This piece is utter garbage and belongs in the digital shredder.

I agree with Jack Burton, this was a good post.  Don’t know what Unbelievable is reading.  But if he wants to read something unbelievable, I will throw in an additional comment to Burton’s post.  That is the potential for – wait for it – John Lackey to have a solid winning year.