The case for the Red Sox winning it all

After spending two full seasons in the wilderness following their most recent World Series victory in 2013, the Red Sox have returned to the playoffs for the past two seasons with a youth movement that's really starting to bear fruit. Even though most franchises would be happy with two consecutive playoff appearances, we all know that things are different in Boston. They won't be satisfied until they're back on top of the baseball world again — or at least better than the Yankees. Whichever comes first.

Why the Red Sox could win it all in 2018:

J.D.'s power... The obvious starting point is the free agent addition of J.D. Martinez. Boston was linked with the 30-year-old outfielder for most of the offseason, so long that it was almost a surprise when they finally came to an agreement. The agreement happened and now Martinez will hopefully be able to provide some power to an offense that was badly in need of it. In terms of Isolated Power, the Red Sox only hit a paltry .149 in that regard, and if counting stats is more of your thing, they only hit 168 home runs all season. Simply put, the Red Sox needed more offense and adding a guy who hit 45 dingers and had an ISO number of .387 last season should absolutely help them out.

...and associates. Martinez should help complement an exciting young lineup that has Rafael Devers, Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and the linchpin himself, Mookie Betts. One thing that could hopefully be in their favor this season is health. The Red Sox were boondoggled with injuries last season (which made their divisional title even more impressive) and simply staying healthy could be enough for them to beat the Yankees away from taking the AL East title. A healthy lineup should also see better power numbers, which is something of a must-have if you want to be a serious contender in this current era of baseball.

Sale of the century. On the pitching side of things, this rotation will once again go as far as Chris Sale can carry them. Sale was dominant for the vast majority of the season, but he wore down near the end. If Boston can do a good job of managing his workload, then he could definitely light things up once October rolls around. Combine his excellence with what David Price can give you as a solid second option along with the production of Rick Porcello and Drew Pomeranz and you have a very, very good rotation. Plus, with Craig Kimbrel in the bullpen, all the other bullpen hands need to do is just get to the ninth with the lead and let Kimbrel handle it from there.

Why they won't win it all in 2018:

Can they hang with the heavy hitters? Even with all of this going for the Red Sox, it's still questionable as to whether or not they will have enough offense to win in October. Again, Boston's lack of power hitting was a weak spot and it ended up costing them when they couldn't out-slug Houston in the playoffs on a consistent basis. If they end up losing out on the division this season, they could have the pitching to win a one-off Wild Card game but may not have the firepower go deep into the playoffs, even with their offseason additions.

The Red Sox still figure to be a very good team this year, but they'll have a whale of a battle on their hands with the Yankees in their own division and other contenders across the American League. They're still a good bet to at least make the Wild Card but after that, they'll have to ride some luck in order to go deep into October.