Detroit Tigers Rank Highly in MCB’s First Power Rankings of 2017

#3 Boston Red Sox
2016 Run Differential: +184
Best Offseason Move: Acquiring Chris Sale
Worst Offseason Move: Trading Travis Shaw

In completely unsurprising fashion, Dave Dombrowski has made some prominent trades so far in his time with the Boston Red Sox.

The former Detroit Tigers general manager nabbed Craig Kimbrel from the Padres for a haul of prospects in late 2015.

He later bolstered Boston’s roster for the stretch run with deals for relievers Brad Ziegler and Fernando Abad, as well as starter Drew Pomeranz.

Dombrowski was busy again over the winter.

He made arguably the most significant trade of the winter when he acquired Chris Sale for Luis Alexander Basabe, Michael Kopech, Yoan Moncada and Victor Diaz.

Boston also acquired an impact reliever in Tyler Thornburg for Travis Shaw, Josh Pennington and Mauricio Dubon.

Even without the recently-retired David Ortiz, Boston will once again be a World Series contender in 2017.

The team has impact players in Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, as well as quality veterans in Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez.

As of now, Boston’s only significant weaknesses are at third base and behind the plate.

Pablo Sandoval is currently hitting .349 with a 1.015 OPS in Spring Training. However, if he can’t produce, the team will be in trouble.

With Shaw in Milwaukee, Boston would have to plug in Brock Holt at the hot corner—while that wouldn’t be the worst outcome, it would significantly weaken the team’s bench.

Sandy Leon is back behind the plate for the Red Sox after hitting .310 in 252 at-bats (75 games) last season.

That may not seem like an area of concern, but Leon only appeared in 75 Major League games prior to Opening Day 2016. In those 75 games, he only managed a .483 OPS.