Now that's it's officially next year, even though the Sox weren't the big spenders their president promised, this offseason can still contain major changes that will generate excitement and hope for this and future seasons:
Kristian Campbell starting at second base.
Roman Anthony starting at an outfield corner.
One is the Minor League Player of the Year, the other is baseball's Number One rated prospect. That means they're two of the very best in the training grounds for future major leaguers. So how much more ready for the big leagues can top prospects get?
Pragmatists can caution about some aspect that still needs to be mastered, and adjustments -- but every single player at every age constantly has something to work on.
I have no desire whatsoever to instead see a Grissom-Hamilton platoon at 2B; they may be good guys, but let's be serious, they're also two who participated in the worst group of second baseman of any team in the entire sport last year. In the outfield, neither Refsynder nor Yoshida is reliable on D, though their batting averages are higher than Rafaela's On Base Percentage.
The Red Sox need star power, and the time is now.