ESPN Chalk's Joe Peta is sharing his season win total projections for every MLB team, including a reason for optimism and pessimism.
Plus, he recommends an over/under play, or a pass. This is the entry for the Boston Red Sox.
Boston Red Sox
Reason for optimism: Worst to first? Not a problem for the Red Sox, and management worked hard this past winter to ensure that.
Reason for pessimism: Expecting everything in 2015 to go as right as it did in 2013 is unrealistic. The front office is not infallible, as a couple of last-place finishes in three years demonstrate.
Similar to Aaron Schatz's NFL findings at Football Outsiders regarding offense and defense, in baseball a team's offensive production is more consistent year-to-year than its pitching. The Red Sox are a prime example of offensive consistency.
In the past 10 seasons the Red Sox have ranked second to only the Yankees in runs scored; in the past five seasons, which have featured two last-place finishes, the Red Sox have scored more runs than any other team in the majors, leading the second-place Tigers by nearly 100 runs. The drivers of that offensive production have been consistent as well, and can be summed up in three words: "take and rake." Over the past 10 seasons, Boston leads the majors