Ben Ready for Spring Training

Ben Cherington says he is satisfied with his pitching staff & he is ready to take the team as currently constituted to Fort Myers. No Cole Hamels. No Jordan Zimmermann. No Stephen Strasburg. Now that may be Ben posturing to make a deal where he doesn't give up too many good prospects. Or he could be telling the truth. Given the crazy money out there being paid to free agents, why not be greedy & keep all of your homegrown prospects - Blake Swihart, Mookie Betts, Henry Owens, et al. Ortiz, Pedroia, Panda, Hanley & Koji can provide the veteran leadership for this team. (OK, maybe not Hanley.) It's a young man's game & the Sox have drafted well over the last several years. They addressed their lack of power hitters by signing Ramirez & Sandoval. And noe they have strength in numbers to believe that some of their top 20 prospects will make it to the big club, maybe 1 a year like in the past. It was Mookie making his splash last year. Maybe it's Henry Owens or Rusney Castillo or Blake Swihart this year. If, & it's a big if, the rotation is adequate over the first 3 months & the Sox score more runs on offense, we could still be in the playoff race by the all-star break. Then Ben may pull the trigger on a big name pitching rental for the 2nd half of the season at a much lower cost of trade. I can't wait for spring training!