Red Sox Blockbuster Trade

Let me start by saying there is almost no way this could happen, however the Red Sox pulled off the Adrian Gonzalez/Josh Beckett/Carl Crawford trade, so anything is possible. This trade once again involves the Reds. The Red Sox would be acquiring Johnny Cueto, Aroldis Chapman AND Joey Votto. I have the Red Sox giving up seven players total. If I could have them trade draft picks as well I would, but that's not something you can do in Baseball. The players I have going over are Allen Craig, Blake Swihart, Joe Kelly, Henry Owens, Manuel Margot, Rafael Devers & Sean Coyle. Allen Craig and Joe Kelly would fill the void left with Votto and Cueto gone. Henry Owens reminds me of a lesser Clayton Kershaw, someone I don't want to give, but would. Rafael Devers gets comparisons to Robinson Cano with his bat, but he play Third Base not Second. This would give the Reds flexibility to move Todd Frazier to First Base in the future. Sean Coyle is one of the many undersized second basemen the Red Sox have stockpiled. His bat reminds me a lot of Reds second basemen Brandon Phillips. He'd need to work hard to have as good of a glove as Phillips but his 20-20 ability and ability to draw walks makes him a great replacement when Phillips gets hurt or hangs up the cleats. Manuel Margot is the one player I haven't seen much of, but I do know he's very fast, has a good glove for any outfield position and has gap power that could evolve home run power. He could take over batting second behind Billy Hamilton in the near future. The other benefit for this trade would allow the Reds the ability to sign a big free agent during the next offseason.
So let's look at the Red Sox line up after the trade.

1. Mookie Betts CF
2. Dustin Pedroia 2B
3. Joey Votto 1B
4. Hanley Ramirez LF
5. David Ortiz DH
6. Pablo Sandoval 3B
7. Xander Bogaerts SS
8. Ryan Hanigan C
9. Brock Holt/Shane Victorino RF

I have Ortiz moving to fifth in the order to let him see more pitches before he gets up to bat and take some pressure off. He's so close to reaching the 500 home run mark and he has to do it this year, so less pressure and preparation should help him get the next nineteen. Also I like the idea of Dusty batting third but with Votto there it's okay.
Now for the rotation.

1. Clay Buchholz
2. Johnny Cueto
3. Wade Miley
4. Eduardo Rodriguez
5. Rick Porcello

I hope that Buchholz is going to be back shortly. He has no structural damage in his elbow but is on the DL so you never know. Cueto can take over as the number one while he's on the DL. If you take away Wade Miley's second start he has a mid to low 3 ERA. So that's three plus pitchers right there. You throw in Rodriguez who is competing with Mookie for Red Sox Rookie of the Year and you have a playoff rotation.
My main concern is that the Yankees know how to play regular season baseball better than anyone. Something that they can't translate into playoff baseball in the passed few years. So to me that's a waste of a playoff spot. The AL East is shockingly the weakest division in baseball with all the teams at most four games out of first. It will be close through the whole season but someone will pull away.
My only comment about the bullpen is that we should only trade for Chapman if Koji is okay with moving to the set-up roll. He has earned the closer roll and it should be up to him to give it up.