2019 MLB preview and predictions: How the White Sox stack up against the Boston Red Sox

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As the 2019 season nears and the White Sox get ready to take on the rest of the American League, we're taking a team-by-team look at all 14 of their opponents.

There is nothing saying the Red Sox can't repeat as World Series champions.

The team remains loaded because it's almost identical to what it looked like in October. The Red Sox made zero offseason additions despite doing some real good work in re-signing Nathan Eovaldi, who could've been a top-of-the-rotation guy elsewhere but instead opted to be one of baseball's best examples of championship-caliber depth. He's projected to be the Red Sox fifth starter.

So, yeah, this team is fantastic.

The Red Sox still have one of the best players in the game in Mookie Betts, the reigning AL MVP thanks to his ridiculous .346/.438/.640 slash line, 32 home runs, 129 runs scored and 91-to-81 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Oh, and he won a Gold Glove, too.

They still have J.D. Martinez, who finished three spots behind Betts in that MVP vote thanks to 43 homers, 130 RBIs and a 1.031 OPS. He won two Silver Sluggers, somehow.

They still have Xander Bogaerts, who had a career-best .883 OPS last season and smacked 45 doubles.

They still have Chris Sale, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball and striker-outer of 237 batters in just 158 innings last season.

They still an array of postseason heroes in David Price (a 1.98 ERA in three World Series outings), Steve Pearce (the World Series MVP with his trio of Fall Classic dingers) and Jackie Bradley Jr. (two homers and nine RBIs in the ALCS). Betts, Bradley and Andrew Benintendi give the Red Sox the best defensive outfield in the game. The rotation is stacked with Eduardo Rodriguez (3.82 ERA last season) and Rick Porcello (three years removed from winning a Cy Young) in addition to Sale, Price and Eovaldi.

So what's not to like? Pretty much nothing. And yet here I am predicting them to not even win their own division.

The Red Sox are one of three uber teams in the American League, and while they might have even fewer question marks than even the Houston Astros and New York Yankees — both of whom's question marks reside in the starting-pitching department — that doesn't make the competition from those two squads any less stiff. The Red Sox, much like the Astros and Yankees, should have little trouble piling up wins and breezing to the postseason. Where things get interesting is what happens once they get there. Who knows how these teams will all stack up with each other after six months of a regular season. For now they all look neck and neck as World Series contenders, and with all due respect to the National League, favorites. So the biggest thing standing in the way of a Boston repeat — and remember that no team has won back-to-back World Series since the 1999 and 2000 Yankees — is the fact that two equally legitimate contenders reside on their half of the bracket.

The one place the Red Sox do have questions, and potentially big ones, is the bullpen, where Craig Kimbrel no longer resides — at least for the time being. Kimbrel, one of the best closers ever, is shockingly still a free agent, and the Red Sox didn't go out and buy a replacement. They're just hoping one of their returning relievers can grab the baton. That's a tall order considering Kimbrel had 42 saves a year ago, has 333 of them in his career, has been to seven All-Star Games and put up a 2.06 ERA in the last two seasons with the Red Sox. So good luck to Ryan Brasier and Matt Barnes and Heath Hembree, not bad relievers by any stretch. But they're not Kimbrel. Of course, Kimbrel's still out there if the Red Sox want him.

Barring something unforeseen, the Red Sox will once more be playing in October. And it's very possible they'll begin that month with as good a chance to win a ring as anyone. But the competition will undoubtedly be fierce from their AL cohorts.

2018 record: 108-54, first place in AL East

Offseason additions: none

Offseason departures: Craig Kimbrel, Joe Kelly, Ian Kinsler, Drew Pomeranz

X-factor: Remember Dustin Pedroia? Yeah, he's still the Red Sox starting second baseman, despite a season-long injury making him noticeably absent from the World Series last fall. But Pedroia is still capable of being a heck of an impact bat in a loaded lineup. Though he played in just three games in 2018, he was great in 105 of them a year earlier, when he slashed .293/.369/.392 with a tiny number of strikeouts. In 2017, he was even better over a full complement of games, with a .318/.376/.449 line. Health will obviously be a concern, as he's only played in an average of 98 games over the last five seasons. But if he can stay on the field and in the lineup, that's another plus for a loaded Red Sox team.

Projected lineup:

1. Andrew Benintendi, LF
2. Mookie Betts, RF
3. J.D. Martinez, DH
4. Xander Bogaerts, SS
5. Mitch Moreland, 1B
6. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
7. Rafael Devers, 3B
8. Christian Vazquez, C
9. Jackie Bradley Jr., CF

Projected rotation:

1. Chris Sale
2. David Price
3. Rick Porcello
4. Eduardo Rodriguez
5. Nathan Eovaldi

Prediction: Second place in AL East, wild card

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