Projecting the Red Sox 2017 Opening Day Roster

Yes, it’s freezing out today and that does not have you thinking baseball season. That and it’s not for another five months. But if the season were to start today, here’s an idea of what the Red Sox roster would probably look like.

Rotation:

Chris Sale — The White Sox ace has a career 3.00 ERA. That’s good.

David Price — Year two of seven. Just keep him off the postseason roster, please. He can go play with his dog or something.

Rick Porcello — 2016 American Leauge Cy Young winner. Coming up on some peak years.

Drew Pomeranz — National League All-Star last year. Should be well-rested. Give him a second chance.

Eduardo Rodriguez — 3.24 ERA after the All-Star break last year.

Omitting: Clay Buchholz (trade?), Steven Wright (bullpen?)

Bullpen

Craig Kimbrel — The closer excelled in save situations last year.

Tyler Thornburg — Finally, a dependable 8th inning guy.

Joe Kelly — 1.02 ERA in 14 big league relief appearances last year. This could be a nice arrangement.

Robbie Ross Jr. — The only left-handed reliever to spend all of 2016 on the big league roster.

Steven Wright — Long relief, anyone? Good 6th starter option too.

Fernando Abad — Lefties hit .153 off him last year. Just keep him in a limited role.

Heath Hembree — Out of Minor League options. Righties hit .201 off him last year.

Omitting: Matt Barnes (4.55 career ERA, weak second half last year, has MiLB options remaining). Unless they make a move, this seems more likely than DFA’ing Hembree.

Lineup:

Sandy Leon — Great defensive catcher. Can he hit a curveball though?

Mitch Moreland — Decent power bat against righties, excellent defensive first baseman.

Dustin Pedroia — The second baseman is the longest tenured member of the Sox.

Xander Bogaerts — Sure, his numbers dipped late last year, but he’s got to be one of the best shortstops in the game.

Pablo Sandoval — No Travis Shaw. No Yoan Moncada. The former All-Star has a chance to rock third base.

Andrew Benintendi — He took left field by storm last year. Can’t see him giving it back.

Jackie Bradley Jr. — Does anyone in their right mind actually miss Jacoby Ellsbury?

Mookie Betts — Just your typical MVP candidate outfielder.

Hanley Ramirez — $22 million DH. The Red Sox just must love messing with his mind at this point.

Omitted: David Ortiz — Well, you know…

Bench:

Christian Vazquez — Great defensive catcher. Bat is eh.

Brock Holt — Super utility man.

Chris Young — Dangerous against lefties. Decent outfielder.

Josh Rutledge — Rule V draft pick. Either the infielder makes the big league roster, or he goes back to the Rockies system. Sox are low on infield depth, so it makes their decision easy.

Omitted: Marco Hernandez — The infielder has minor league options. Rutledge doesn’t.

Also omitted: Bryce Brentz — Out of options. Not a bad right-handed depth bat, but Chris Young makes him unneeded.