ESPN looks at the offseason plans for the Red Sox:
After taking a step in the right direction with a third-place finish in the AL East, Red Sox president of baseball operations Craig Breslow is prioritizing left-handed pitchers and right-handed hitters this offseason. To find the right lineup mix, Breslow could deal from a position of strength that other teams covet: Boston's stockpile of left-handed hitters.
"We are thinking about how we can balance it out in the other direction," Breslow said.
Boston's pitching staff was one of MLB's big surprises during the first half of the season but tanked in the second half, ranking 25th in ERA after the All-Star break as opposed to fifth before it. Injuries and workload capacity led to some high-scoring affairs for the opposition.
"We had a fairly novel approach to pitching in terms of limiting fastballs," Breslow explained. "The league reacted. There was a period of time that we were slow to correct for that, but over the last month of the season our rotation was good again. We could upgrade there. It's not a secret our rotation is all right-handed, so if we can balance that out, it's something that could benefit."