Boston Red Sox: Setting Sale with a formidable staff

Even with David Ortiz's retirement, there's no shortage of reasons to watch the defending AL East champions. Their rotation features a pair of AL Cy Young Award winners (reigning honoree Rick Porcello and 2012 recipient David Price), and they offer strong candidates for AL MVP (rightfielder Mookie Betts) and Rookie of the Year (leftfielder Andrew Benintendi). That said, the arrival of Sale in a blockbuster off-season trade with the White Sox offers something new. Sale will be pitching for a contender for the first time since 2012, and the side-arming southpaw will be battling to avoid the first-year struggles that have plagued Porcello, Price and many other hurlers upon arriving in Boston. He's finished in the top-six of AL Cy Young voting for five straight years; a sixth would help ensure the Red Sox return to October.