RJM. I agree. They did well based on the position they put themselves in. I just think they could have done better with Lester prior to free agency....they missed the boat to better position themselves. They made some bad internal decisions with Lester. Some have even offered a conspiracy theory that the Red Sox didn't really want Lester, but wanted to make appearances they did to "the Nation", and make sure the Yankees didn't get him. Based on the Lester free-agent asking price I think this conspiracy theory has legs. The bottom line was the asking price and terms were too much (I agree), and someone in the Red Sox front office did a good job of Plan B. It just boils my peanuts they blew their shot at re-signing Lester for something reasonable before free agency.
The AL East will be realitively weak compared to other divisions, and someone who has competent starting pitching has a shot. I think the Red Sox are there. The Blue Jays are improved. Yankees status quo. Orioles, Rays. I like Vasquez and Marrero. I'm torn on Swihart because I know we're going to need another catcher as Lavarnway is gone. There isn't a big market for catchers, so I'm not sure we'd get value. We'd have to package him with another deal to trade for another more experienced catcher.