Boston Red Sox, World Series Champions

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox. I can't say I'm personally a fan of the victory but the best team definitely won.

A few thoughts:

• Mike Matheny gave Ron Washington a run for his money on how to not manage a World Series in a few spots. Grading managers is tough business but I can't help but feel he will still be a good one and I'm jaded in ever thinking Ron Washington as a competent MLB manager.
• We have and we will continue to hear it a lot but Ben Cherington did an excellent job with this team during the offseason. The Sox weren't your classic "worst to first" team as they had a very talented roster even last year, but kudos to Cherington and his staff.
• John Lackey, wow. What a turnaround his career has had. I'm not sure I've seen any athlete go from "Fuck You" to "I Love You" quite like Lackey. The fruits of Tommy John surgery I suppose.
• I don't get the impression this is the last we will see of these teams in October. Both teams have decisions to make this offseason (Ellsbury, Beltran, etc.) but the cores for each squad is set and dependent on what happens this offseason elsewhere, it's likely Boston and St. Louis will be favored in 2014.
• David Ortiz has three rings and a budding Hall of Fame case. I'm not sure I want a Hall of Fame with Papi in there without Edgar Martinez but so be it. If Oritz retired tomorrow I wouldn't put him in. But, Ortiz isn't retiring and he's been one of the best old hitters of all time. His 154 OPS+ is the 11th best of all time from age 34-37. He's hitting better now than he ever has before and if he keeps up a close facsimile to this, his case begins to make a lot of noise. There is that whole PED thing, which I don't necessarily consider but it would be a darn shame if Ortiz gets a pass cause people like him and Jeff Bagwell is denied because his arms were big.
• Speaking of impending free agents, I think both Ellsbury and Beltran are gone. I'll guess Ellsbury to Seattle and Beltran to the Yankees. Jackie Bradley Jr. and Oscar Taveras should slight right in and that helps illustrates how well run both of these teams are. The next man up is a top-50 prospect. #jealous
• I would hate to be in the NL Central and have to face Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller, Michael Wacha, Trevor Rosenthal and Carlos Martinez for the foreseeable future. I'd love to see what Rosie and Martinez could do as starters, it will be interesting to see what the Cardinals do there. My guess is Rosie stays in the pen while Martinez moves to the rotation. Speaking of Shelby Miller, where are you? An extra middling OF bat or middle reliever wouldn't have been a difference maker in the series, but every little thing counts and Miller didn't enter a game in the World Series. Not an optimal use of resources. 
• It's dangerous to overrate postseason performance but Jon Lester looked like the good version we've seen inconsistently in recent years. I would confidently bump him up a bit in my preseason fantasy baseball rankings, especially if his improvement was from a mechanical adjustment. 

It's sad that baseball in 2013 is over but luckily the MLB offseason is full of action, welcome to the Hot Stove Season!