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MLB has seen some boffo trades the past few days.  Milwaukee got C.C. Sabathia and the Chicago Cubs got Rich Harden.

These acquisitions got me to thinking, do the Red Sox currently have enough to A.) make the playoffs (don't laugh, they are 3 behind the Rays and only 2.5 ahead of the Twins for the wild card) and B.) do they have enough to win the World Series?

One thing is certain, David Ortiz makes an enormous impact on the Red Sox offense.  Without Ortiz, the threat of the "Big Inning" is greatly diminished.  The Red Sox without Ortiz can hit, no doubt, but they rely more on stringing together several hits.  Manny Ramirez hitting a 2-run shot Tuesday night to tie the game was the first time in a bit that the Red Sox just out-slugged another team.  But without that constant power threat from either Manny or Ortiz (or both) the Red Sox are not the same team.

Do the Red Sox need to trade for some offense?  If Ortiz is healthy, and all accounts suggest he is, they are probably ok, although ESPN's Peter Gammons suggests he is probably still 2 weeks away.  If Ortiz can remain symptom-free, they should be good to go.  The "how can we tweak the offense" would then revolve around Julio Lugo and Jason Varitek.

To me, Varitek will be catcher for this team in 2008 no matter his offensive production, but Lugo is another story.  To all you little league pitchers, Lugo swings for the slider low and away 10 times out of 10.  That being said, Lugo is bad defensively and offensively.  In only year 2 of his 4 year deal, the Red Sox are likely to stick with him, but with Jed Lowrie waiting in the wings, a change is in order.  If Ramirez and Ortiz hit to their potential, the Red Sox (and any big-market team) can afford a mulligan like Lugo, but it isn't good baseball management.

Justin Masterson to the pen.  Well, the Red Sox have decided that rather than trade for bullpen help, they are going to create bullpen help.  Masterson pitched very well as a starter and did nothing to embarrass himself.  He shutdown righties, but struggled against lefties.  If he is ok with the short inning role, then great.  If Javier Lopez can be the lefty specialist, Masterson can be the righty specialist.

What do you think the Red Sox need?  Getting back to my initial question, are the Red Sox, as constituted, good enough to win the World Series?  If you were GM, would you realistically upgrade a position or two or even make a major trade like Milwaukee and Chicago?  July 31st is the non-waiver trade deadline and between now and then, we will learn a whole bunch more about which players will be fighting for the Red Sox in defending their World Series Championship.