Each year Baseball Prospectus releases their PECOTA projections, which stands for Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm. Although many are skeptical of analytics and advanced mathematics to measure performance, PECOTA has been fairly accurate in predicting team and player success. The algorithm correctly picked all five NL playoff teams.
This is good news for the Red Sox as their projections have them slotted in first place in the AL East compiling a 90-72 record, 3 fewer wins than last year. This would place them in 3rd in the American League, which would match them up against the projected AL Central champs Cleveland Indians once again.