When news broke that the New York Yankees had acquired Giancarlo Stanton for essentially Starlin Castro, the glaring lack of thump in the current Boston Red Sox lineup became all the more apparent.
By this point, everyone knows the 2017 Red Sox finished 27th in home runs, 26th in slugging percentage and 22nd in OPS. This, of course, came just one season after finishing 9th in homers, 1st in slugging and 1st in OPS.
Look at the lineup difference between the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and the biggest discernible change was swapping legendary DH David Ortiz out for first baseman Mitch Moreland.