In center fielder Andrew Benintendi, third baseman Rafael Devers, righthander Anderson Espinoza, and infielder Yoan Moncada, the Sox have the kind of high-end prospects every team covets. They also have the second-tier players needed to sweeten a deal.

The Red Sox have the ability to trade for any prominent starting pitcher who comes on the market. That includes Sonny Gray, Zack Greinke, Julio Teheran or most anybody else you can name.

The question Dave Dombrowski has to answer between now and July 31 is how far to go. It's an easy answer: The Sox should be fully invested in 2016.


In his final season, David Ortiz is the centerpiece of an offense on pace to score 954 runs. Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Dustin Pedroia are having All-Star caliber seasons.

The Sox have two strong starters in David Price and Steven Wright, an acceptable mid-rotation starter in Rick Porcello and a lockdown closer in Craig Kimbrel.

This team is another starter and a reliable set-up man away from winning the pennant.

If trading one of the Big Four prospects is needed, it has to be done.

The Red Sox have young, under-control talent in Betts, Bogaerts, Bradley, Rodriguez, Travis Shaw, and Christian Vazquez. Kimbrel, Pedroia, Price, and Porcello are signed long term and Wright isn't even arbitration-eligible until 2018.

The next 3-4 years are secure whether Benintendi, Devers, Espinoza or Moncada are around or not. Outside of Ortiz, Koji Uehara, and Junichi Tazawa, every significant player on the major league roster is under control for several seasons.

Looking ahead, it's a weak market for free-agent starters. Better to make a trade now and contend than wait and make the same trade in December.

There's so much invested in Moncada that trading him seems unlikely. Dealing Espinoza, far and away their best pitching prospect, also seems like a terrible idea.


But should Devers or Benintendi stand in the way of winning now?

The team that makes the best move in the next 45 days will win the American League East. The Red Sox need to be that team.

A few other thoughts and observations on the team:

■ The Red Sox had one All-Star last season and that was only because the rules mandated they had to have one. They could have as many as six this year.

Ortiz and Bogaerts are locks for July 12 in San Diego. They have big leads in the fan voting.

Bradley and Betts are in contention to be voted in as outfield starters. Both are certainly deserving of making the team.

Wright (8-4, 2.22) has the second-lowest earned run average in the American League and should be on the American League pitching staff. He grew up about 90 miles from Petco Park, so what a nice story that would be.

Kimbrel also will get some consideration. You can make a case for Pedroia, too. But second base is a deep position in the AL and the Red Sox aren't getting seven players. They probably won't even get six.

■ Counting Triple A, Joe Kelly has thrown only 33 1/3 innings over the last 63 days. He is on the disabled list with Pawtucket and hasn't thrown off the mound since straining a groin muscle on June 7.


Joe Kelly could end up in the bullpen when he returns from the disabled list. Greg Fiume

Once Kelly is healthy enough to pitch again, the Red Sox should put him in the bullpen. The alternative is waiting weeks for him to build up arm strength to start again.

Kelly has a 5.00 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 41 starts for the Sox. For every occasional flash of talent, there have been injuries or setbacks. It made sense to give him every chance to start but now it's time to see how he performs in relief.

With his fastball, Kelly could give the Red Sox an interesting option in the late innings.

■ Along with pitching help, the Red Sox need to revamp their bench. It's not much use at this point.

The Sox should trade for a veteran lefthanded hitter to platoon with Chris Young in left field. San Diego's Jon Jay would be a good choice. The 31-year-old is having a solid season for the Padres, is signed only through this season, and has 58 games of playoff experience.

Once Brock Holt returns, he can move back to his familiar super-utility role. Holt has more value for this team playing multiple positions than he does as a platoon player in left field. He also would be a valuable pinch hitter, particularly if a bunt were needed.

Obtaining a lefty hitter and putting Holt back in a reserve role would allow the Sox to send Marco Hernandez and Rusney Castillo back to Triple A.

Hernandez is 23 and needs to be playing every day. Castillo has no role beyond pinch running. That the Sox don't even trust him with an occasional start speaks to how terrible that $72.5 million signing was.


■ Michael Kopech sure is an interesting character. He's 20-year-old righthander with a jet-powered fastball and an above-average breaking ball. The Red Sox took Kopech with the 33rd overall pick of the 2014 draft and happily signed him to a bonus of $1.5 million. He has since emerged as one of the organization's top prospects.

But Kopech also served a 50-game suspension last season for using a banned stimulant. He then broke his right hand in spring training in a fight with a teammate. To say the Sox were furious is an understatement.

When he started pitching in extended spring training, Kopech's father took to Twitter and provided detailed reports that included radar-gun readings.

Meanwhile, Kopech's girlfriend is Brielle Biermann, one of the stars of "Don't Be Tardy," a reality show on Bravo. They're a popular topic on social media.

There's nothing wrong with having an involved father and a famous girlfriend. In the end, all that matters is how well he pitches.

But once the Red Sox start determining which prospects they will trade and which they need to keep, everything gets taken into account. Kopech is a high-ceiling talent but also could be viewed as high maintenance.

■ Two knuckleballers have not faced each other as starters since Sept. 15, 2000. That was when Tim Wakefield faced Steve Sparks of the Tigers.


It has nearly happened three times this season. Wright and R.A. Dickey of the Jays have missed by one game on three occasions.

"I'd love for it to happen," said Wright, who counts Dickey as a friend. "It would be fun for people to see."

The Sox have two more series with Toronto, both in September.

■ Young players learn from their mistakes in any sport. For a manager or coach, the choice is being an authoritarian or prodding the player in the right direction, perhaps with the help of teammates. John Farrell leans far more to the latter than the former.

But in the case of Bogaerts diving headfirst into first base, perhaps more discipline is needed.

Bogaerts has so far flung himself at first base three times, the latest incident coming on Sunday at Minnesota. His hand nearly got stepped on, too.

Sliding into first is a bad idea because it's slower. It only makes sense if the first baseman is off the bag and trying to tag you. The fastest way to the base is to run through it, period.

More importantly, Bogaerts is unnecessarily risking injury to one of his hands or fingers. Pedroia injured his left hand that way and underwent a series of surgical procedures. He has since stopped sliding into first.

The Red Sox are toast if they lose Bogaerts for a month. He's one of the best hitters in the game and plays a premium defensive position. His staying on the roster is paramount.

Bogaerts shouldn't be punished. But somebody needs to tell him to stop diving into first. If not Farrell, then Dombrowski or Mike Hazen.

■ The Red Sox signed Cody Decker to a minor league deal and sent him to Double A Portland. It may not seem like a big deal since he's a 29-year-old first baseman with only 11 major league at-bats.

But Decker has 160 career home runs in the minor leagues, 48 from 2014-15 in Triple A. Righthanded power is tough to find and perhaps Decker will prove useful before the year is through.

On cue, Decker homered in his first game for the Sea Dogs on Wednesday.

Decker was so popular in El Paso in 2015 that the team gave away a bobblehead of him on Wednesday night. He's also dating actress Jenn Sterger.

■ The popular Pitch Talks series comes to the Wilbur Theater in Boston on July 7 at 7:30 p.m.

I'll be there along with Dan Shaughnessy and Alex Speier. We'll be joined by Hazen, Bill Lee, Jonah Keri of Sports Illustrated, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs, Sox beat writer Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com, Sox beat writer Evan Drellich of the Herald and Paul Swydan of Fangraphs.

It'll be a fun night of Sox talk. Go to pitchtalksbaseball.com for ticket information.

Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @peteabe.