The Red Sox are going for it, again. This is their intention every season, but they know a lost cause when they see one. They were willing to sacrifice the end of their 2012 and 2014 seasons to better prepare for the future. That paid off with the 2013 title, and now we will see how it works in 2015.

The Red Sox have pursued Lester in free agency, with several National League teams, including Atlanta, St. Louis and the Chicago Cubs, also showing some degree of interest. When they traded Lester to Oakland in July, the Red Sox got back Cespedes, who could help acquire a starter now. They also got a better read on some young pitchers by using them so often down the stretch.

None of those pitchers — Rubby De La Rosa, Anthony Ranaudo, Allen Webster, Brandon Workman — performed especially well, but all could have appeal in trades, as could several younger arms. Half of Boston’s top 12 prospects, as ranked by MLB.com, are pitchers under age 24 with no major league starts.

The Red Sox are well positioned to build a package of outfielders and pitchers that could entice the Philadelphia Phillies to deal Cole Hamels, their ace left-hander. Hamels turns 31 next month and is owed $96 million for the next four years. The Red Sox presumably could work around Hamels’s no-trade clause to Boston.

Such a move could take a while, but in any case, it is the kind of idea the Red Sox could at least explore with their surplus of outfielders and pitching prospects. For now, they know they will have Ramirez, whom they traded to the Marlins exactly nine years ago Monday in a deal for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell.

Beckett and Lowell starred in the 2007 postseason to lead the Red Sox to a championship, while Ramirez established himself as an elite shortstop, most recently with the Dodgers. Ramirez turns 31 next month, and his injury problems and defensive regression make left field more realistic now.

Then there is Sandoval, who caught the final out of the World Series last month for the San Francisco Giants. He was beloved in San Francisco as one of the Giants’ many characters, playing the role of the overstuffed Panda who feasts on pitchers in October.