BOSTON -- Let me be the first to make this prediction: The Red Sox will be in the playoffs in 2012. And it would not shock me if they won it all.

If I'm wrong, I'll walk from Fenway Park to my hometown of Lunenburg, a stroll of 45 miles or so, wearing a T-shirt that reads, "I'm the Idiot Who Picked the Red Sox.'' Click and save.

Sweep away the chicken bones, recycle the beer cans and fire up the treadmill. Bid adieu to Tito and Theo, make way for Ben Cherington and a TBA manager, relocate John Lackey in the witness protection program, and tell the "team sources" in the executive suite to put away the sharp knives and clean up the blood they've left behind.

The next time Sox players are invited onto John Henry's yacht, it will be a victory cruise (headphones optional).

Lost in the shock, awe, righteous anger, disgust, contempt and nonstop harpooning of the Red Sox in these past few nausea-inducing days is this: The core of a very good baseball team remains. I know, that's hard to swallow right about now, but believe your lying eyes: The team that went 81-42 from the time it opened 2-10 until it collapsed in September was no mirage.

And the 2012 edition, playing in the 100th-anniversary year of Fenway Park, has a chance to be as good, or better.

Here's what the Red Sox do to make things right:

1. Red Sox owners buy a full-page ad in the Boston Globe, the same instrument they used anonymously to shred the reputation of outgoing manager Terry Francona, and publish an apology to their fans, signed by all three owners, for allowing the franchise to implode on their watch, both on and off the field. They've taken many bows, and rightfully so, for all the good they've done in this town, winning two World Series, transforming Fenway Park and playing a vital role in community service, but they need to fix this, and fast, or risk throwing away the legacy they so painstakingly worked to create.

For good measure, CEO Larry Lucchino should schedule one of those round-table discussions of which he is so fond, televise it on NESN, and have Josh Beckett and Jon Lester sit down with a group of informed fans (I'm sure the Sons of Sam Horn would happily round up a representative crew) and answer to their conduct in September. Light refreshments only.

Advice for the next Sox manager: Tell Carl Crawford he's batting No. 2, and give him the OK to get in his teammates' faces if necessary. Greg Fiume/Getty Images

2. Make every effort to sign Jacoby Ellsbury to a multiyear contract extension. He's a Scott Boras client, so it will be tough, but Ellsbury clearly has taken the next step to superstar level, the fans love him and he has the potential to be face-of-the-franchise material. And if the Sox succeed in locking him up long term, the way they did Lester, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis, call in Ellsbury and remind him that when he was younger, he was a leader on every team on which he played and he was proud of that fact. Urge him to step up and take a similar role on this team rather than retreating inward. He has the skill set to do so.

3. Squash any talk of trading Beckett, who had a terrific season until the last month. One of the stars of this October's postseason is Miguel Cabrera, who drank the Tigers out of a playoff spot a couple of years ago, then was arrested on a DUI charge en route to spring training this year. Cabrera straightened out his act and had an MVP-caliber season.

Beckett, whose transgressions register on a far lesser scale, clearly took advantage of the trust Francona placed in him, but he is not beyond redemption. Beckett is 31, a new father and a man eminently capable of reclaiming his role as a force for good among the starting pitchers. I'm betting on Beckett, although I might advise the Sox to do nightly drive-bys of the Chick-fil-A in Fort Myers, Fla., to make sure he remains on the straight and narrow.