The Red Sox dream lineup with and without Juan Soto

Once the 2024 postseason finally came to an end, Boston Red Sox fans began dreaming of the possibility of the team signing Juan Soto away from their arch-rivals, the New York Yankees. It was the kind of dream that felt too good to be true based on Boston's lack of recent spending.

Well, while the Red Sox might not be considered the clear favorites to win the Soto sweepstakes, they're squarely involved in them. The Red Sox have met with Soto and sent offers his way. The fact that they haven't officially been eliminated suggests that they do, at the very least, have a shot here.

Signing Soto would obviously impact their team and the AL East tremendously. Boston's lineup already features great players like Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers, but adding Soto makes it arguably the best in the American League.

What's best about the Red Sox being as serious as they are about Soto is that even if they miss out, they've shown that they're willing to spend - opening the door to the team making all sorts of exciting additions.

With that in mind, here's a look at what their dream lineup can look like with and without the generational 26-year-old.

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Red Sox dream lineup with Juan Soto has potential to be one of American League's best

This top three would rival that of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It probably isn't better, but it's pretty close. Duran established himself as a star this past season, and Soto and Devers are proven superstars at the dish.

The only odd thing that'd come with Soto's arrival is that he'd bring yet another left-handed bat to Beantown. Duran, Devers, and Triston Casas are all left-handed, and even some of their top prospects like Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, and Kyle Teel are as well. With that in mind, Alex Cora might consider using a guy like Trevor Story in the cleanup spot behind the top three and ahead of Casas. No, Story isn't better than Casas, but he'd add a right-handed bat.

Additionally, in this dream scenario, Kristian Campbell swings the bat so well in Spring Training to the point where he earns the starting second base job. Campbell is coming off a monster season, which saw him make the jump all the way from High-A to Triple-A. If all fails, Ceddanne Rafaela can play second base until Campbell is ready to take the reins.

Red Sox dream lineup without Juan Soto can still be dangerous if money is spent

Losing out on Soto would be unfortunate, obviously, but assuming the Red Sox reinvest at least some of the money that they were going to use on Soto had he signed on building out a deeper lineup, then the Red Sox can still field a really formidable group of position players.

If Soto chooses to land elsewhere, the top priority on Craig Breslow's list when it comes to position players should be Teoscar Hernandez. Not only did he hit a career-high 33 home runs and post a 137 OPS+ for the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, but he also has a .950 OPS and has hit 14 home runs in just 45 games at Fenway Park. Hernandez is comfortable virtually anywhere, but has played like a superstar at Fenway over his career. It'd be really fun watching him hit there 81+ times every season.

Soto choosing to sign elsewhere also creates the very realistic possibility of Boston inking a pair of star free agents. Hernandez can play left field, and Willy Adames can help Rafael Devers make a much-needed position switch to DH. Adames hasn't played third base at the big league level but he's open to that possibility, and his bat (32 HR and 112 RBI in 2024) would be a tremendous addition.

Obviously, the preference is to add Soto, but if the Red Sox build something similar to this (while also addressing pitching, of course), the postseason shouldn't be out of reach.