Is there anyone surprised this whole Bobby Valentine thing didn't work? (US Presswire)

It may come as a shock to Red Sox fans, but the season -- and world -- didn't technically end months ago; instead, Bobby Valentine's club was on life support since before the All-Star break, playing through a coma that came to an end Sunday with the plug mercifully pulled.

What went right

The Pawtucket Red Sox won the International League title. So there's that.

What went wrong

And you thought the collapse of 2011 was bad? At least they had beer. The Red Sox season has been such a disaster that it's tough to limit this. As many things as have gone wrong, injuries have been a constant. A total of 27 players had been placed on the DL for 34 stints and a total of 1,405 games missed through Thursday. It started in spring with new closer Andrew Bailey needing thumb surgery and continued throughout the season, striking young (Will Middlebrooks) and old (David Ortiz) alike. In all the Red Sox have used the most different players (55) in MLB and tying a franchise record. 

MVP: Lost in the soap opera that was the team's season may be a fine season turned in by Dustin Pedroia, who was hitting .295/.351/.461 with 15 home runs and 60 RBI after Sunday's game. By no means was it his best season, but he's been solid and steady in a Red Sox season that saw very little of either.

LVP: So many choices, but let's just go with Bobby Valentine. Yes, he's had to deal with injuries, but Valentine was never the right fit for the Red Sox. His reign was kind of like the movie Titanic, you knew how it would end, but people still wanted to see the spectacle of the ship going down. 

MLB free agents to be: DH David Ortiz, RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka, 1B James Loney, OF Cody Ross, RHP Aaron Cook, RHP Vicente Padilla, OF Scott Podsednik

Game plan heading into the offseason

The good news is the team cleared out a good chunk of payroll when they sent Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to Los Angeles. Getting rid of more than $250 million (through 2018) was an impressive feat, but it also allows Ben Cherington to recast the team as he sees fit and not feel the noose of contracts signed by his predecessor. 

Ridiculously premature prediction for 2013.

With reduced expectations (and a new manager), the Red Sox surprise some in part because they are able to stay healthy, but also because of bounce-back seasons from several key players and free-agent additions. While paying lip service during the early part of the offseason, the Red Sox spend some money in the free-agent market and fortify their team, building around Pedroia, a career year from Jacoby Ellsbury in a walk year and a Cy Young-worthy season from Jon Lester. Or somehow Bobby V. sticks around and there's even more ridiculousness than there was this season.

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