Fear the worst: If the Redsocks sign James Shield, 2015 could be a two-headed championship year in Boston

It shouldn't have happened, but it did.

Seattle should have won the Super Bowl, but they didn't.

Boston shouldn't be sitting on a potential two-ring year, but they are.

Can you imagine Boston fans next October, if the Redsocks are in the World Series?  The smirks. The way they chase you across the street. Talking up Big Papi.  Let's hope for an asteroid.

And let's face it: The 2015 Yankees aren't their primary impediment. This year's Yankees look like baseball's version of last season's miserable Jersey Giants. They have Tom "Coach for Life" Coughlin, and we have Brian "GM for Life" Cashman. Both organizations have gotten used to the luxury of ruling a NYC market with no credible alternative - (Thank you, Mets, thank you, Jets.) Thus, even after repeated failures, the two franchises get hailed for their "stability" by the local Gammonites. Question of the day: Do the Patriots and Redsocks get such a free pass in Boston?

Last week, the Yankiverse celebrated the arrival of two Yankee youngsters - in a couple cases, three - making the various preseason Top 100 Prospect lists, baseball's version of the Mel Kiper mock draft, which is usually wrong. In football, where crony socialism reins, everybody picks from the same talent pool. In baseball, teams grow their own. The Yankees haven't produced an all-star position player since Robbie Cano, and even if we have a few size-14 necks down in Tampa, none has made it past Double A Trenton - where the Yankee tide generally turns red.

Meanwhile, on practically every prospect list, Boston landed two or three youngsters before the Yankees recorded their first name. Also, the Redsocks signed a potential star outfielder from Cuba, and then they signed Hanley Ramirez and the Kung Fu Panda, and they still have a crapload of money lying around from not signing Jon Lester.

So James Shield is still out there, the last meaningful free agent, and we've got to start wondering who is still in the bidding? If Boston signs Shield, they will be instantly become the team to beat in the AL East - if not the entire league.

They simply retooled their lineup and dedicated a season to rebuilding. Hey, is that something the Yankees cannot understand?

The Yankees spent the last two years trotting out farewell tours for great players, and trading kids for salary dumps, scrounging to chase the final Wild Card slot... and failing. Look out, everybody, the Redsocks have rebuilt themselves. It's time to start fearing the worst.