Rick Porcello

In a discussion about just how good the Boston Red Sox's starting rotation is, there are two options: Going over it with a fine-tooth comb, or just buying into it as the greatest thing since the last greatest thing since sliced bread.

Given that the genesis of this discussion only began last week, it's oh-so-easy to choose Door No. 2. 

Justin Verlander won the popular vote, which is worth about as much this week as it was last week.

There's a system for these elections, and we all have to come together and accept Rick Porcello as our 2016 American League Cy Young winner. Hey, it's not that bad.

What a difference a year makes. In 2015, Rick Porcello had one of the worst seasons of his MLB career. In 2016, the Boston Red Sox ace is the American League Cy Young Award winner.

MLB shared the news on Twitter:

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello loves to fly fish whenever work doesn’t get in the way. This year, he may reel in the American League Cy Young Award or baseball's ultimate catch—a World Series ring.

The days Rick Porcello doesn't start for the Boston Red Sox, they're barely a .500 team.

The Detroit Tigers possess no ordinary starting rotation. At least, not during their four-year postseason run that preceded this campaign. The likes of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Price and Rick Porcello have combined to make them the most dominant group in the American League.

When the Boston Red Sox traded Yoenis Cespedes for Rick Porcello last December, they signaled that they were willing to roll the dice on the hurler's big 2014 breakout.

Now they're really rolling the dice on that breakout, suddenly putting an $82.5 million wager on it.

The Boston Red Sox wasted little time locking up Rick Porcello, who would have been a free agent after this season.

The Boston Red Sox are one of baseball's most active teams this offseason.  In the last eight weeks, they added high-priced All-Stars to bolster their lineup and made several moves to strengthen their depleted starting rotation.  Boston also re-signed arms for its bullpen and recently completed a trade for a new backup catcher.

But of everything the Red Sox have done so far, which deal brought them the most bang for their buck in return?  Which transaction qualifies as the biggest steal to this point?

Shoot for Jon Lester—even if you miss, you'll land Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson.

OK, so that's not exactly how the saying goes. But it is the reality for the Boston Red Sox, who whiffed on a chance to bring back Lester at the MLB winter meetings but did manage to revamp their starting corps, which posted an unsightly 4.36 ERA in 2014.