New Year’s State of the Red Sox: What The F*** is Going On?

BOSTON, MA- As Red Sox nation says goodbye to the year 2023, we reflect on a year that left us with confusion and uncertainty that rivals the feeling we felt as Red Sox fans in 2011 and 2012. While we may not lack the talent that the 2012 team did, we still see a lack of conviction from the front office that has been worrying us fans for the last couple years. 2023 brought us exciting pieces to build upon, team vets shipped out, and a hell of a lot of question marks surrounding the Boston Red Sox. Let’s take a look at 2024 for the Sox.

Chaim Bloom was tasked with building a roster around the superstars/future superstars of the team. I personally don’t think he did a terrible job in this past offseason. Yoshida, Turner, Jansen, and Martin turned out to be some of the most impactful players on the team. Bloom made some good small moves, but his ultimate downfall was the lack of commitment to making the big move. The Sox ended up finishing 78-84 in last place in the AL East, 11 games out of a playoff spot. This kind of stuff in Boston eventually leads to turnover in the front office as it did once again in October when Chaim was relieved of his duties. Craig Breslow was promptly brought in and as a die hard Red Sox fan that spent his short baseball career as a crafty lefty, I’ve always been a big Breslow fan. Yale guy, knows what it takes to win in the city, he might just be what the Sox have been looking for. Nobody knows quite yet because of the short stint we’ve seen thus far, but at least we know the guy has a pair and isn’t afraid to make the shocking move.

Craig started the player movement this offseason by trading away Chaim Bloom’s only trade deadline acquisition, IF Luis Urias, to the Mariners for RHP Isaiah Campbell. Campbell put up a 2.83 ERA in 28.2 innings for the Mariners in his debut season. He also brings an 80 grade glasses-mustache combo that the Sox haven’t seen since the likes of Joe Kelly. Solid pickup to bring in with sidearmer Cooper Criswell. Jacked Canadian outfielder Tyler O’Neill joined the club shortly after and while I absolutely love the potential on that pickup, we’re still waiting on the “full throttle” that Tom Werner teased us with at the beginning of the offseason. The market then dies down as we patiently wait to miss out on Ohtani, Yamamoto, Nola, and just about every other big name free agent.

Fast-forward a few weeks, Ohtani and Yamamoto are off the board to LA and the offseason officially begins. The Red Sox start by giving Lucas Giolito 2 years and close to $40mil total for a potential bounce back year. I loved the signing when I first saw it only to see he has an opt out after the first year which turns this contract into a lose-lose situation. If Giolito becomes what he was from 2019-2021, then he will 100% opt out to get even more money next winter (no chance John Henry ponies up $100mil for him). If he continues his struggles or, god forbid, gets even worse, then we’re on the books for the full 2 years of yet another disappointing pitcher in Boston. The contract just makes you scratch your head but the Red Sox had to meet his needs to fill the holes in the rotation.

Speaking of holes in the rotation, every Red Sox fan read the Passan bomb a few days ago of the Red Sox shipping Christopher Allen Sale to the Atlanta Braves for INF Vaughn Grissom. First off, love the Grissom pickup. The guy had no room on the powerhouse Braves this past year but he is going to be the second baseman of the future for us. Potential 20 HR/20 SB guy still with 6 years of control before free agency and we saw in 2022 the absolute BDE he dropped on us with his first career homer over the monster and sick bat flip. Along with the OPS above .900 last year in the minors, we have a lot to be excited about. On the Sale side of things, when I saw the name “Chris Sale” in a Jeff Passan tweet, my heart immediately sank. I’ll never forget sitting in my high school parking lot before practice and seeing the notification that we acquired him from the White Sox. Just pure joy and endless celebratory expletives. Unfortunately, it isn’t 2017 anymore and this ultimately was the best move for Boston and for Sale himself. The Sox have more salary flexibility and a much needed second baseman, and Sale is back on a guaranteed contender with much less pressure to always be healthy and be “the guy”.

Here’s where my ranting begins. Before us Sox fans can even get excited about the prospect of these deals, we get stepped on once again by ownership. Multiple reports coming out about the Red Sox operating within a budget and refuse to go over the luxury tax when we are still around $40mil under. Not just some he said/she said BS. Ken Rosenthal, Jeff Passan, Sean McAdam, Chris Cotillo, all reporting the same hearings of the lack of aggressiveness. Absolutely embarrassing. You are the BOSTON RED SOX. John Henry is worth over 4 BILLION DOLLARS. We aren’t the Oakland A’s, we aren’t the Tampa Bay Rays. If you don’t want to commit a billion dollars to sign Ohtani or Yamamoto, whatever I can somewhat get that. But if you’re having to trade Chris Sale, or shop Yoshida and Kenley just to feel more comfortable about giving Teoscar Hernandez $20mil a year? Absolutely sickening stuff from the Fenway Sports Group, especially after all this bullcrap “full throttle” thing. This team has almost fully lost my trust. I’ll still watch 150 games this year, but dammit will it be a whole lot easier to turn it off when the deficit gets to 10 runs in the frequency that I’m anticipating if John Henry doesn’t get his head out of his ass. We’ve been listed as finalists for Blake Snell, Teoscar Hernandez, and Shota Imanaga. So here’s to hoping we can even get the slightest bit of “throttle” out of this ownership.

I’ll end on a positive note for sanity’s sake. Breslow is known as a good mind for pitching development and he sent longtime Red Sox coach Dave Bush packing to bring in former Red Sox pitcher and 2009 AL ROTY Andrew Bailey as the pitching coach. Bailey received lots of praise and credit for the development of some of the pitchers in his time in San Francisco. As a former pitcher I speak from experience to say the right pitching coach can make a HUGE impact on an individual pitcher and a staff as a whole. I think some work with guys like Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, and Giolito could be a hugely underrated addition to the team.

The great thing about baseball is, you never know until you know. Us Red Sox fans watched loaded rosters in 2008 and 2011 disappoint and a bunch of misfits and goofballs in 2013 win the whole damn thing. While we’re feeling skeptical about the team thus far in 2024, I think we’re just ready for some Red Sox baseball again.

Caleb Williams is a former D1 Pitcher, self professed baseball nerd and an obnoxious Boston sports fan and can be found on Chaotically Intolerant