The Red Sox made many large moves this offseason, as this is a transition period for them. The biggest move of the offseason was firing Chaim Bloom who was the Chief Baseball Officer for the Red Sox since 2019. He is infamous for trading away the Red Sox biggest star, Mookie Betts in 2020.
Bloom also let fan favorite, Xander Bogaerts sign with the San Diego Padres last offseason. He let the core of the 2018 World Series Champion Red Sox team dissolve over the past few years. To be fair he did extend third baseman Rafael Devers to an eleven-year deal, but overall his tenure with the Red Sox is looked upon negatively.
The Red Sox did not make the playoffs under Bloom and they finished last place two out of the four seasons that Bloom was leading the charge. Red Sox fans can rejoice that Bloom’s tenure has come to an end. The Red Sox have hired former MLB pitcher, Craig Breslow as Bloom’s replacement.
Breslow will serve as the Red Sox’ Chief Baseball Officer. Boston has also added Theo Epstein as a senior advisor. Epstein was the President of Baseball Operations of the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs. Epstein is known as an industry veteran who has a sharp baseball mind.
There is a lot of promise in the front office changes for Boston. Breslow has made some creative moves in his first offseason with the Red Sox and I am excited to see what he does next. The largest deal that Breslow made this offseason was trading away star pitcher Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves. Sale was integral to the 2018 World Series victory, but has suffered from a myriad of injuries since.
Although Red Sox fans might shutter at the fact that Boston traded away their star pitcher, I like this move. As I mentioned, Sale is injury prone and him getting older will not help with his health. Sale is 34 and pitchers usually regress around the age 35. Sale was not giving the Red Sox the production they wanted from an ace the last few years and I can see why Boston felt like he would not give them that production the next few years.
What really sells this deal for me is the player Boston got in return, Vaughn Grissom. Grissom is a 23-year-old infielder that has six years of control. I really like this move because it made the Red Sox team younger. Grissom should round out Boston’s infield with Triston Casas, Trevor Story, and Rafael Devers. Acquiring Grissom solidified a strong Red Sox infield for years to come. Boston traded away Alex Verdugo to the rival New York Yankees and got a few pitching prospects in return.
The pitchers were Richard Fitts, Greg Weissert, and Nicholas Judice. Fitts and Weissert are innings eaters with high strikeout rates. Judice has been injured after being drafted, but shows promise with a 3.74 ERA at a young age. Verdugo had one more year on his contract, so the Sox sent him away for more controllable players. To replace Verdugo the Red Sox traded for Tyler O’Neill in exchange for pitchers Nick Robertson and Victor Santos.
The two pitchers are nobodies, and I am a big fan of Tyler O’Neill. I think he can be a breakout star for the Sox because he has a lot of upside. O’Neill has won two gold gloves in the past and has hit 34 home runs in a previous season. He has fallen off since then, but the Red Sox are buying low on him. If Boston can fix O’Neill’s problems, he can become a very valuable player to them.
Finally, the Red Sox big free agent signing was starting pitcher, Lucas Giolito. He is signed for two years and is earning $38.5 million dollars. This is a good move because Giolito is a consistent starting pitcher. He has the potential to pitch a lot of innings for the Red Sox and that is extremely valuable in today’s game. Giolito may not have ace potential like Sale, but Giolito is much younger and less likely to get hurt.
The Red Sox have made some low key, but high ceiling moves. They are all low risk and high reward situations. Although they may not be the most interesting trades or signings, they can still have a large impact on the team. The Red Sox are a decent team that could sneak into a wild card spot.
The only thing stopping them is the fact that they are in a very competitive division. The Orioles have a wealth of young talent that act as a strong core to their team. The Yankees have spent big bucks to keep Aaron Judge and trade for Juan Soto. The Blue Jays have a decent young team with Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. The Rays always find a way to win by playing small ball.
The Red Sox are fighting an uphill battle, but you never know what can happen. That is the fun part about baseball. The Red Sox have the potential to be a playoff team that can be playing exciting baseball in October. Spring training has started, but to find out if the Red Sox make the postseason, you can start watching the opening day of the regular season on April 9, 2024 vs the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park at 2:10pm.