With a couple more additions, the Boston Red Sox will soar in 2022
The Boston Red Sox were two games away from a World Series berth in 2021 and with a few more key additions this offseason, they are poised to soar in 2022. Could this be optimism? Indeed it is.
The club has only about three and a half weeks to shore everything up before Opening Day takes place at Yankee Stadium on April 7th. The lockout is over and the most critical phase of finalizing the roster is about to begin.
Why should there be a positive outlook? For one, the Red Sox are already a solid team and if they fix a few key positions, they will be good to go to start the season.
That’s a positive. There are other reasons too. Let’s take a look at why Red Sox fans should be optimistic and expect big things from the 2022 team despite the big challenges ahead.
The Boston Red Sox are poised to do big things in 2022
Here’s why optimism should prevail. First, the club has a talented personnel man at the helm in Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom. They also have a top manager in Alex Cora. He’s a player’s manager and that’s a good thing.
Third, they have a solid base of players who have proven they can play on the big stage. Opinions have been expressed on the three key positions the team needs to address before the season starts, and the thought here is that those suggestions are right on target.
Bloom has to determine who will play second base. It could be Kike Hernandez who can come in from center field to solidify that position with Xander Bogaerts at shortstop. Alternatively, he could get creative and bring back fan-favorite Jose Iglesias to play short or second. He fit the team like a glove late in 2021 and hit .356 in 23 games to boot.
In the outfield, he could go with a bat and little else and re-sign Kyle Schwarber. Or, he could go with an all-around star, Seiya Suzuki, from the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. Suzuki is the better option, though signing both would be just fine.
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Closer is a key spot on any MLB club and that spot needs to be tightened up on the Red Sox. Right now, the Red Sox have issues at that position. Former closer Matt Barnes had an inconsistent 2021 season to say the least.
If the Sox stay in-house, Barnes remains an option but another possibility would be to give a shot to Garrett Whitlock, the outstanding Rule 5 pickup from the New York Yankees (thank you very much) last season.
The other major option would be to spend some money to bring in a free agent closer from outside. Unfortunately, most of the big name relievers are already off the market, although they could conceivably make a run at former Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen if they wanted to.
The Boston Red Sox will fill all their needs and win the Division
Continuing on an optimistic note, there’s no reason to doubt that Bloom will deal with the roster needs and augment an already talented roster. In 2021, Bloom put together a patchwork roster that came within two games of securing an unexpected World Series appearance. Expect him to win the American League East Division in 2022.
Yes, there have been subtractions, most notably Hunter Renfroe, who hit 31 home runs in 2021, and Kyle Schwarber if he ends up not returning in free agency.
Yet, with his track record of doing more with less, why should anyone doubt that Bloom will remedy the offensive deficiencies before April 7th? The answer is they shouldn’t.
He’s already proven he can pull talent out of places not many people would expect him. Seemingly, that’s been the idea of the team’s ownership when it evidently slashed his budget due to luxury tax considerations. That’s not a great way for a big market team to operate in this space’s opinion. But, as they say in Foxborough, it is what it is.
Bloom has to operate within the parameters set by that ownership until either he leaves for greener pastures, they change their posture, or they sell the team. Nothing is set in stone, yet the main reason for optimism is that Bloom has a great track record when it comes to roster construction, and that’s a good place to start.
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The best possibility will be that between now and April 7th he will do well enough to set the team on a path to the World Series. It says here it can be done and wouldn’t that be grand.