Boston Red Sox: 3 reasons 2022 squad missed the playoffs
By Brian Foisy
Chaim Bloom made many controversial decisions that hurt the Sox this year
The third reason and likely most broad reason for the poor performance of the Red Sox this year is poor decision-making by Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom.
You could point to any number of things, but I think you can narrow it down to two major missteps by Bloom, and they both happened before the season even started. Those would be the decision not to re-sign Kyle Schwarber and the decision to trade Hunter Renfroe.
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It’s hard to know for sure what happened in the Schwarber negotiation process, but Schwarber told reporters at this year’s All-Star games that there weren’t meaningful conversations with the Red Sox on returning to Boston. The smart move would’ve been to sign Schwarber to the contract he wanted (which ended up being $19.75 million for four years) and allow him to take over for JD Martinez as the designated hitter.
The Hunter Renfroe deal, even at the time it was first reported, was a head-scratching one. Despite being a fan favorite from his time on the 2018 World Series team, Jackie Bradley Jr. had a more expensive contract than Renfroe and was a significant step down as a hitter. There is no logical reason why the Boston Red Sox needed to trade Renfroe.
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Why would Chaim Bloom, who thought little enough of JBJ not to resign him in 2020 and then DFA him after the trade deadline this season, trade for him? The obvious answer is the minor leaguers that Milwaukee sent to Boston in the deal, but trading a top player to boost your farm system shouldn’t be the mentality of a rising team coming off of an ALCS appearance.
It certainly would’ve helped Boston to retain those players, who hit a combined 75 home runs this year.