The 2022 MLB season has come to an end for the Boston Red Sox as they will have to watch the Postseason from home this year following a disappointing 78-84 season.
After finishing last in the AL East for the fifth time since 2012, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom will find no shortage of issues to attend to this offseason.
With the Boston Red Sox Franchise have three glaring weaknesses Chaim Bloom needs to address this offseason.
In the first half of the season, the Red Sox were battling for playoff contention. After a slow start, they climbed up the divisional ladder posting a respectable 43-33 record heading into July.
As the season moved forward the Boston Red Sox moved backwards, going 35-51 since the start of July while Boston tumbled back down to the bottom of the AL east.
While there were lingering injuries that contributed to this collapse, it would be unreasonable to not place at least some blame on Chaim Bloom for the overall construction of this roster.
Heading into this year, there were already multiple questions clouding the organization. Some of those questions were left unanswered which resulted in the down year, and there are three points of emphasis that Bloom can address to avoid making the same mistakes.
The top priority this offseason for Chaim Bloom and the Boston Red Sox is taking care of their two big stars.
An issue that loomed over the clubhouse all year and was heavily covered almost to the point of distraction was the expiring contract of franchise cornerstone Xander Bogaerts.
2022, individually, was an impressive year for Bogaerts as he posted the third best batting average in the AL hitting at a .307 clip. On top of that, he quieted a lot of complaints about his defensive capabilities as a shortstop while also being the main leader in the clubhouse.
Bogaerts, who just recently turned 30, has proven he has plenty of gas left in the tank and given what he has done for this organization since 2013, it would be a critical mistake for the Red Sox to leave him out of their future plans.
Another Boston superstar is due for an extension with Rafael Devers about to enter his final year of arbitration with the Red Sox. After being selected to his second consecutive All-Star team in 2022 at the age of 25, keeping Devers long term is a no-brainer.
While he is still locked in for one more year in Boston, extending him and securing a franchise player for the future should be equally as urgent of an issue as re-signing Bogaerts.
The Boston Red Sox will be left with holes in the lineup that will require attention
Assuming that the Boston Red Sox finally get the Bogaerts deal done, the infield should be a strength entering the 2023 season between him, Devers, Trevor Story, and the up-and-coming Triston Casas.
Beyond that the rest of the lineup is mostly wide open and Bloom should be looking for defense and power (two areas the 2022 Red Sox struggled with) to fill in the gaps.
With Alex Verdugo returning and looking to build on a strong second-half in 2022, he should be able to hold down one of the corner outfield positions.
Also returning is Kiké Hernández, who’s one-year extension signed early this season came unexpected amongst Sox Nation. While Hernández is certainly proficient defensively as a center fielder, his efficiency at the plate took a severe dip in 2022 which should lead Bloom to look for platoon options there.
In-season acquisition Tommy Pham, who turned out to be a decent pickup, will likely hit the open market and in turn open up the corner outfield spot opposite of Verdugo.
Longtime Fenway hero J.D. Martinez is also expected to depart this offseason, which will leave a void at designated hitter that he has filled for years in Boston.
If they want to compete in 2023 The Red Sox will have to address their losses more so than last year when they seemingly had no plan to replace the likes of Kyle Schwarber, Hunter Renfroe, etc.
Bloom should call for reinforcements in the in the Boston Red Sox starting rotation.
In 2022 the Red Sox had a dreadful ERA of 4.53 which ranked second worst in the American League. Between a battered rotation and a bullpen that many didn’t trust even before the season began, it was no surprise that Boston struggled navigating the league’s better lineups and closing out games.
The Red Sox are moving into the offseason likely with two starting jobs up for grabs assuming Chris Sale, Brayan Bello, and Garret Whitlock are all in the rotation come opening day.
Two 2022 starters have expiring contracts this offseason in Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Wacha, who turned out to be a solid contributor for this team posting a 3.32 ERA in his one-year stint with the club.
Ideally, Bloom could bring back Wacha for an affordable price, and then look to spend on a higher tier arm such as Chris Bassitt or Carlos Rodon.
A couple acquisitions coupled with the return of Sale and emergence of Bello could make for a rotation that would be hard to exploit even for the best lineups in baseball.
Boston Red Sox bullpen could also use some revamping
The bullpen is also in desperate need of help as Boston had the sixth most blown saves in the MLB. The Red Sox this year found themselves time and time again either short on arms or in a situation where they had nobody trustworthy to finish a game off.
While this was a concern heading into 2022, Bloom did little to address it with low-cost signings like Matt Strahm and Jake Diekman that never panned out.
Hopefully, Bloom will look to avoid similar struggles and pay up for a closer and potentially another reliever in addition. However, the Red Sox shouldn’t look to spend top dollar on a closer like Edwin Diaz. It would be wiser to go a tier below and spread the costs amongst multiple arms that are more reliable than the options Alex Cora had in 2022.
2022 was huge disappointment and will be viewed as a failure for Chaim Bloom. With that being said, this roster is not far off from being a legitimate contender and if the front office can aid these weaknesses, the Red Sox will be right back on top.