The Boston Red Sox flopped big time in 2022 on the way to a last place finish in the American League East Division. Big mistakes were made and they paid dearly for them.
Among the gaffes were not re-signing slugger Kyle Schwarber, trading away productive outfielder Hunter Renfroe, and signing sore-armed pitcher James Paxton. These were big were time errors.
All this led to a miserable time for Red Sox Nation and its Chief Baseball Officer, Chaim Bloom. One might say the bloom is off the rose (bad pun) for the Red Sox general management team.
One way to rebound from the morass of two of the past three years’ last-place finishes is to be bold. One bold stroke would be to try to trade for Los Angeles Angels superstar hitter and pitcher, Shohei Ohtani, who may or may not be available. The other would be to just go out and sign Aaron Judge to a mega free-agent deal.
Trading for Ohtani would be a tremendous step for the floundering Red Sox franchise. It would make a statement that the team is ready to regain its place among baseball’s elite.
There are solid reasons for the team’s absentee ownership and baseball operations team to take the plunge.
Why and how the Boston Red Sox trading for Shohei Ohtani makes sense
The top reason for trading for former American League MVP Ohtani is as plain as the nose on one’s face. He’s just a terrific player. At 28 years old, he’s in his prime with significant-good years left likely both as a pitcher and a hitter.
When his pitching days are over, he’ll still be a fabulous hitting addition as an outfielder or designated hitter on a Red Sox lineup that gets thinner by the day.
One option for Boston is to swap a super-player for a superstar. That super player is Rafael Devers. Efforts to sign Devers to an extension have languished.
"The Red Sox are said to have offered Devers a bit more than the $212 million deal Austin Riley signed with the Braves, but he is seeking significantly more than that. He has the most extra-base hits in baseball over the past four years, is second in total bases to Freddie Freeman by two, is also second in RBIs in the American League to Jose Abreu, and third in home runs in the AL to Aaron Judge and Marcus Semien. Also of significance: Devers, who is seeking $300 million-plus, is only a year away from free agency."
Devers is a bonafide All-Star and not just chopped liver to throw into the deal. The move to make is either to sign him soon to an extension or trade him this offseason, as in now and not at the trade deadline.
He’s a top major-league baseball player and any team would be happy to have him. It certainly would salve the pain for the Angels to get a great player back. And of course, more would likely have to be added to the deal in the way of top prospects.
That’s where additional pain would have to be endured by Boston. But to get the best you have to pay up. If healthy, Ohtani has no question marks as any prospect does. Just go ahead and make the deal and add two top prospects like Marcelo Meyer, Triston Casas, or other top five prospects if you have to.
Boston Red Sox gains in securing Ohtani
The pain for Boston in trading Devers and top prospects obviously would be severe. But here’s why it still makes sense.
First, Ohtani instantly becomes your number-one starting pitcher. With Chris Sale a question mark and the likely free-agent departure of Nathan Eovaldi, the starting pitching needs to be bolstered big-time.
Ohtani hurled to a 15-9 record and an impressive 2.33 ERA last season. He instantly becomes the Sox ace. Added to Garrett Whitlock who will likely start, and you have two great arms at the top of the rotation. Ohtani is a major upgrade to Boston’s starting rotation.
Then additionally, in a classic ” … two birds with one stone” move, the Red Sox adds one of baseball’s most feared sluggers to a lineup that is eroding faster than sand on Crane Beach in a hurricane.
At the plate, the slugger hit .273 with 34 home runs and 95 RBIs. After imprudently allowing Schwarber to walk, adding Ohtani helps fill in the gaping power hole in the lineup, a problem that will likely be exacerbated by the impending likely losses of Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and then Devers in this deal.
The Boston Red Sox would pay a heavy price to land Ohtani in trade. But the framework is there to get a deal done. Chaim Bloom is on thin ice. Another last-place finish and even the absentee Red Sox ownership would have to take note (the revenue implications you know).
It’s time to be bold and Mr. Bloom is the guy who has to make the dramatic moves to reverse the current fortunes of the once-mighty Sox. One thing is clear here, if you are going to fail then you might as well do so by going for all the marbles.
This offseason, that entails the Red Sox going all-in on two players to start, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. If you want to dance you have to pay the piper and that’s exactly what the Boston Red Sox should do.