Grading the Boston Red Sox offseason moves so far
The 2023 Boston Red Sox baseball offseason is well underway and with the New Year, it might make sense to look at the offseason and grade it to date. Most top free agents are off the board and trades are the most available means of upgrading the club now.
Chaim Bloom, Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer signed the team’s best player, Rafael Devers to a megabucks extension. It was his best action of the offseason thus far. But a lot more needs to be done. And that move really only impacts beyond 2023.
He has indicated that trades are certainly on the table for the Red Sox at this point. Hopefully, they are. To date, this club has not added an infusion of talent enough to help it rise like a phoenix from the ashes of last place in the American League East.
Bloom has made some free-agency deals. Let’s grade them in the major areas of relief pitching, starting pitching, infield, and outfield hitting.
Bloom’s greatest efforts have come in the area of relief pitching so let’s take a look at that first.
The Boston Red Sox bullpen offseason grades
The Red Sox added three arms to their bullpen seeking to shore up a group that was ineffective in 2022. The top two are closer Kenley Jansen and set-up man, Chris Martin. Both are older arms, always a worry. But Jansen notched 41 saves in 2022 with the Atlanta Braves.
Jansen worked 65 games going 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA and 85 strikeouts to go with the saves. He’ll be 36 in September. That’s not young but he’s quality and can’t help but be an improvement.
Martin is 37 and comes over from the Dodgers. He had a solid season with the Cubs and the Dodgers going 4-1, with a 3.03 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 54 innings.
Martin was especially effective with the Dodgers for whom he logged a 1.46 ERA in 26 appearances. Again, he should improve a bullpen that was full of holes in 2022.
Another reliever added is Joely Rodriguez from the Mets. His 2022 was decidedly below average with a 4.47 ERA, a record of 2-4, and 57 strikeouts in 50 innings.
The Sox may also return Matt Barnes, Tanner Houk, and Ryan Brazier. For adding Jansen and Martin who should be upgrades over anyone else in the pen, the Sox get a B for their offseason on the bullpen. Overall the group should be better but that’s not saying very much.
Boston Red Sox starting pitching addition grade
Boston Red Sox haven’t done much with their starting rotation this offseason. They lost excellent when healthy Nathan Eovaldi to Texas in free agency. Problem was, Eovaldi seemed to find the disabled list often.
He only made 12 starts in 2022 before going on the shelf. Nevertheless, he’s a loss. To help in bolstering a lackluster rotation full of question marks, the team added one bonafide starter to date in Corey Kluber.
Keeping with the trend, however, Kluber is older at 36 years old and toiled for the Tampa Bay Rays so he’ll at least be well-familiar with the AL East. Last season he logged a 10-10 record with a 4.34 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 164 innings pitched.
Fangraphs.com had this to point out perhaps Kluber’s best attribute,
"Kluber also happens to be elite in one facet of the game that sticks out among Boston’s acquisitions this winter. After Red Sox pitching finished 21st in walk rate last season, they appear to be intent on winning the walk battle in 2023. Kluber has allowed fewer than two walks per nine over his whole career; his career-best 1.15 BB/9 rate led all qualifiers last year (among pitchers with 50-plus innings, the leader was Martin at 0.80)."
He doesn’t walk anyone and that’s always a good thing. Red Sox Nation is waiting for Mr. Bloom to make a trade to bolster the rotation that at present would include, Chris Sale, Garrett Whitlock, Brayan Bello, Kluber, and maybe James Paxton.
There are a lot of arms with lots of wear and tear in that group but Kluber should be fairly reliable. With these factors in mind, the offseason grade at this point for the starting rotation has to be a C.
Boston Red Sox infield offseason
In the offseason thus far, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the infield. First, the Red Sox Lost All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts to free agency and the San Diego Padres. No big surprise there. Bogaerts should have been traded prior but that’s another story.
They have done nothing to this moment to replace Bogaerts. Now, with the news that Trevor Story has had arm surgery, the Sox situation in the middle infield is perilous. Kike Hernandez could move to second base adding a huge hole in the outfield, but they’d still need a shortstop.
Want your voice heard? Join the Chowder And Champions team!
Justin Turner comes in from the Dodgers and adds a decent bat but at age 38 it’s not certain what he’ll add to a new team in a new league. Turner will probably take Martinez’s place as DH.
So the biggest questions, who’ll play shortstop and second base will have to be resolved if the Red Sox are to have an opportunity to return to their 2021 form. A cost-effective and solid signing would be two-time former Red Sox and free agent, Jose Iglesias.
Iglesias can field and he hit well in his cameo appearance in 2021 with the Sox. He’s a cost-effective and perfect fit to sign to play shortstop for a couple of years until Marcello Mayer is ready to step in.
The infield grade is a C- (and incomplete) at the moment.
Boston Red Sox outfield offseason
The Red Sox did add one very interesting outfielder in Masataka Yoshida from the Japanese Professional Baseball League. Yoshida is a contact hitter who hits for a high average. He’s won batting titles in Japan in two of the previous three years and finished second the other.
If you’re going to roll the dice, Yoshida is the type of player who is worth the risk. The move is liked here, but there have been misgivings expressed among some baseball observers, especially at the $100M plus cost.
Bleacherreport.com notes,
"The Boston Red Sox raised some eyebrows on Wednesday when they signed outfielder Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million contract, and many are still confused by the deal. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel spoke to “10 sources” who all “thought the Red Sox overpaid by a hefty margin.” One executive went as far as to say, “We thought he was worth less than half of what they paid.”"
That’s not exactly a glowing endorsement but if a team is a big-market team like Boston, this is exactly the type of move they should make as part of its offseason acquisitions.
apnews.com commented on the Red Sox clear intention to sign Yoshida,
"Although the Red Sox have signed other Japanese players — including closer Koji Uehara, who helped them win it all in 2013 — Yoshida is Boston’s highest-profile addition from Japan since Matsuzaka arrived in 2007 after a bidding war that resulted in the team paying more than $100 million in posting fees and salary. The Red Sox never let this one get to that, making an offer on the first day teams were allowed to talk to Yoshida’s agent, Scott Boras, and convincing him to cancel scheduled Zooms with other teams."
The Sox still need a big outfield power bat and the way to get one would be through a trade. Let’s see if they take the plunge. A deal to add some real power to a lineup that’s lost a good deal with the departures of Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez is essential.
With all this in mind, the offseason grade to date in improving the outfield has to be only a C, since Yoshida is an unknown commodity. Add a big outfield bat and that grade could rise exponentially. We’ll see.
How do you think the Red Sox offseason grades thus far?