Boston Red Sox projections have them back in the AL East cellar
The Boston Red Sox have finished last in the American League East two of the past three years since brooming Dave Dombrowski from the front office and replacing him with Chaim Bloom. That move looked weird then and it looks even worse now.
Dombro was kicked to the curb to allow the owners to downgrade the budget (and consequently the team) by cutting payroll. So out went former American League MVP, Mookie Betts and David Price and their high-money deals in a trade to the LA Dodgers.
In came an average outfielder and two blah prospects. It was in no way a deal that can be looked upon as anything other than a complete disaster.
Then, after a Cinderella-like 2021 season in which key free agent acquisitions like Hunter Renfroe, Kiké Hernandez, and Kyle Schwarber later on by trade contributed mightily to an unexpectedly wondrous ALCS run, that team was summarily and inexplicably dismantled by Mr. Bloom.
Now the team is projected to finish last again. Let’s take a look at why that would be the case.
Boston Red Sox have blown another offseason
Instead of building upon the successful 2021 squad, Bloom again, “broke what didn’t need fixin'” and whammo, the 2022 Boston Red Sox were right back in the AL East basement again. And that’s where blogs.fangraphs.com projects they’ll wind up again.
Here’s what they said as reported by masslive.com:
"Fangraphs’ released its ZiPS Projected Standings and it has the Red Sox finishing last in the AL East with a 79-83 record (.488 winning percentage)…Fangraphs wrote, “The Red Sox haven’t been silent this winter. I think Masataka Yoshida will end up being one of the better free agent signings of the offseason, and it was nice to see the Sox reverse a disappointing trend and lock up Rafael Devers to a massive extension. Still, those moves don’t make up for the losses the Red Sox have eaten this offseason.”"
The last sentence is the operative one suggesting that the offseason has been one of subtraction rather than the huge addition it should have been.
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The Red Sox are stumbling and bumbling their way through the offseason, again. As in 2022, there seems to be no coherent plan and no real direction.
Patch here, patch there with “cost-effective” players (read: cheap) who are older or have been (or even still are!) injured and discarded by their previous teams.
The Boston Red Sox farm system was trashed recently
The heralded farm system ought to help, right? Well, maybe not. A recent ranking put the Sox 23rd out of 30 teams. That’s about two spots higher than the system was rated under Dave Dombrowski. Big deal.
He purportedly defoliated the farm to build his three AL East pennants and one World Series win. That is a convenient and blatant bit of baloney foisted upon Red Sox Nation. He didn’t. The facts are there for all to see if they look.
But, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good misinformation campaign. The Boston Red Sox dumped and scapegoated Dave Dombrowski to paper over their desire to cut expenses and in the process further line their pockets.
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Nothing wrong with making money but if you hold the keys to a cherished franchise like the Boston Red Sox, which dates back over 100 years, then you have a responsibility to the die-hard fans.
They agonize over every decision, pay big bucks to attend the games, and buy hot dogs and beer at inflated prices helping to line those pockets.
These owners, who spend lots of time in Liverpool, are now also defoliating a former great English Premier League “football” team (actually soccer in our parlance) they also own. They’ve been booed by Liverpool fans, as well as by Boston Red Sox fans. At least they’re consistent.
The Boston Red Sox need to take a good look in the mirror and decide if they want to act like and be a successful big-market team again, as they were under Dave Dombrowski, or not.
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If they don’t want to make that commitment, then the owners should just sell the team. Please. It’s the right thing to do.
Yet, if it stands in the way of capital accumulation, well, it’s unfortunately not likely going to happen. So that’s the lay of the land in Red Sox Nation right now. It is what it is and it ain’t too great.
What do you think of the offseason? We’d like to hear.