5 Biggest Red Sox Offseason Priorities That Must Be Addressed

3. Fix the Defense

The Red Sox have had one of the worst defenses in baseball during the last few years, and that absolutely has to be addressed this offseason. Poor fielding has cost Boston countless games over the last couple of seasons and has made the team unwatchable from a fan perspective.

Sloppy defense has been a major issue for several years now, and the time has come to finally do something about it.

Juggling the roster would be a good start, as many players have been forced to play out of position due to Bloom’s weird roster construction. Sliding Trevor Story over to second base and signing a good-fielding shortstop would vastly improve the defense in the middle infield, while moving on from Justin Turner would free up the DH spot for Masataka Yoshida, Rafael Devers or Triston Casas.

The Red Sox already have a good lineup, so the new GM should focus on bringing in good defensive players this offseason to round out the bench. That would enable Cora to give the defense a boost when certain players are sitting/hurt and late in games as defensive replacements.

There also needs to be more emphasis on players improving their defense during the offseason and at spring training. The players and coaching staff need to be committed to improving the defense at the field level, which can only really be achieved through more drills, hard work and preparation. Players can’t do much to improve their speed or reflexes, but they can focus on improving their footwork, positioning and throwing mechanics to avoid lazy errors.