The Boston Red Sox have been underachieving since Opening Day and continued to do so with zero activity at the trade deadline and fans aren’t happy.
The trade deadline has come and gone and it feels like every other team got stronger while the Red Sox sat by and watched. Boston was one of the few teams that didn’t make any moves before the bell rang yesterday. The other big teams that remained quiet were the Yankees and Dodgers.
The difference between them and the Sox are they have significant leads in their divisional races while Boston is fighting for every win. Los Angeles has a 15 game lead on the Giants while New York sits 7.5 games ahead of Tampa Bay. Boston is currently 10 games back in the AL East and 2.5 in the Wild Card standings. Their silence was beyond deafening yesterday and I have no idea what this club is doing right now.
We knew when last season ended that Craig Kimbrel was going to test free agency and he made it very clear what his monetary demands would be. Almost instantly, the Red Sox got out of the Kimbrel business.
But then nothing else happened during the winter to fill the gap in the lineup that Kimbrel’s absence created. This was one of the richest free-agent classes as far as the pitching was concerned and not a single one of those arms wound up in a Boston uniform.
We all heard rumors about the Red Sox having eyes on guys like Edwin Diaz and Ken Giles for the bullpen. We heard rumors of Boston sending scouts to see the Giants’ relievers and possibly starter Madison Bumgarner. Then 4 pm hit on July 31st and nothing happened, not a single thing.
I’m aware that those players all had some high price tags and Giles has had some elbow issues as of late, but you’re telling me that Dave Dombrowski couldn’t create some sort of package that was a win-win?
I in no way want to give away a top prospect like Bobby Dalbec or stars like Andrew Benintendi and Michael Chavis for a rent-a-player. Now if Boston got someone in return that would be locked up for a few years, then that may be a sacrifice Dombrowski had to make.
The trade deadline was the last-ditch opportunity for the Red Sox to add any outside players to bolster this lineup. Now it’s all up to those that are within the organization to dig themselves out of this hole on their own. Boston’s ownership has put $240M into this roster and has little to show for it. At some point, the players need to be held accountable for the mess that is the 2019 season.
The problem with that is we have heard from damn near Opening Day that this team needs to play better. We’ve heard it from Dombrowski. We’ve heard it from Alex Cora. Hell, we’ve heard it from Chris Sale after every start. At what point does it become just background noise? Sadly, I think we’re getting close to that dangerous territory.
"“I think if we were closer to first place, I would have been more open-minded to some of the other things,” Dombrowski said. “Yeah, I think so. Not that we’re not trying to get our club better. The club here needs to play better on a consistent basis.”More from Red Sox NewsRed Sox Nation deserves far more from Fenway Sports GroupBizarre trade deadline comes back to haunt Red Sox after Nathan Eovaldi departureRed Sox’ Moneyball-style offseason continues with Corey Kluber contractRich Hill’s Red Sox departure puts him within striking distance of unique MLB recordRed Sox offseason takes another nasty hit with Nathan Eovaldi departure"
I appreciate Dombrowski wanting to win the division but the Wild Card is just as valuable. They just need to get their foot in the door and the Wild Card does that. Remember 2004? The Wild Card was pretty helpful that year. Boston may not have much of a shot at catching New York but a piece or two sure could make that Wild Card much easier to attain.
The bottom line is this season has been beyond frustrating for Red Sox Nation and I can bet even more so for those within the organization. We have the highest payroll in the MLB and some of the best young talents in Mookie Betts, Rafael Devers, and Xander Bogaerts but can’t seem to string together a true stretch of success.
What’s even more frustrating with the lack of movement in 2019 is that something could’ve been done at any point until yesterday afternoon. This bullpen/closer issue wasn’t something that happened overnight. We knew about it going into this season and have seen it deteriorate as the year has progressed. A deal didn’t need to get done yesterday, it could’ve and should’ve been done long before the deadline.
The trade deadline offered an extra glimmer of hope for a spark and with the lack of activity that hope took a hit. Red Sox Nation will never give up on this team but some nights it can be hard to support poor management decisions. With such glaring holes in the lineup and no actions to fill them, those nights may be more frequent.