3 Offseason needs the Red Sox must square up before 2022

The 2021 Boston Red Sox were a more complete team than almost anyone expected.

2021 was supposed to be a bridge year for the Sox; everyone knew they’d improve from 2020, because when you finish a mercifully-short season 24-36 in fifth place, there is nowhere to go but up. 2022 was the year people assumed they’d return to contention.

Instead, the Sox won 92 regular-season games and made it deep into the postseason, falling short of the 2021 World Series by two games. That’s vastly different than what the “experts” predicted.

The offseason additions made by Chaim Bloom and Alex Cora last winter turned the club from zeroes to heroes way ahead of schedule. Players like Kiké Hernández and Garrett Whitlock made the front office look like geniuses.

Of course, there were quite a few duds mixed in with the studs, and if the Red Sox want to get even further in the postseason, they’ll need to make some upgrades. The good news is that the postseason run shined a spotlight on what they need to do this offseason.