4 offseason moves that hurt the Red Sox most heading into 2024
The Boston Red Sox didn't have the offseason many expected they would. After the dreaded words "full throttle" were spoken by team chairman Tom Werner, the baseball world expected the Red Sox to do anything and everything to make the team better.
Needless to say, that didn't happen.
Reporters, fans and players have been perplexed by Boston's choices this offseason. And when examined along with the rest of the American League East, the most competitive division in baseball by a long shot, the moves and the acquisitions they didn't make are even more confounding.
Other teams pulled the trigger on decisions the Red Sox easily could've made themselves. The ownership group has plenty of money and could've spent as they pleased (yes, even on Shohei Ohtani's $700 million contract, if they really wanted to). They also have a farm system flush with quality talent for the first time in years but refused to make any compelling trades.
There have been a lot of mistakes made in Boston's front office this offseason, but there are a few that really set the Sox back from the rest of the competition. The Red Sox are not a first-place team in the AL East no matter what, but these moves didn't help the already-grim matters.
4 offseason moves that hurt Red Sox the most heading into 2024
Dodgers signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto
It needs to be said that Yoshinobu Yamamoto was probably going to be a Dodger no matter what. But signing him truly seems like it was the Red Sox's only plan this offseason.
This is where Werner's "full throttle" promise comes in — what he meant to say was, "The Red Sox will go all-in for Yamamoto and no one else." Werner believed Boston was in the mix for Yamamoto's signature. But after many of the team's offers to other players were released over the course of the offseason, it became clear that the Red Sox were lowballing almost everyone they took an interest in.
There were rumors that Boston offered Yamamoto more than $300 million, but they were later refuted. The front office never revealed its offer to the young phenom, which leads fans to the conclusion they made an uncompetitive one, like so many others this winter.
Yamamoto is a highly-touted asset and he shouldn't have been Boston's only plan. After making the statements Werner made, it's shocking that the organization wasn't good and ready with a backup plan after predictably missing out on the star pitcher.