6 Red Sox players that won't be back next season
By Eric Cole
James Paxton
James Paxton's 2023 season wasn't that dissimilar from Duvall's season with Boston. When he was on the mound, he was pretty good with a 4.50 ERA in 19 starts. However, he also missed some time due to injury (which is sadly not uncommon for him) and he faded badly in the second half of the season with a 6.98 ERA after the All-Star break after putting up a 2.73 mark in the first half of 2023.
This is another one that seemingly could go either way. Paxton wasn't expensive at all in 2023 at just $4 million and if he wanted to stay in Boston at a bargain rate, that would make a ton of sense to do. However, the best guess is that it might take a decent bit more than that to bring him back next season and with his injury history and how badly he dropped off down the stretch, the Red Sox should avoid committing too much to Paxton.