Opening Day is closing in and one of the slowest offseasons in recent memory is coming to a conclusion. Finally, offseason performances can be evaluated in full.
Bleacher Report published a list of every team's biggest offseason regret this week. Most clubs can point to one singular event, like signing a player, missing out on a player, or not filling out one specific area of the roster.
Tim Kelly's offseason assessment for the Boston Red Sox is more broad, but also thoroughly accurate. He believes the Red Sox will regret "not spending like the Red Sox."
Boston has been spending small-market money the past few seasons and the front office's business decisions are almost indefensible, especially in the wake of the promises it made to fans. Not even MLB insiders and experts can make sense of the Red Sox's recent choices.
Kelly goes on to say that there's next to no way that signing Lucas Giolito alone would have solved the Red Sox's starting pitching issues. Boston would've needed another top-of-the-rotation arm to really be competitive in MLB's "deepest division." Now, without Giolito and with all but one top-tier free agent signed, the Red Sox look more desperate than ever before.
The Red Sox's biggest regret of 2024 will be not trying this offseason
Will internal criticism from Rafael Devers and others lead John Henry to take action? And what's really motivating Alex Cora this season?@jtomase empties his Red Sox notebook 📝https://t.co/qNdNHmESEv
— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) February 21, 2024
Had they coughed up the money for Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell months ago, they wouldn't be in the position they're in, and maybe the fourth year of their rebuild could be the last. But with just one true starter in the rotation and a lack of experience to advise the pitchers they already have, the Red Sox will be stuck in the basement once again.
At least Kelly placed the blame for Boston's woes in the right place — he called out ownership for its lack of spending. Since the Red Sox drastically cut payroll after 2018's historic run, the team has struggled mightily. No matter how many times ownership attests that spending money on good players doesn't automatically equate to winning games, it certainly helps. At this point, the commitment to a low payroll borders on delusion.
The third-most valuable team in MLB posting the 12th-lowest payroll all the while trying to convince fans that ownership is putting its best foot forward is not only embarrassing -- it's out of character for the Red Sox and for an ownership group that brought four World Series to Boston in under 20 years.
If the Red Sox's 2024 season goes as poorly as experts and fans expect it to, Red Sox Nation will know why.