When the Boston Red Sox essentially stood pat at the trade deadline, it certainly wasn't a popular decision with Red Sox fans. The team was right in the thick of the playoff race and just needed some pitching depth to navigate the rest of the second half. Instead, Chaim Bloom and co. did nothing and the Red Sox fell out of contention.
This wasn't a decision done because Boston was being cheap or Bloom didn't care. They genuinely thought that the arms they had coming back from injury were going to be enough to get the team where they wanted to be. However, they were very, very wrong and Kenley Jansen's recent comments show that the clubhouse was not on board with this plan of action.
Kenley Jansen absolutely hated how the trade deadline went down
During an appearance on "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast with Rod Bradford, Kenley's assessment of the front office's strategy at the deadline was damning. He talked about his frustration with how the season had gone and with his streak of playing in 10 straight postseasons coming to an end. However, the money quote was when he talked about the trade deadline and said the following:
"We do have a great team and if we would have (added) a couple of starters (at the trade deadline) we wouldn’t be talking about this right now. We would be playing in a Wild Card game right now."
Jansen went on to criticize the front office for not prioritizing pitching depth and that it was the death knell for Boston's season. To be honest, he isn't wrong for seeing 2023 as a lost opportunity and ownership has to agree as well as Bloom was fired before the season even ended.
A player being unhappy with a disappointing season is hardly newsworthy, but it is how blunt and candid Kenley, who is not a guy that looks to cause drama, was in explaining his frustration that blows the mind here. Given how public he was with airing his grievances, it is probably fair to assume that he isn't alone in Boston's clubhouse in having a deep sense of disappointment with this mess of a 2023 season.