The Boston Red Sox's ugly 2024 offseason has been in the back of many fans' minds after the club overperformed to begin the season.
But the Red Sox have slumped since the beginning of the second half of the campaign, and the recent losses have fans wondering what could've been.
Boston fans haven't been shy to let the front office know how they feel about its recent financial decisions. Red Sox Nation was promised expensive, high-quality additions by one front office executive, but received nothing of the sort before the season began in March. Executives around MLB recently shared their thoughts on some high-profile free agent signings from this past offseason, and Boston didn't receive much praise.
The Red Sox's acquisition of Lucas Giolito was named one of the more "problematic" moves of the offseason. They signed the veteran righty to a one-year deal with a player option after the first season, but he's never pitched a game in a Red Sox uniform.
MLB executives don't have many compliments for Red Sox 2023-24 free agency performance
Giolito experienced elbow discomfort during spring training and underwent season-ending surgery before he ever pitched in a regular season game. Fans questioned Boston's decision to sign Giolito from the jump — he's posted a 4.89 ERA in his two most recent seasons and Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell were still on the market at the time of his signing. The Sox dodged a financial bullet on those two hurlers, but Giolito wasn't a better choice in terms of his play, or lack thereof.
Erick Fedde, Jack Flaherty and Seth Lugo were all available in the weeks before Giolito's signing. If Boston got its free agency off the ground sooner, the rotation could look completely different now. So could its batting order.
Which free-agent signings are proving to be the best of 2024? Execs reassess offseason's biggest free-agent deals https://t.co/EPqWvPKxZ7
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) August 15, 2024
Executives praised the Padres for their signing of Jurickson Profar and the Dodgers for their pickup of Teoscar Hernández, who was a huge miss for the Red Sox. Both are left fielders, but Boston opted for Tyler O'Neill's bat instead, which has been better than expected, but not to the same level as Profar or Hernández.
Profar signed for just $1 million and has posted a .290/.388/.469 slash line and .857 OPS with San Diego. Hernández signed for quite a bit more, and the Sox were lambasted for their offer to the outfielder. He's hitting .263/.328/.486 with 26 homers in LA.
The Red Sox missed out on many quality candidates but didn't fall for any overpriced ones, either. Montgomery would have been disastrous for Boston's rotation and Cody Bellinger hasn't panned out for the Cubs.