We're a month removed from the annual Winter Meetings in Nashville, and once again the Boston Red Sox have not done enough to make substantial changes to their big-league roster.
Fans are more than willing to be patient with the team's new leadership, but it's hard to deny we're getting very similar vibes to what the approach was under Chaim Bloom's tenure ... and in the worst way.
The Red Sox have only spent $20 million this offseason on Lucas Giolito and Cooper Criswell. The issue with the money being spent is that neither is an impact addition that helps this team for the long haul. For chairman Tom Werner to say the Red Sox are going "full throttle" this offseason, only to have this be the early return, is a massive under-delivery.
Red Sox Fans Might Need to Brace for More of the Same
It's not like the Red Sox were not even in the conversation for this year's top free agents. The closest was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who needed to be the priority from the very beginning. Yet, every major source for baseball news had the Red Sox on the outside looking in for much of the sweepstakes. At this point, we are dealing with Chaim Bloom 2.0.
The difference between the two of them is that Bloom made additions by this time last year. During the 2022 Winter Meetings, the Sox added Masataka Yoshida and Kenley Jansen.
There are teams in the market which have been far more competitive. Now that Yamamoto has signed with the Dodgers, those that were in the running, namely the Yankees and Mets, will likely turn around and send their money toward the top arms in the pitching market, and the Red Sox will continue to get bullied out of players who can change the outlook of the roster.
The AL East is only getting better as the days roll on, and the other four teams are superior to Boston on paper as it is. With the Yankees acquiring Juan Soto, the Rays and Orioles becoming consistent powerhouses, and the Blue Jays willing to spend freely, the Red Sox space in the picture is very cramped.
With the approach Breslow and Co. are taking right now, the Red Sox are staring down the barrel of yet another last-place finish. And fans should begin to brace themselves for just that in 2024.