In both cases, the Yankees are still the runaway favorites.Īnd, it must be said, with good reason. FanGraphs is more optimistic, putting Boston at 50 percent for the postseason with an 87-win projection. Baseball Prospectus still has Boston finishing fourth in the division, with a record of 82-80, basically right where they were to start, with about a 20 percent chance of making the playoffs. There are reasons to think that the Sox might have tougher sledding going forward than they heretofore have had. The division race is only now getting started, and it could be the toughest one for any team in years. ![]() The Orioles are only 3 back besides, and just got a no-hitter. As of this morning, the Sox are 1.5 games ahead of the Yankees and Rays and two games ahead of the Blue Jays. ![]() Unfortunately for us, they don’t make the whole schedule out of April. After the pandemic and the Mookie Betts trade and the sorry 2020 Red Sox product, April 2021 showed, blissfully, that not all hope was lost. Under Bloom, the Sox have been weak defensively the last two years, lacked pitching depth, and often resorted to part-time players hitting in the middle of the lineup.No matter what happens from here on out, the good part is we’ll always have April. But at the end of the day you guys work together for the benefit of your business. “It’s like your business, right? You don’t agree with everything that your partners do or what they think. “I think me and him, we grew up a lot in the last few years,” manager Alex Cora said. The Sox are now arguably further away from a championship than all four of their division foes. Among the regular players, only Devers, Verdugo, Chris Sale, and a few other pitchers remain.īloom significantly improved the infrastructure of the player development system and added to the staff in baseball operations, particularly in research and development.īut the Sox steadily dropped in the AL East as the Blue Jays and Orioles climbed past them and became contenders. The Sox’ only winning season under Bloom came in 2021 when they went 92-70 and advanced to the American League Championship Series.īut that team was systematically dismantled. Martinez, and Michael Wacha joined Betts, Benintendi, Bogaerts, and other former Sox players finding success with other teams. The result was a constant churn of the roster, as Nate Eovaldi, J.D. But most of his other acquisitions were second-tier veterans signed to affordable deals, one-dimensional bench players, or young players claimed off waivers. Bradley hit poorly in 2022 and was released in August.īloom signed Rafael Devers to a long-term contract in January and in December won the bidding for Japanese standout Masataka Yoshida. The only compensation the Sox received for a franchise icon was a supplemental fourth-round draft pick.īloom made another curious move after the 2021 season, trading productive right fielder Hunter Renfroe to Milwaukee for former Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. He became a free agent and was signed to an 11-year, $280 million deal by the Padres. In 2022, the Sox made only a token effort to sign All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts to a contract extension in spring training. Of the prospects, only righthanded reliever Josh Winckowski has advanced to the majors. The return was outfielder Franchy Cordero, who has since been released, and four prospects. ![]() In 2021, the Sox traded Andrew Benintendi to Kansas City as part of a three-team deal. Downs was released in 2022.īetts helped lead the Dodgers to a World Series title in 2020 and remains one of the premier players in the game. ![]() Wong, 27, has shown promise as a good defensive catcher. Verdugo has been an above-average outfielder but was benched twice this season, once for lack of effort and a second time for tardiness. The return was Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong, and Jeter Downs. Under Bloom, the Sox traded Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers in 2020 in what was essentially a salary dump. As they dropped to 13th in MLB in payroll while still charging the game’s highest prices for tickets, the Sox bottomed out.
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