The Red Sox Brand is Slowly Being Destroyed Right Before Our Eyes

 

Just a cursory glance at the Red Sox roster moves this offseason indicates that management is playing the long game. There is no indication that leadership thinks this club is a World Series contender or even a playoff contender, for that matter. 

The Sox' biggest splurge, so far, is the 2-year, $38.5M deal for Lucas Giolito. New outfielder Tyler O’Neill is under club control for just one season. Reliever Cooper Criswell, who was signed for the bargain basement price of $1M, is under club control for six seasons, if he can somehow manage to keep a job that long. New second baseman Vaughn Grissom, who was obtained for Chris Sale, will play for the rookie minimum and is under club control for the next six seasons. He could be a keeper and will likely amount to an upgrade over the carousel of second baseman who manned the position last year. However, he will not move the needle in 2024 and push the Red Sox into a playoff position. 

So, if the Sox are content with obtaining young players with multiple years of club control, and signing free agents to short-term deals, then why not sign righty Marcus Stroman, who just accepted a two-year, $37M deal with the Yankees? That’s less than Giolito cost. Stroman is battle-tested in the AL East and over nearly six seasons in Toronto compiled a solid 3.76 ERA across 135 appearances (129 starts). After opting out of the shortened 2020 campaign, Stroman pitched to a 3.02 ERA for the Mets, across a league-leading 33 starts during the 2021 season. Stroman spent 2022 with pitched the Cubs and posted a 3.50 ERA across 138 2/3 innings of work. Last season, he posted an incredible 2.28 ERA over 98 2/3 innings across his first 16 starts, before injuries derailed his season. 

Why wouldn't that guy be of interest to the myopic Red Sox, who are clearly waiting for their top prospects to start arriving in 2025? Stroman would have perfectly fit their timeline. That’s what makes this offseason so confusing. By the way, even after Marcello Mayer and Kyle Teel arrive, when was the last time a team consisting primarily of first- and second-year players led the Red Sox, or any other club, to a World Series title? It’s a rhetorical question. 

Shota Imanaga, who the Red Sox scouted and evaluated extensively, was one of their free agent targets since the start of the offseason. Yet, the Sox were runners up to the Cubs, who gave the Japanese star a four-year, $53M guarantee. A short-term, low-cost, incentive-laden deal is right up the Sox' alley. Did Imanaga simply pick the Cubs over the Sox? If so, it’s an embarrassment to the Red Sox organization, which used to be able to sign virtually any free-agent target they set their sights on. Though some evaluators project Imanaga as a No. 3 starter, how did the Red Sox get outbid for, or looked over by, a No. 3 starter? Missing out on Stroman, Imanaga, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (who wouldn't even give the Red Sox a courtesy visit) could have far reaching effects.

Acquiring starters Jesus Luzardo from the Marlins or Dylan Cease from the White Sox will require parting with a bounty of top prospects. Why not just spend money on free agents and keep the prospects? After all, John Henry is, you know, a billionaire, and the Red Sox have the highest ticket prices in the game. They can afford to splurge this offseason.

MLBTR predicted that Blake Snell would land a contract of $200M over seven years, and that Jordan Montgomery will get a six year, $150M deal. I’d take Montgomery over Snell in a heartbeat, and he’d at least make the Red Sox more interesting and give them a chance to win every fifth day.

Over seven seasons (three of which he barely pitched, due to injuries), the 31-year old Montgomery has gone 38-34, allowing 706 hits and fanning 705 batters over 755 innings, resulting in a 3.68 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Hey, Craig Breslow, go get that guy now! 

The Red Sox brand is slowly being destroyed right before our eyes. The organization needs to make the team interesting this season and give fans a reason to tune in and show up at the ballpark. Excluding the shortened 2020 season, attendance in 2022 and 2023 fell below 2.7 million for the first time since 2002, the first year of Henry’s ownership. After three last-place finishes in the past four years, the fans aren't interested in a 2025-2026 timeline. Baseball has been losing younger fans for years. At this rate, the Red Sox stand to lose an entire generation, which they may never get back. They’d better take this seriously and act quickly. Time is wasting.

The free agent starter pickings are increasingly slim, led by names like Hyun Jin Ryu, Michael Lorenzen and Mike Clevinger. None of them will inspire hope or interest. The Red Sox had better get Montgomery now and save whatever’s left of their flagging reputation.