The Boston Red Sox are the definition of mediocrity this season, sitting at a 75-75 record, right where they’ve hovered all year. Despite some ups and downs, they’ve consistently returned to a .500 win-loss balance.
Their disappointing season is largely self-inflicted. The Red Sox exceeded their own expectations early on, which ultimately prevented them from reaching their full potential. Prior to the season, Boston shifted its focus from the present roster to building for the future.
However, the team still managed to string together enough victories to climb 10 games above .500 by the All-Star break. After that, things unraveled quickly. The Red Sox went 22-33 in the second half, the third-worst record in the league, and fell out of Wild Card contention. Though they haven’t been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, it’s clear that the focus should now shift to the future.
Craig Breslow hints at aggressive offseason for Red Sox
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow recently shared his thoughts on the team’s season and suggested the club may take a more assertive approach in the upcoming offseason, as reported by Alex Speier of The Boston Globe.
“When you have homegrown, cost-controlled talent, it enables you to be a little bit more aggressive in looking for elite major league talent,” Breslow said.
While it’s unclear just how aggressive the Red Sox will be, especially with a wealth of promising prospects still developing, the team’s farm system is notably strong. Four of baseball’s top 25 prospects — Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell, and Kyle Teel — are all in Triple-A. Boston also has several young players already contributing at the major league level, including Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, Tanner Houck, and Justin Slaten.
“The state of the build is strong,” Breslow added. “The position players we expected to make an impact this year, or in the near future, are doing so, or have reinforced our belief in their potential. However, our system is still heavily skewed toward position players. We need to continue pushing the development of our pitching.”
When asked whether he regretted not investing more in the 2024 roster, Breslow sidestepped, saying, “It’s a fair question, but you’d have to look at the decisions in totality. If we fall short of the postseason by a few games, I’ll be questioning not just the resources we allocated for 2024 in spring, but every decision we made during the season … because the ultimate goal is to make the playoffs and compete for a World Series. Failing to do that is always disappointing, and you inevitably have to question your choices. But we make the best decisions we can with the information we have at the time. In retrospect, it’s often a different calculus.”
The Red Sox have adopted a more cautious approach in recent years, and fans may not be surprised if the offseason remains conservative. Still, Breslow is offering a sense of optimism.
“I think we should feel pretty optimistic and excited about what the future holds,” he said.
Only time will reveal how much faith the Red Sox place in their roster to contend for a World Series in the near future.
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