Corey Kluber has a new deal with the Boston Red Sox, and it’s the sort of thing that won’t inspire a lot of joy for a fanbase tired of missteps all offseason.
To say it’s been a brutal offseason for the Boston Red Sox is to offer a tremendous amount of kindness to a front office that fans don’t feel like being that generous toward.
Two players who appeared to be pillars of the franchise’s future were butchered this winter. Xander Bogaerts was allowed to walk to the San Diego Padres without so much as a serious competing offer, and the Sox nickel-and-dimed Rafael Devers into an arbitration deal. If things hold as they are, fans in Boston are likely going to go through what they went through this winter with Bogaerts with Devers in 2023.
Simply put, it’s unclear what the Red Sox are doing and if anyone in charge has any idea either.
Aside from locking in two franchise superstars, there were other free agents to be had this winter who could have helped the Red Sox become instant contenders next season. All options were passed on, though, and replaced with head-scratching lateral moves or steps backward.
The latest came on Wednesday when Boston agreed to a deal with Cy Young-winning pitcher Corey Kluber. The move seems to be made in reaction to starter Nathan Eovaldi bolting down to Texas and agreeing to a deal with the Rangers.
If that makes you cock an eyebrow, imagine what Red Sox fans are feeling.
This is a complete knee-jerk look at the potential Red Sox rotation in 2023, but it also highlights how dire things have been:
- Chris Sale
- Nick Pivetta
- Garrett Whitlock
- Tanner Houck
- Corey Kluber
The odd-man out might be Brayan Bello, but it’s up in the air what Boston’s final rotation might look like. That’s sort of beyond the point, though, as the signing of Kluber raises a very existential question for Red Sox fans — does it actually mean anything?
More to the point, does it do anything to help ease the pain of how awful this offseason has been for Boston? The Red Sox essentially let Rich Hill walk to sign a less durable version of Rich Hill — which is…a bold strategy.
Boston is also reportedly trying to trade Chris Sale, which would open up a spot atop the starting rotation but also seems to be another stab at an addition-by-subtraction strategy that is, once again, bold to say the least.
Does the McHenry family owe money to The Mob? Did they splurge on Christmas presents and run out of money for the rest of the operation? It’s mind-boggling that a franchise as massive as the Boston Red Sox is trying to pinch pennies rather than compete for a World Series.
Maybe there’s a plan and bigger moves are yet to come. But the 2022-23 free agent pool appears to have dried up and what remains is far less than what the expectations fans in Boston had for the team’s future. Kluber is a fine pitcher, but he’s also very clearly a bridge option, which means the Red Sox are signaling rather blatantly that they’re in a holding pattern for 2023 and won’t resume seriousness until 2024 at the earliest.