(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
The Boston Red Sox made a few questionable decisions over the 2021-22 offseason.
After making a surprise run at the American League Championship Series last season, the Boston Red Sox entered the offseason with some decisions to make.
In a bit of a surprise, the Red Sox signed free agent Trevor Story to a six-year/$140M contract. Story, the longtime starting shortstop for the Colorado Rockies, was tabbed to play second base for Boston this season.
While Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom has done a nice job getting the Red Sox back to the postseason, and building a roster that can compete against the best in the AL East, there were several questionable decisions made this offseason. What decisions might Bloom wish he could have back?
1. The Red Sox wasted money on average starting pitchers.
This was a bit of a head-scratcher. Yes, the Boston Red Sox added Michael Wacha, James Paxton, and Rich Hill this offseason. But each of those signings is incredibly flawed.
Let’s start with Wacha who signed a one-year/$7M contract with the Red Sox. While the 30-year-old has been solid to this point in the season, the right-hander hasn’t eclipsed 127 innings pitched since 2018 and posted a 5.39 over his last two seasons combined.
Paxton signed a one-year/$10M deal with Boston prior to the lockout. There’s just one problem, he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery and is out until later this summer. As for Hill, the dude is a gamer, but he’s 42 years old.
There were a lot of other pitchers the Red Sox could have thrown that type of money at this offseason. Collectively, Boston spent $22M on those three starters. Carlos Rodón, Steven Matz, Alex Cobb, Michael Lorenzen, and Andrew Heaney would all have been better options.