Red Sox slump into last place and face tough decisions
The Red Sox, for all their talent, have fallen far and hard, now in last place, with little hope of even scoring a Wild Card slot, and with the remaining schedule, the teams they'll face will be tough to overcome their current position.
With the trade deadline next Tuesday, apparently Bogearts was informed he will not be traded. The dilema the Red Sox have is what to do with Martinez, Bogearts and Devers. Pitching really needs to improve, Barnes isn't getting it done out of the pen, and of course a broking finger suffered by their ace, and covid, have made things worse.
Trevor Story will slide over to SS and, I think Downs or Arroyo move to 2nd, depending on the outcome of what Bloom comes up with in terms of contracts, opt-outs, etc. They will have to up their offers to either Devers or Bogearts to keep them. It appears that Cora isn't interested in developing Minor League players, save a ton of money, and/or make a Martinez trade that gets the Red Sox some much needed pitching in return. I say clean house and get what you can while you can. The demands of their current stars will have a huge impact on the bottom line, whereas bringing up some talent might surprise and in 2023 see a different ending to a dismal 2022.
Saw an interview with Cora about the Jarren Duran play in center field...he of "inside the park Grand Slam fame". Cora soft pedalled his faux pas, as is typical of his style. I would think an aspiring centerfielder would have practiced catching deep fly balls in the twilight so as to be aware of how the light either obscures the ball momentarily, or at the very least, go hustle after the ball instead of just standing there like he was lost in space. Did he think that it would be the only occassion during his hopeful Red Sox career that he'd encounter a similar condition? Yes, he did whine about the twilight conditions, as if to make the perfect excuse for the most embarrassing event of his career, or not.
Cora needs to go, the Red Sox need a manager who can inspire players, not coddle them. If I had been the manager when Duran got the brain cramp, he'd be in Pawtucket the next day.
Comments
All good points Al.
They need to tear it down and rebuild from the floor up
Geez, I just noticed that Boston is even behind Baltimore -- and the O's are the worst/cheapest franchise in baseball. But don't fret, the O's are ready to sell the few stars they have -- happens every year they rise to be a .500 team.