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With baseball back, how do the Red Sox pick up where they left off before the 2022 season?
The Red Sox have a lot of moves to make in a short amount of time after the MLB lockout officially ended this week.
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Baseball is back, at last. And for its own sake, just in time.
So get out the bats, balls and gloves, and put away all of those soul-sucking, annoying topics that threatened to suffocate our fandom during the owners’ 99-day lockout of the players, which ended with a new labor deal Thursday.
No more talk, please, about the competitive balance tax, or “billionaires vs. millionaires,’’ or that particularly insufferable subject that goes by the name of Rob Manfred.
Actually, wait. One last thing about the commissioner and how all of this played out before we move on to some actual, so-very-welcome chatter about the Red Sox.
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One of the questions I’ve heard often since the deal was consummated is, “Why did this take so long? They could have resolved this last summer.” It’s a reasonable question, and I believe the answer is that this didn’t go the way owners expected, in part because of social media.
Owners have traditionally tried to gaslight fans during labor negotiations, even before most of us had a clue what gaslighting is. Portraying the players as greedy millionaires who ought to appreciate the blessing of playing a kids’ game for a lucrative living used to play well with the majority of fans.
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But this time around, it didn’t work, in large part because stars like Max Scherzer and less-decorated players such as Jays pitcher Ross Stripling were highly effective in communicating to their social media following about some of curious tactics ownership was employing in negotiations, like, as Stripling noted, slipping things into a proposal at the last minute that they hoped would go unnoticed. For once, the ballplayers were actually relatable to the common fan.
Manfred himself acknowledged social media’s impact in a comment to The Washington Post Thursday, saying, “Social media has completely changed the interaction between rank-and-file and union leadership. It allows for a lot more active participation.”
Anyway, that’s too much about that. We’ll worry about the competitive balance tax and such again when this crisp new labor deal is up after the 2026 season or when the Red Sox again rationalize trading a generational superstar because of it. You know, whichever comes first.
So now we exhale and get to matters of the Red Sox. First question: Where were we?
Before the lockout, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom bought a strip of $2 lottery tickets, hoping at least one will turn into a $10 winner for the pitching staff.
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The best bet for payoff might be Rich Hill – you probably know him by his full name, Milton’s Rich Hill – who turned 42 Friday but was still rather reliable in his age-41 season for the Rays and Mets, striking out 150 batters in 158.2 innings. James Paxton will be intriguing when he returns from Tommy John surgery. Michael Wacha has a 5.11 ERA in 66 games over the last three seasons, but there must be something they think they can repair there.
In the moments before the lockout was implemented, Bloom also brought back Jackie Bradley Jr. in a trade with the Brewers for Hunter Renfroe, the latter of whom joins Adrian Beltre and Nick Esasky in the One-Year Wonder club. There is no chance the Red Sox believe Bradley, who turns 32 in April and posted a batting average (.163) nine points higher than Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes (.154) last season, can be a regular at this point. I suspect that deal was more about the two prospects the Red Sox received in return: infielders Alex Binelas and David Hamilton.
The Red Sox do need outfield help. I hope they sign 27-year-old international free agent Seiya Suzuki, and I’m fully prepared to be annoyed if he signs elsewhere even though I’ve never seen him play beyond a highlight or two.
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Who else? Kyle Schwarber was productive and a lot of fun during his 41-game stint after coming over from the Nationals. But his glove is just a prop, and with the National League finally implementing the designated hitter 49 years after the American League did, his job opportunities should be expanded.
There’s supposed to be a free-agent frenzy commencing any moment now – heck, I thought it would start approximately five minutes after the CBA was ratified – but it will be a stunner if the Red Sox are in on one of the bigger names such as Freddie Freeman or Carlos Correa.
A more efficient use of time might be to try to identify the undervalued, versatile players Bloom typically covets, perhaps like the A’s jack-of-all-trades Josh Harrison. Colorado’s Trevor Story makes some sense if his market fails to develop and he’s willing to move to second base, which he should – he lost notable velocity off his throws from shortstop last season.
Should you still need something to be annoyed about now that the lockout is over, there is this: unvaccinated players won’t be allowed to play (or get paid) in Toronto this season, which could turn out to be a significant advantage for the Blue Jays against the Red Sox. Here’s hoping the assorted unvaxxed Red Sox players from a year ago found something in their “research” that convinced them to do the sensible thing for society and their ballclub and get the jabs.
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But we’ll worry about that on April 25 when the Red Sox are due to take on the Jays on their turf for the first time this season. Right now the focus is on filling out the roster, building chemistry and camaraderie during the abbreviated spring training, and being ready for that opener April 7 in the Bronx, when all will be right in the baseball world again.
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