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Some Things I Think I Think: Still plenty of work for Red Sox to do as Winter Meetings get underway
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- Some Things I Think I Think: Still plenty of work for Red Sox to do as Winter Meetings get underway
∗ Craig Breslow has helped make the Red Sox relevant again.
Through his trades for Garrett Crochet and Carlos Narvaez , his pitching development program and his series of contract extensions, the chief baseball officer has built the Red Sox into a playoff contender. Brief though it was, the Red Sox made a postseason appearance last fall, their first since 2021.
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They matter and once again, fans care.
Thus, the Sox have set themselves up with a strong foundation and, with a mix of established players and highly-regarded young stars in the making, are well-positioned for the future.
Now comes the hard part.
It’s one thing to conduct a rebuild and assemble all the necessary parts, which Breslow — with the help of a handful of top prospects who arrived under his predecessor, Chaim Bloom — has done.
But as tough as it is to make a team good, it’s harder still to make a team great. That’s what’s on Breslow’s plate this winter. Eighty-nine wins were enough for a return to the playoffs, but as we saw, the Sox were not in the same class as the teams that met in the World Series. There are plenty of teams good enough to win 90 games and qualify for October; there are far fewer who can win closer to 100 games and be threats to win it all.
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Already, Breslow has further improved the rotation this offseason with the addition of Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo . That’s a start. But he still needs two bats to improve a rather punchless everyday lineup. He still needs bullpen additions, an upgrade at backup catcher and improved infield defense.
This week is an opportunity to fill those needs, either through free agency or trades. The Blue Jays have improved and, one presumes, the Yankees will, too. And that’s just within the division. There’s also Seattle and Detroit and other teams in the American League to worry about.
The first step is complete. But the Red Sox still have some work to do to become World Series threats.
∗ The prospect of the Red Sox trading for Ketel Marte intrigues me. Marte is an elite, complete player who would offer well above-average defense at second base, a position that’s been unsettled for the franchise since Dustin Pedroia retired. He has terrific pop for a middle infielder — he’s had a slugging percentage over .500 in three of the last five years and is a switch-hitter — and would give the Red Sox a power bat at a reasonable price.
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Yes, there are five guaranteed years remaining at a cost of $101 million, but the CBT number would be under $17 million annually.
Two hurdles: acquiring him would freeze out Marcelo Mayer — that’s assuming Alex Bregman returns to play third, no guarantee. Secondly, there are questions about his makeup after some issues with teammates in Arizona .
But, as I said: intriguing.
∗ The Patriots had better be spending time during their break figuring out two issues, which are sort of related: their struggles in the red zone and their short-yardage run game.
Against quality opponents in the postseason, they can’t be leaving so many points on the field. And they sure can’t be coming up empty on seven tries from inside the one-yard line, as they somehow did against the Bengals a few weeks back.
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∗ Some 57 million watched the Cowboys-Chiefs games on Thanksgiving Day, setting a record for viewership for a regular season game — more evidence that this is the NFL’s world and we’re all just living it.
You could argue, if you wish, that a lot of people had the game on as mere background noise, either before, during or after dinner. But it’s still a staggering number.
∗ The whole issue with the Olympic hockey rink is embarrassing for the NHL, which upended its regular season schedule this year to accommodate its participation in the Milan-Cortina Games. First came news that the rink may not be ready in time, and later came the revelation that the ice surface is somehow smaller than the standard 200′ x 85′ size for the league.
Shouldn’t there have been more oversight here, given the commitment and the stakes for the league?
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∗ I’m taking it as a troubling sign that Elias Lindholm, in the second year of a seven-year, $54.25 million dollar contract, did not have a single five-on-five goal through his first 19 games this season.
While defenseman Nikita Zadorov has turned things around in his second year in Boston , the same cannot be said of Lindholm. Lindholm battled back issues in his first season with the Bruins and it was hoped that a more healthy version of himself would produce. But not so far.
∗ Kudos to Jordan Walsh, who, through a lot of hard work in the G League, is emerging as a physical, defensive force for the Celtics. This should serve as an important lesson: too often, the NBA tends to skim over anyone who’s not a lottery pick.
Given coaching, time and patience, players in their early 20s can — shock! — evolve and improve.
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∗ Undefeated No. 1 Ohio State and undefeated No. 2 Indiana met in the Big Ten Championship game Saturday and the game meant absolutely nothing. Regardless of the result, the two schools will make the college football playoff and earn a first-round bye — a reminder that no matter how much tweaking the NCAA does to its playoff format, no system is perfect.
∗ A year ago — and the year before that, now that I think about it — the Patriots’ bye week was a welcome respite from a string of uninspiring performances and uninteresting games. Now, there’s an emptiness on the weekend sports docket.
And that, as much as anything, tells you how quickly things have changed in the last 12 months.
∗ I’m late to this, but Task on HBO Max is well worth your time — as is just about anything starring Mark Ruffalo.
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∗ T he Usual Suspects had its share of plot twists and sleight-of-hand storytelling. But I’m not sure I’d publicly admit that I needed to see it three times to figure out the identity of Keyser Soze — the way former Bruins coach Jim Montgomery did this past week .
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