The Boston Red Sox may have finished in last place in 2015, but have already begun the process of retooling rather than rebuilding for next season
Following a miserable 2014 campaign, the Boston Red Sox entered the spring with high hopes of turning things around quickly. A number of high-priced free agent acquisitions plus the maturation of an excellent farm system was supposed to help Boston complete another worst-to-first campaign, just like it had in 2013.
Things did not go nearly according to plan. The Red Sox fell out of contention by the All-Star break and were only able to salvage a 78-84 record due to a nice run over the final two months of the season.
That led to a change in leadership, as general manager Ben Cherrington resigned in August with Dave Dombrowski now running the show as President of Baseball Operations. Given the fact that Dombrowksi built several “win-now” clubs during his tenure with the Detroit Tigers at the expense of the future, many expected the Red Sox to be active this offseason and give it another run in 2016.
Dombrowski wasted no time in making that idea a reality, trading for San Diego Padres closer Craig Kimbrel earlier this week. Boston paid far too high of a price for Kimbrel in terms of prospects, but the move filled a definite weakness and signaled that the team will again be a contender entering next season.
The Red Sox have already lost starting pitcher Rich Hill, who came out of nowhere to put up a dominating run in September. Other than that, Boston’s only free agent is reliever Craig Breslow, with a few other relievers being possible non-tender candidates.
With a huge payroll, high expectations, and a few clear needs, the Red Sox should be one of the more interesting teams to watch this offseason.
Next: Offense