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Boston is a great baseball town, one of the very best. The Red Sox traditionally have had a huge and passionate fan base. Yet even here there are troubles.
It used to be that at this time of year spaces like this were filled with baseball talk. There were know-it-alls who would analyze, predict, and just plain guess how things would play out as the regular season went into its stretch drive. Not this year, though -- at least, not in these parts.
This year, the Red Sox are dead. And have been since the All-Star break. This year, the question is not, "Where do the Sox stand vis-À-vis the Yankees or the Houston Astros?" The question is "Are they still in the same league?" They are certainly not playing like they are. Granted, the Red Sox have been victimized by injuries and all kinds of bad breaks this year; but many -- some would say too many -- of their mistakes have been self-inflicted. Take, for example, the centerfield position. At the end of 2020, Jackie Bradley, Jr., a defensive wizard, but one who was subjected to prolonged hitting slumps, became eligible for free agency. The Red Sox decided to let him walk. He signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, for whom he played his usual sterling defense but completely tanked at the plate, batting only .163. To replace him, they acquired Hunter Renfroe, who, playing right field for them in 2021, hit .259 with 31 home runs and 94 RBI, and was a Gold Glove nominee.
Then, in 2022, they traded Renfroe to the Brewers in return for Bradley, who was being paid considerably more than he had been. They put Bradley, a proven success as a center fielder, in right field. In June, they brought Jarren Duran up from Worcester and made him the center fielder, where he has struggled. He has trouble tracking fly balls, either in the sun or at twilight; he hasn't always thrown to the right base; and his overall defensive rating (Bradley's strength) is poor. Still, the Red Sox stood by him. Then, the team released Bradley, who quickly caught on with their division rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Red Sox continue to pay the bulk of his salary. To recap: the Red Sox let Bradley, Jr. go as a free agent, then traded a player with better statistics than he has to get him back at a greatly increased salary, then they stuck him in right field while center was handed to a player with vastly inferior skills; then they released him to play for a division rival while continuing to pay most of his salary. Am I wrong, or did they make what the tennis people call "unforced errors?"
Meanwhile, Christian Vazquez, the Red Sox regular catcher since 2017, was traded at the deadline for a couple of middle-of-the-road prospects. In his place, they acquired Reese McGuire, a career back-up catcher. Vazquez, popular and respected in the clubhouse, was the best friend on the team of Xander Bogaerts, who was visibly upset by the trade. The Red Sox are supposedly trying to keep Bogaerts, who has the right to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this off-season, happy. That seemed a strange way to do it. The team now has two back-up catchers, McGuire and Kevin Plawecki, and no proven first-stringer, on the roster.
On the plus side of the ledger, they acquired Eric Hosmer, a career .277 hitter with moderately good power and four Gold Gloves to his credit, to play first base, a clear up-grade from Franchy Cordero and Bobby Dalbec. Hosmer literally fell into their lap. He was originally part of the mega-deal that sent Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the San Diego Padres from the Washington Nationals, but when Hosmer exercised his right not to go to Washington, the Padres, in order to get him off their books, practically gave him to the Red Sox, salary and all.
Will it be enough to offset the negative reaction to the handling of the Bradley, Jr. and Vazquez situations? That's to be determined.
And what of next year? Will Bogaerts become a free agent or will he choose to remain in Boston? Will the Red Sox be able to extend Rafael Devers's contract or will he become a free agent at the end of next year? It might be that, as bad as this year has been, next year could be even worse. Make no mistake, there has been a dramatic fall-off in interest in the team this year. People are less angry than they are bored by the Red Sox, and that is a very disturbing trend. You don't hear casual conversations about them these days. There is a difference between now and the early 60s, the last time that interest was so low.
There are many more things to attract the attention of fans now. For one thing, the Patriots were just a minor league operation back then; now their training camp attracts even more attention than the results of Red Sox games do. Just look at any sports page in New England to find evidence of that.
It's time to sound the alarm. Baseball is in trouble, and the Red Sox are in trouble. It's beginning to show. If it can happen here, in one of America's great baseball towns, it can happen anywhere. The Red Sox not only owe it to their fans to keep interest at a high level, but also they owe it to themselves.
- Dick Flavin is a New York Times bestselling author; the Boston Red Sox "Poet Laureate" and The Pilot's recently minted Sports' columnist.