What the Hell is Happening?

As of the time I am writing this, the Red Sox had a rather eventful day. After a horrific four-game losing streak, the bats came to life in a 17-1 drubbing of the Orioles that included a nine-run ninth inning featuring a grand slam from Andruw Monasterio and home runs by Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin, the major offensive additions from the offseason. But the team didn't have time to relax as manager Alex Cora and coaches Pete Fatse, Ramon Vazquez, Kyle Hudson, Dillon Lawson and Joe Cronin (not that one). Jason Varitek was also reassigned. That's a significant amount of the coaching staff. The team has gotten off to a dreadful start with almost everyone underperforming expectations, so, quite frankly, a change was needed. I have not been pleased with the hitting in particular the last few seasons, so I was not surprised to see Fatse go. Cora was a surprise.

The problem is that the major issue is the construction of the roster in the first place, in particular the offense. I wrote a long piece last year about the trade of Rafael Devers and discussing the outfield situation. Both of those issues are still problematic.

My major issue with the trade of Devers was the unimpressive return. Boston received Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, James Tibbs III, and Jose Bello. Of those four, only Bello is still in the system and he's 20 and in A-ball, so he is still a ways away. Tibbs was traded for Dustin May last trading deadline and May left as a free agent after the season. Hicks was traded to the White Sox for minor league pitcher Gage Ziehl. Harrison was part of the package sent to Milwaukee for Durbin and Monasterio, as well as Anthony Seigler. So, that is not particularly encouraging. Maybe some of these players still have a chance to make an impact.

The other issue was the outfield situation. The Red Sox had a well-known logjam in the outfield with Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony and Masataka Yoshida, as well as Kristian Campbell in the minors. They HAD to trade someone to ease the logjam. They didn't. Now, they have a problem because someone has to sit in every game. Duran seemed like the ideal candidate for a trade and that didn't happen. The problem with this is that each of these guys should be a starter and players play best when they have a defined role. Having to sit one of these guys every game most likely has an impact on their mental readiness to play. It is likely part of the reason they are almost all struggling.

Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow is generally quite good at building the pitching side of the roster, he has brought in Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, Aroldis Chapman and helped produce a pitching development program that has had some big impact with the emergence of Connelly Early and possible future contributors Payton Tolle, Eduardo Rivera, Kyson Witherspoon, Juan Valera and others. But he does not have a clear plan for the offense. That has become painfully obvious over the last year: trading Devers and not getting anything in return, losing Alex Bregman as a free agent, and not pursuing Pete Alonso, Bo Bichette or Eugenio Suarez. Conteras is a nice addition, but Durbin is not really moving the needle at this time. And that led to Anthony being anointed the team's savior, way too much pressure for a 22-year-old coming off an injury.

The team has also struggled in developing hitters. Campbell arrived to big fanfare last season then struggled badly and hasn't been in the Majors since last summer. Marcelo Mayer has struggled to catch up to big-league pitching. Even Anthony has not been the same hitter this year. Those three were supposed to be the cornerstones of the team's offense and none of them are performing to expectations. One has to wonder what exactly is going wrong here. This is one of the reasons I am not at all surprised to see Fatse get the axe.

It will be interesting to see where the team goes from here. One thing I can say is that I do not believe the changes are done. I expect some player personnel moves. If the team doesn't right the ship, most of the veterans will be out the door. Former WooSox manager Chad Tracy will be given the reins. I appreciate everything Cora did for the Red Sox, but it seemed like he did not have it this year and it was probably time for a change.