As the ball was driven off the bat of Rays outfielder Richie Palacios and into the glove of Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela, the Boston Red Sox secured a 3-1 win against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sept. 29. It signified a winning end to an otherwise mediocre season for the Red Sox.
Boston ended the 2024 season with a 1-2 series loss to division rival Tampa Bay, and an 81-81 record overall, finishing third in the American League East. The Red Sox experienced minimal improvement from last year’s team, winning only three more games.
“This is the Boston Red Sox,” said Tom Caron, from New England Sports Network, “And to go three consecutive years without a single postseason appearance is not enough.”
The Red Sox had a mediocre season despite a hot start. Boston entered the All-Star break in July with a 53-43 record, placing sixth in the American League – good for the final playoff spot. It remained in the playoff picture for a while but faded late in the season, ultimately missing the playoffs by five games.
Despite overall mediocrity, the season was characterized by a few bright spots. Outfielder Jarren Duran emerged as a star, appearing in the All-Star Game and leaving with MVP honors. He was accompanied by Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu – both rookies – who showed some upside offensively and defensively, with Abreu winning the AL’s Gold Glove Award for right field. Until his late-season shoulder injury, perennial All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers was also putting up good numbers offensively.
A huge reason for the Red Sox’s struggles can be attributed to their lackluster pitching. Ever since the departure of Chris Sale, the Sox have not had a true ace. Tanner Houck was the only Sox pitcher who put up good numbers this season, finishing with a 3.12 ERA. Additionally, Boston’s bullpen finished 24th in the league, sporting a 4.39 ERA. The team will need some pitching support to make a playoff run next season.
The Red Sox’s performance has had little to no improvement in the last few years. They’ve made the playoffs just once since their 2018 World Series Championship run. The cause of this now five-year slump is a hot topic among Boston sports fans at the moment.
“I think it’s financial,” said Scituate High School junior Mason Alvarez. “I think the owners are in it for the money and not in it for the team and the city of Boston.”
Following the Mookie Betts trade in 2019, the Red Sox ownership group – Fenway Sports Group – has gotten cheap with some decisions. The group also owns the Pittsburgh Penguins and Liverpool Football Club, which has fans speculating whether principal owner John Henry is fully invested in the Red Sox.
“I think the Fenway Sports Group is too busy investing in Liverpool than the Red Sox, and it’s making me mad,” Alvarez said.
Boston heads into the offseason with high expectations, as there are many key free agents for Henry and FSG to spend money on. Pitching should be a priority, as their team ERA during the regular season was 4.04, ranking lower than every single squad that reached the playoffs.
“If we don’t have good starting pitchers, we’re just not going to win games,” said SHS senior Tommy Guinan.
Free agents like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Blake Snell stand out, but other lower-tier guys like recent World Series Champion Jack Flaherty and Yusei Kikuchi can also boost the weak pitching staff.
The key is whether or not Henry is willing to spend big bucks. Burnes, Fried and Snell are the top dogs – the best of the bunch. If Henry is willing to take money out of his pocket and sign one or two of them, the starting rotation will immediately take a huge leap and look playoff-level.
But as mentioned earlier, the bullpen is also very important. The Red Sox finished behind only the abysmal Chicago White Sox (41-121) in blown saves with 31. If Boston managed to prevent even 10 less than that, the team would’ve ended with 91 wins, easily putting them in the playoffs. The fact that Chicago set the modern-era MLB record for most losses in a season makes it even more embarrassing.
The bottom line is that Henry needs to start spending money, or else the team will be out of contention for many years to come.
In a brighter direction, though, the young prospects within the Red Sox’s farm system have shown a lot of potential and can hopefully help return the team to the playoffs. Outfielder Roman Anthony is now ranked as the league’s third-best prospect on MLB Pipeline after his stellar season. Anthony showed he’s ready to join a major league outfield alongside Duran while providing a combination of speed, contact and power to the top of Boston’s lineup.
Infielder Kristian Campbell showed the most promise out of any Red Sox prospect this season. He jumped from outside the MLB’s Top 100 Minor League Prospects to the No. 10 spot in those rankings. As reward, he earned both the MLB Hitting Prospect of the Year and Minor League Breakout Player of the Year awards.
Campbell and Anthony were Boston’s clear-cut best prospects last year, but the Red Sox have a total of six prospects in the top 100, four in the top 25 and a whopping three in the top 10. Catcher Kyle Teel is ranked at No. 25 on MLB Pipeline and infielder Marcelo Mayer is ranked at No. 7, while outfielder Braden Montgomery – a first-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft – is currently at No. 54 and should rise next year. These prospects help provide excitement for Red Sox fans, but there is still a lack of pitching talent in the farm system, meaning the franchise needs to go all in on acquiring quality arms this offseason.
If Henry spends money and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow trades for pitchers, the Sox may very well be in a position to contend for the playoffs next season and beyond. The question is whether or not they’ll do it.