Troubling Times Ahead for the Red Sox

Two weeks left until spring training and the Red Sox still have a lot of unanswered questions.

Waiting on MLB for a Punishment

First of all, they are awaiting their punishment from MLB for stealing signs during the 2018 season. While they were proactive in firing Alex Cora, who had a major role in the Astros’ scandal, they are still going to be faced with punishment for what occurred during his time as manager. In case you didn’t hear, the Red Sox were using the video replay room to decode opposing teams’ signs, and then relaying the information to players.

If the Red Sox punishment is anything like the Astros punishment, they can expect a loss in draft picks as one of the components. While this may not seem like a big deal, it is in fact a major loss for any organization, but especially for the Red Sox.

Struggling Farm System

Losing draft picks will be such a major loss because the Red Sox have one of the worst farm systems in baseball. This is due in part to their spend now strategy, which led to them signing multiple free agents and trading for big names. It has kept them competitive in the past. However, it’s not a sustainable solution for an organization looking to have long term success. It’s also much more expensive to operate this way instead of relying on your organization’s farm system and trades that have the potential to have longer term success.

In my opinion, the need to rebuild the farm system is why, in part, they hired Chaim Bloom as their new GM. Bloom comes from the Rays, an organization who depends on their farm system to keep them competitive, and has little budget to work with year to year. He is highly regarded in baseball and, in time, will be able to successfully strengthen the Red Sox organization.

That being said, it will be significantly harder to do so without draft picks (not to mention pressure from Boston fans/media to field a winning team right away), which is one of the reasons cited for the Red Sox putting Mookie Betts on the trade block. If they can’t draft, they will have to trade for high level prospects.

Missing a Manager

Spring training is less than 2 weeks away and the Red Sox still don’t have a field manager. Some people being considered for the role are:

• Ron Roenicke (Red Sox Bench Coach)
• Carlos Febles (Red Sox Third-Base Coach)
• Luis Ureueta (Diamondbacks Bench Coach)

Roenicke and Febles both interviewed today, according to wcvb.com and have worked for the Red Sox since 2017, chosen by Alex Cora. According to ESPN Deportes, Luis Ureta is scheduled to interview for the role as well. Mark Kotsay interviewed for the role last week according to the San Francisco Chronicle, but is no longer in the running.

Whoever they hire will have to get on board quick. GMs and MLB analysts are already headed to spring training to prepare. The players and organization also thought very highly of Alex Cora, he will be tough to replace. Hiring from within might be a good way to go since that person will know the organization and players already, especially since it is getting late.

We are waiting on a lot to happen in the Red Sox organization, and it’s probably all going to happen in the next couple of weeks. Do you think all this anticipation will have a big impact on the Red Sox this season? Let me know what you think!