The final straw caught up to the Boston Red Sox in Wednesday night's loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, which guaranteed once and for all that no postseason baseball will be played at Fenway Park in 2024 -- marking the third consecutive playoff miss for the franchise and its fifth since last winning the World Series in 2018.
It was evident that even through the midway point of the season, in which Boston was deeply in the hunt for a wild-card spot in the American League, changes were essential. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow highlighted starting pitching, relief pitching and right-handed hitting as the three key needs on the front office's wish list and attempted to address those -- acquiring Danny Jansen, Luis García, Lucas Sims, James Paxton and also signing Rich Hill to bolster the roster's depth. That didn't pan out, now leaving Breslow to consider what avenues to entertain moving forward as yet another crucial offseason approaches the Red Sox this winter.
"We have seen the ability to be competitive in the AL East with a young group that's really exciting, really dynamic," Breslow told reporters Wednesday at Rogers Centre, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. "We've got to figure out what the right pieces are to add to that. I think it's likely some of that comes via trade, because there's only so many middle infielders and left-handed hitting outfielders we can play at any given time."
Boston collided with another brutal second half, overruled by underperforming at home, bullpen woes and inconsistent hitting production from the lineup. Opportunities presented themselves time and time again in the form of a sub-five-game deficit dangling in front of the Red Sox but the execution wasn't enough. Moving forward, right back where the front office left off to begin last offseason, it's clear more needs to be done. New faces need to be welcomed, markets need to be explored and options need to be considered to prevent a fourth straight early send-off to a disappointing winter. The Red Sox still have three games left to play at home against the Tampa Bay Rays, however, sitting in the division's pit will leave a sour taste, regardless of what happens this weekend.
Tyler O'Neill, Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin, Nick Pivetta and Danny Jansen headlined the soon-to-be free agents in the clubhouse, assuring the Red Sox will have their work cut out for them to flip the scrip on the atmosphere that's loomed for now three years in a row.
"I'm not happy but it's very quiet. It's very quiet, which is good," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Thursday night's 6-1 loss. "Like I've been saying all along, nobody outside of the walls here expected us to play all the way till now, meaningful games. Our goal was to make it to the playoffs, it didn't happen. ... At one point, we felt like we were a playoff-caliber team. We missed the opportunity. Let's put it that way. You look around. You look at the teams that are fighting. We had it right there and we blew it. We blew it."
