The 2024 Red Sox Season has come to an End

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After being eliminated from postseason contention this week, the Red Sox also faced off in their final series against a divisional foe, The Tampa Bay Rays. Besides seeing fan favorites for the last time until spring 2025, neither of these teams was playing for anything. The Red Sox lost 2-1 in the opener of their last series. They went on to lose again Saturday and won their season finale on Sunday, bringing their record to 81-81.

Coming into the season there wasn't much of an expectation for the Red Sox and understandably so. Red Sox fans have been stuck in this purgatory-like reality for a few years now. They come into the season with low expectations because of a lack of offseason additions, they start slow, catch fire, look like one of the best teams in baseball for a period of the season, have a poor trade deadline, and then fizzle out only to finish a few games above or below .500. I don't even want to harp on that, its not good for my mental or your mental. I think every Red Sox fan who has even slightly followed this team for the past six years (2021 excluded) can understand that. We (as fans) will still be here next year unless something changes this winter and the Red Sox make the key additions that can make them a top contender. Yeah, I could go on about how this offseason is going to be the test for Fenway Sports Group and Craig Breslow, but until we see something, what is the point? Instead, I'd rather talk about some of the good, bad, and ugly from their season. There's a lot to talk about for each category.

Let's start with the "Bad." I figure let's end the blog on a high note and save the good for the end, but not also jump straight into the gut-wrenching, eye-bleeding, dagger-into-my-heart category that is the "ugly" portion of this blog. So without further adieu, the "bad."

The Second Half Slump:

It's not ground-breaking news to say that the Red Sox blew it this year. This is a team that could have and probably should have made the postseason as a wild card. Not only did they have the talent for it, they had the perfect situation to capitalize on. The Royals and Twins equally blew it down the stretch and one team made it out of the three, the Royals. The Red Sox saw regression from both the bullpen and the offense. Both had major slumps and for what seemed like two months, those slumps overlapped, resulting in three straight losing months. It's unfortunate, but I do think this team can build on this. Players like Jarren Duran, Connor Wong, and Raffy Devers struggled to contribute to an already struggling lineup. We likely will get more information on Raffy and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that he was nursing his shoulder injury for the majority of the season. Duran and Wong are young. They can get better and make sure this doesn't happen again next year.

Now onto the ugly. If you told me 10 years ago that the Red Sox would revert back to anything resembling "ugly" I would have laughed in your face.

The Bullpen:

The Bullpen this year was atrocious. In fairness to the Red Sox Bullpen, it seemed like they never had everyone healthy at the same time. To start the year, the Red Sox knew it would be a long shot to see the offseason signing Liam Hendriks pitch this year, on top of that Chris Murphy had Tommy John surgery early on, Kenley Jansen saw the IL a few times, and both Chris Martin and Brennan Bernardino saw time on the IL... you get the point. The injuries certainly don't give the front office an excuse. It's a bigger black mark on the front office because when it comes down to it, you're the Red Sox, go and sign reliable arms in the offseason and trade for GOOD players at the deadline. The additions they made at the deadline were mediocre at best. The Red Sox traded for Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia. Both relievers contributed to blown saves in crucial spots, both gave up runs in clutch positions, and both were tough additions at the trade deadline.

Sims and Garcia aside, I do believe that there were guys who ran in from the pen and stepped on the mound in crucial situations that had no business being in those situations. Trotting out pitchers like Weissert and Zach Kelley only to know that things would go south before their first pitch was thrown. The Red Sox bullpen ERA ranked higher than five teams with an ERA of 4.46. Those five teams ranked lower than the Red Sox are the Rockies, the White Sox, the Blue Jays, the Pirates, and the Rangers. While there was more to the decline of the Sox season than just the bullpen, it was a major contributor.

There's going to be a lot of question marks surrounding this bullpen going into the offseason. As of this afternoon, Kenley Jansen is no longer with the team and has gone home, according to Alex Cora. I don't think I am going out on a limb by saying this, but I don't think he is going to be back next year. Chris Martin is getting older and is a free agent, and Liam Hendriks had five appearances in 2023 but no more than that since 2022. Justin Slaten will look to take on a bigger role next year and I'm perfectly fine with that, he's one of the only bright spots in the bullpen this year. The bottom line is that the Sox are going to need to make additions.

Finally, the fun part. The good of the season.

Finally, the fun part. The good of the season. This is a fun team. It really is. Jarren Duran was great for the majority of the year and Wilyier Abreu showed that he can mash the ball and play a great right field, which is hard to come by in Fenway. David Hamilton provided athleticism on the basepaths and only became more dependable at second base as the season progressed. I don't even know what to say about Ceddanne Rafaela. What a talent. He can be used all over the field, playing centerfield, shortstop, and second base this year. As a rookie, he drove in 75 RBIs and always seemed to come up big in clutch moments. Once he minimizes chasing pitches out of the zone, he's going to be a cornerstone of this lineup for a long time. The offense showed stretches of being lethal—all without Triston Casas. Casas will be a big addition if he stays healthy. And I would be remiss if I didn't shout out to Rob Refsynder, who had a great year this year both offensively and defensively. Tanner Houck had a strong season as well. Houck went over his career high in innings and will be ready for a full year as a starter again in 2025. I already mentioned Slaten, but I don't think this bullpen is completely unsalvagable. There are a few arms that can provide the performance the Red Sox need. I'll be excited to see relievers like Luis Guerrero, Zach Penrod, and Cooper Criswell, all had tough moments but also looked great in other moments. It feels like these guys have something they can build on.

Another "good" on the season was extending Alex Cora through the 2027 season. Cora is a phenomenal manager and when given a good roster, he has shown people what he can do. Alex Cora has received high praise from just about everyone who talks about him, except for that random Twitter bot in your mentions. The Red Sox would have been foolish to let a manager with his intelligence walk.

It will be interesting to see what happens this offseason. For about a month now, Triston Casas' name has been linked to all kinds of trade scenarios under the sun. I would rather not trade Casas. He's a budding superstar, but at the same time, I'm not saying I'm fully against it, but it has to be a massive return in my opinion because Casas isn't returning an Ace alone, so you're likely giving up more than just Casas. On top of that, ask around and you'll hear that somehow, Masataka Yoshida doesn't have a place on this roster. It's hard to come by a consistent bat like his. Yes, he doesn't have a ton of power, but we've made fun of the Yankees for that forever. It's homerun or strikeout for a majority of their roster, not named Juan Soto.

Everybody knows what the Red Sox need. A high-end starting pitcher, some more versatility with right-handed bats, and some high-leverage bullpen arms. The Red Sox have already talked about bringing Tyler O'Neil back, and I'm very much good with not doing that. O'neil is boom or bust. For being a two-time gold glover, I was unimpressed by his defense and he couldn't seem to figure out how to play balls off of the Monster. I would rather keep Yoshida personally. Realistically, they need to add through free agency. Look at the Royals this year. If they spend the money, they will be a contender for years to come, with a ceiling of having an Astros-like run. I understand that's a lot to ask. The Astros are the best team in the past decade by a large margin. Unfortunately, I don't know if that's coming. Not even before this year's season ended, Craig Breslow seems to already be tampering with expectations of what's to come. The Boston Globe's, Alex Speire shared this on NESN Friday.



React how you want, I don't love that. I'm not going to dwell on it. This season isn't even over yet and I want to be happy. I would say, for now, enjoy the Pats and Bruins this winter, but the Pats already make me sad too. So it's up to you, Bruins. Treat me right and don't let me down.

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