Boston Should NOT Follow Baltimore’s Plan

The Red Sox must supplement this young core with veteran leaders.

It officially is a new era for the Boston Red Sox. In quite the most shocking move of the season, Craig Breslow and the front office traded star DH Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants. He was the last remaining piece from the team that captured the World Series in 2018. What’s even more shocking, is that Devers was in year two of a ten year extension.

We have all seen the reports and have been dissecting this situation for days and to be honest this will be a talking point for years to come. Heck, some fans still have yet to get past the Mookie Betts trade and that was five years ago. This will sting and sting for a while, but it officially closes one chapter in this illustrious franchise’s history and opens up a new one.

The Dawn of a New Era in Boston

It is a new era as Devers is no longer the face of the franchise. The faces of the franchise now belong to the Big Three, which consists of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell. They have been paraded around and thrown in our faces for the last few years and now the reality is that they all take at bats for the Red Sox at the major league level, at least they did prior to the Campbell demotion. It went from, “We don’t want to add any pressure to these guys” to “They are the team now.” Is it a bad direction to go? I don’t think so because we knew this day was coming at some point. Although, you did envision that they would be complimentary pieces to a group instead of headlining the roster. But this is the vision that Craig Breslow and the front office have. They’ve turned over a new leaf and the keys to Fenway Park belong to them. During his press conference, Breslow shed light on the matter, which put further emphasis on this.

“I think when you consider the flexibility, the ability to give some of the young players some run, the opportunity to maybe repackage some of the resources and fill some voids in the roster as early as approaching this year's Deadline, and being really intentional about the environment that we create for these young players to thrive in, then I do think that there is a real chance that at the end of the season, when we're looking back, we’ll have won more games than we otherwise would have.”

Now, when you look at the Red Sox roster, you have FOUR rookies (Anthony, Mayer, Campbell, and Narvaez) and two second year players (Rafaela, Abreu). There is nothing wrong with being younger and allowing this to be your core group. But one thing this team should not do is become the Baltimore Orioles.

Do Not Become the Orioles

Remember when all you heard out of Baltimore is, “the kids are coming?” Well, those kids have been on the big league roster. Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, and Jordan Westburg, and Jackson Holliday resemble what that roster and core look like. 2022 was when Rutschman and Henderson came onto the scene and the Orioles finished in fourth place. In 2023, they took the necessary steps forward and won 101 games and won the division, but lost in the ALDS to the eventual champion Texas Rangers. Last season was a solid 91 win season, but yet another loss in the wild card round to the Royals.

Instead of continuing their run in the AL East, they’ve hit rock bottom and sit dead last in the AL East. They struggle with pitching, the offense is not the same top tier offense we are used to, and the fact of the matter is that they are still young. Rutschman is having a tough go this season and many are wondering where the star catcher’s production has gone.

Rutschman was a machine in 2023, hitting .277 and a career best .809 OPS. However, over the last two seasons, Rutschman has barely been a league average bat, with his wRC+ sitting at 104 last year and 103 this season.

Gunnar Henderson was playing at an MVP level last season and was truly one of the best players in all of baseball. It is quite puzzling why they haven’t locked up their star shortstop yet, but that’s a convo for a different day. He had a slow start as he missed the start of the season with an oblique injury. He is finally turning this around hitting .281 with a .784 OPS. The power is down this season and his wRC+ has taken a hit.

Jackson Holliday struggled mightily last season, got demoted and came back up and was an entirely different player. He’s been quite good this season, but again, these guys are 23 and below and it’s a lot of eggs to put in the basket.

The Red Sox are relying on a lot of rookies right now. Granted, they’ve delivered, but they are rookies. Kristian Campbell (been here since Opening Day), was just optioned to Triple A, much like Holliday was. The guy was hitting .301 at the end of April, but since then is hitting .159 since May 1 and has been the worst defender at second base. Roman Anthony has displayed his blend of power at the plate. He finally hit his first home run, but only has a couple of hits since being called up despite hitting the ball extremely hard. Marcelo Mayer gives competitive at bats, playing flawless defense manning the hot corner, and has a beautiful swing.

But after trading Devers, the recipe is the same for the Red Sox as is it the Orioles. They are relying on the youth. And if you were to ask any Orioles fan how that’s going, they’ll probably tell you that it isn’t so great.

So for the Red Sox, what do you do? How can do avoid being the Orioles? It’s very simple. Spend.

Flex Your Pockets

I do feel for Orioles fans because they were told that things would be different under this new ownership group. Instead, they traded for Corbin Burnes, but failed to pay him. Then, they managed to supplement the pitching staff with an aging Charlie Morton and an injury riddled Tyler O’Neill for the field. The goal for them should’ve been to build around their prized youth with veteran leaders and instead they haven’t. And it’s cost them on the field.

The Red Sox managed to trade one of their veterans, making that pool shallower than it already is. They’ve identified that they want to give those guys a chance to compete and to develop. But at the end of the day, you need to spend money and allocate the financial resources you just gained from the Giants eating all of the money on the Devers deal. So where should it go?

For me personally, it isn’t Kyle Tucker. Now, I like Kyle Tucker and he has been one of the best players in the game of baseball since he emerged on the scene in 2018. But his next contract is going to be massive, and easily starts in the $400 million range. John Henry isn’t going to do that and the Red Sox already have a logjam in the outfield. One answer is already on their roster.

The first thing that the Red Sox can do is keep Alex Bregman in Boston. The Boston third baseman stated that he is open to talking about an extension during the season. Keeping a veteran like Bergman around this young group would be a significant move for the future of this organization.

The second thing is pitching. Garrett Crochet is a bonafide ace and a workhorse. The war pig has been elite and could very well win the CY Young this year. But behind him is nothing but number 3 starters or worse. They need a truly elite number two to put behind him and give this rotation a higher quality at the front of the rotation. Here are some options I have in mind that the front office should look to put the resources to good use.

Michael King: Padres

Maybe you have listened to the Slab Lab, where current Athletics Broadcaster Dallas Braden has gone on to sit down and talk about Michael King’s arsenal. King, notably enjoys playing at Fenway Park and would very much entice playing in Boston.

It has been a rejuvenation playing in San Diego. He saw his heaviest workload come last season (173 IP) and he delivered. He finished with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. His ERA this season is 2.59 and the WHIP is 1.02. He has missed time with injuries, but there’s so much to love about his game.

He’s a strikeout machine and notably has had a K% above 27% the last three seasons. The walks are notably down this season, but overall King has cemented himself as a legitimate starter in this league. He is 30 years old, so we shall see what that looks like for him financially or if he leaves San Diego in general.

Dylan Cease: Padres

Another Padre. Like King, Cease was at the center of trade rumors and there’s no telling what happens with him getting paid by the Padres this winter. But hey, another former White Sox pitcher can come on down to Boston.

After a really rough 2023 season with the White Sox, Cease had a phenomenal 2024 with the Padres. His ERA went down to 3.47 and he managed to lower his walk rate while keeping his strikeout rate where we typically see it (10.6 K/9).

Cease currently has one of the highest strikeout rates of his career right now (30.3%) and even though the ERA sits at 4.69, the FIP is 2.94. Cease is a legitimate pitcher and would benefit behind Crochet and so would the Red Sox. He is 29 years old, so very much in the same ballpark as King.

Zac Gallen: Diamondbacks

This one might be the most intriguing to me. The Diamondbacks have a lot of decisions to make, especially with Burnes having Tommy John Surgery. Gallen has been an ace of that rotation for years and if he was brought into being a number two behind Crochet, that’s dynamite.

From 2022-24, Gallen has had an ERA no higher than 3.65. His best season was in 2022 with a 2.54. Notably, his K% has dropped each of the last four seasons:

26.9%: 2022

26%: 2023

25.1%: 2024

21.7%: 2025

That is a slight cause of concern, but Gallen is still a very good pitcher and has really good stuff. This season he has had his struggles, but this is a guy very capable of being a true number two and an anchor in the rotation.

At the end of the day, the Red Sox need to operate like a big market team. You now have the financial resources and can spend money. Do not be the Orioles. Do not just rely on the youth with nothing around them. Spend the money to build around a young core and put a serious product on the baseball field.