More changes lie ahead
New skipper likely to have lineup, rotation and bullpen alterations
Boston The manager won’t be back, and there could be more changes for the Boston Red Sox after their last-place finish in the pandemic-shortened season.
J.D. Martinez is eligible to opt out of his contract, Jackie Bradley Jr. is a free agent, and the pitching rotation and bullpen were revealed by the unusual year to be in shambles. The team also needs to replace Ron Roenicke, who was told before the season finale that he’s not in their plans.
Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom will need to deal with these issues; he hopes to have a more normal offseason to do it (Last year, he landed in the middle of a cheating investigation that cost the team manager Alex Cora, and a mandate to cut salary that cost the Red Sox Mookie Betts and David Price — even before the coronavirus shut down spring training ).
Here is a look at some of the items on Bloom’s to-do list:
Manager
With Cora tainted by the Astros cheating investigation and spring training less than a month away, Bloom’s options were limited in the rushed job
search and Roenicke, already the bench coach, was the best hope for some semblance of continuity.
Now they can get that from Cora.
Nothing in the team’s comments has ever ruled out a return. When they cut ties with him, they praised him effusively but said he couldn’t be effective. When Cora was cleared of wrongdoing during his Red Sox tenure, Bloom said, “All the reasons that we parted ways with him then are still the case.”
But are they still?
Lineup
Martinez finished with a .213 average and power numbers (7 HR, 27 RBIS) that — even pro
rated over a normal season — rank among the worst of his career.
He can opt out of the contract that would pay him $19.35 million next season, but he has already conceded it’s not a good time to be a free agent, with the baseball economy depressed from an abbreviated, attendance-free season.
Bradley is eligible to become a free agent for the first time.
Rotation
By the end of the 2021 season, the Red Sox might have Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Martin Perez, Nick Pivetta and Tanner Houck.
But heading into the season, it’s all question marks.