James Paxton returns to make his official announcement
LOS ANGELES - James Paxton returned to the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast to definitively present his future plans: He is retiring.
"I'm leaning into the Dad life," he said. "It's hard to give it up when I still feel like I can still compete. It's not like it used to be. I can't go out there and dominate like I could in, say, 2019. But I feel like I could still go out and compete and help team win. So it's hard to say, 'Yeah, I'm done,' when I feel like I can go out and still have success. At the same time, my family is ready for me to be done. My kids are ready for me to be around more. And part of me is ready for me to be done, too. It's a good time for me to call it a career and put my focus on my family and my wife. I think it will be good for me."
The 35-year-old was hopeful he would be able to pitch one more time this season with the Red Sox, stating that his injured calf muscle would be good to go if the team made the American League Championship Series. But the Sox didn't make the postseason, keeping Paxton at home in the Seattle area.
The decision, Paxton said, was pretty much cemented upon being designated for assignment by the Dodgers and then subsequently traded to Boston, where he had spent his previous two seasons.
The return to the Red Sox did, however, allow Paxton to get a feel for how close Alex Cora's team was to competing for a World Series.
"I think my view of Boston is they have a ton of talent. There are some really good positional players there," Paxton said. "You have Raffy (Devers) … He was banged up toward the end of the year so you can’t really look at his production for the last bit of the year because he was hurt and still playing. He’s fantastic. Getting Story back is huge. Them having him for a full season next year will be really big for the team because he’s a veteran presence. Everybody respects him and looks up to him. The emergence of Duran is huge for that team. Wilyer Abreu. They have some really good players.
"I think they could use another veteran presence on that team and if they want to win a World Series I could see them going out and getting one more big-time player to go out there and, OK, give the players some confidence. “We’re going for it. We’re doing it.” And the starting rotation, you have talent. You have young talent. Getting (Lucas) Giolito back, that will be a big get. I think they probably need to go out and get a horse in my opinion. I think if you want to win a World Series you have to go out there and have a 1A and 1B at the very least. I think (Tanner) Houck and Giolito are both capable of that, but you know how a baseball season goes. You never know what’s going to happen. I think they could use another guy in that rotation. And bullpens are hard. It’s year to year. You see guys who have great years, have a bad year, have a great year. So you kind of piece together a bullpen and it changes throughout a season very often."
Another unique perspective Paxton has heading into the final games of the 2024 season is in regards to one of the World Series participants, the Dodgers.
The lefty signed a one-year deal with Los Angeles last offseason, ultimately making 18 starts with the Dodgers while finishing his stint with a 4.43 ERA. It was his fourth organization, having also spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the other club in this year's World Series, the Yankees.
"It was a great culture. I really enjoyed it," said Paxton of his time with the Dodgers. "I would put it right between the Yankees and Boston. The Yankees were very professional. Very serious. Boston … I’n not saying Boston isn’t professional and serious, but there is more of a laid back feeling to it. More relaxed. Still going out there to do a job, but they were a little more loose. At least when I was with the Yankees it felt a little stiffer because of the expectation. I think with the Dodgers, it was sort of in the middle. It was professional but it was also relaxed. I think that was partly due to how many veteran guys are on the team.
"I think we were counting it up during the season and there are seven or eight guys, nine guys at one point, with 10-plus years on the team. It was a very veteran team with guys who knew how a baseball season goes. Knew what they were doing, how to get ready. And had confidence. I think we had confidence because you look around the room and knew what we had. We were just focused on one day at a time, winning that game and moving on to the next. That’s what they’re going to continue to do in the postseason and that’s what keeps you focused and allows you to go deep in the postseason."