The Boston Red Sox were one of the most disappointing teams in MLB through the first month-plus of the 2022 season.
The apparent step back after winning 92 games a year ago is not a novel concept to the Red Sox, who have seen similar highs and lows in recent seasons.
But the Red Sox aren't in rebuilding mode -- they're built to win now, with a veteran-heavy roster and a considerable payroll.
And according to Jay Jaffe of Fangraphs, in a recent piece titled "The Red Sox Are Once Again Disappointing," the sluggish start has the Sox looking like "the worst team money can buy," with history not on their side if they want to get things turned around.
This current team is tied with the 1996 edition for the third-worst record to this point. While some of the above squads were able to scramble back above .500, none of them made the playoffs; the slow start cost the 1972 team a spot in the strike-shortened season. No team that has started 10-19 since the playoffs last expanded in 2012 has even claimed a Wild Card spot, though an 11-18 Pirates team did in ’14, and five other 11-18 teams did so from 1995-2011, when each league only awarded one Wild Card spot.
While that precedent seems pretty grim, Fangraphs' playoff odds estimator still gave the Red Sox about a 20% chance of reaching the postseason. And of course, the newly expanded playoff format gives them a better chance of rallying than in previous years.
The culprits, according to Jaffe, has been underperformance by the offense and bullpen. Top offseason acquisition Trevor Story has struggled so far, as have several players who contributed meaningfully in 2021, including Enrique Hernandez, Alex Verdugo, and Bobby Dalbec.
Meanwhile the fate of star shortstop Xander Bogaerts remains a looming issue, with a midseason trade looking increasingly possible. This week, Fox Sports MLB insider Jon Morosi floated the St. Louis Cardinals as a potential landing spot in the event of a Bogaerts sweepstakes. The three-time All-Star can opt out of his contract at season's end.
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