Brady's Spin: Boston Red Sox Ownership Shoulders Blame For Missed Chances in 2024

The Boston Red Sox deserve to be commended for what's gone on this season, but the run is over, and ownership shoulders the blame.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Tanner Houck (89) pitches against the New York Mets during the first inning at Citi Field on Sept 4. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

At 74-74 and 4.5 games back in the American League wild card, the season is over for the Boston Red Sox.

Sure, they have three games looming with the Twins, but now that they are behind the Detroit Tigers and the Seattle Mariners in the wild card race, it likely doesn't matter.

And I want to be clear here: The 2024 season for the Boston Red Sox has been a huge success in many ways, but it's also a clear missed opportunity. And that lands squarely at the feet of Red Sox ownership.

Let's take a look at what's gone right, because there is a lot.

First, new Chief Baseball Operations officer Craig Breslow has proven himself very capable. He acquired Tyler O'Neill in the offseason for peanuts, who has 30 homers year. He moved off Alex Verdugo this offseason, which has proven to be a solid move given what's transpired for him in New York. Furthermore, he got pre-arbitration deals done with both Brayan Bello and Ceddanne Rafaela, not to mention a contract extension with manager Alex Cora.

Furthermore, the Sox have stayed in contention despite missing Trevor Story for more than 130 games - and with Tristan Casas being on the 60-day injured list and then some. They also lost Bello, Nick Pivetta, and Garrett Whitlock for injuries during the year, and didn't get one pitch thrown from big free agent acquisition Lucas Giolito because of injury.

And that's where ownership comes in. This ownership group never should have allowed this group to go into the season with a pitching staff that was always a house of cards. Kutter Crawford and Tanner Houck have never pitched this deep into a season before and their fatigue has shown down the stretch. Garrett Whitlock has an extensive injury history and never should have been counted on, and that popped up again this year. Even if he had been healthy, Giolito was never a sure thing.

How different would this have looked if the team had signed Blake Snell? Or Jordan Montgomery? Or Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who admittedly had injury issues himself? I'm willing to bet it would have looked a lot different.

This all hurts more considering the topsy-turvy nature of the American League this season. The Houston Astros were not the Astros for the first three months. The Mariners have folded since June. The Twins and Royals have struggled massively down the stretch. The Rays have been incredibly injured and the Blue Jays underwhelmed. The American League was there for the taking and the Sox didn't have the horses to do it.

Hopefully ownership doesn't make the same mistake heading into 2025.

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