Red Sox Analyst Reveals Team’s Top Offseason Priorities
With only a few games left in the World Series, the MLB offseason is about to begin. It’s shaping up to be another big one for the Boston Red Sox, who have work to do after getting knocked out of the AL Wild Card Round by the New York Yankees.
The Red Sox have several pressing needs to address this winter if they want to keep improving and be a World Series contender next year. Boston’s potential areas of improvement include the starting rotation, lineup and defense.
On Wednesday’s episode of “Boston Has Entered The Chat,” former Red Sox player and current NESN analyst Lou Merloni shared his insights on the team’s biggest priorities this offseason.
“I do think it’s that number two starter. I know they love Joe Ryan, and they absolutely love the metrics, everything behind them. There are numbers under the hood,” Merloni said, referencing the front office’s emphasis on swinging strike percentage. “I think it’s a number two. They got enough depth behind it.”
Merloni also spoke about Boston’s desire to improve its power numbers after ranking 15th in MLB in home runs this season, mentioning Pete Alonso as a possible free agent target.
“They absolutely know they have to hit home runs,” Merloni said. “I don’t know if Alonso is real. It 100 percent should be.”
Merloni added that the club’s ultimate goal is to keep building and make a deeper postseason run next year after getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
“I know they want to move this thing forward and actually start contending, and get to a postseason, and actually have a home game at Fenway in the playoffs,” Merloni said. “So this was just a first step in hopefully what is improvement for the next four or five years.”