For the past few seasons, the Boston Red Sox have been taking heat for the state of their roster.
The Red Sox front office took the 2018 World Series winning team — one of the most dominant rosters of all time — and stripped it down to almost nothing. Rafael Devers is the last remaining player from the Sox’s most recent World Series run.
The front office hasn’t made an effort to replace any of the lost talent with equal or better candidates. Boston currently operates on a small-market budget and its roster definitely reflects that.
But since improving the team doesn’t appear to be the front office’s goal, Boston is suffering at the expense of ownership’s other interests. They’re sacrificing years of Devers’ prime to play a waiting game for prospects who may not ever deliver.
The players on this list are fine additions to a team and there’s nothing wrong with them. They could fit well on other rosters; they could be fine trade pieces; or they just aren’t suited for the job the Red Sox need them to do. Any way you slice it, these guys have struggled to consistently meet the demands of the Red Sox organization, whether the expectations placed on them were justifiable or not.
And the Red Sox can always do better. They have the power to upgrade.
The Red Sox acquired McGuire late in the 2022 season as part of an exchange for pitcher Jake Diekman. Earlier that same month, Boston traded 2018 World Series-winning catcher Christian Vázquez to the Astros. McGuire has not been the replacement for him that the Red Sox needed.
The 28-year-old is an average defensive catcher. According to Baseball Savant, the backstop ranks below league average in caught stealing, above average in pop time, and just above the median in blocks above average and framing. When the Sox traded for him in 2022, McGuire’s caught-stealing rate and framing quality were much better, but his bat never matched up with Vázquez’s.
And his bat is frequently underwhelming. He hit .267/.310/.358 in 72 games. It should be noted that his stats aren’t much better than Connor Wong’s, Boston’s primary catcher. But Wong came to the Red Sox as part of the Mookie Betts trade, and he’s the best of the pieces they received and currently still have.
McGuire’s been playing a backup catcher role, but there have been many better options on the market, including ex-Yankee slugger Gary Sánchez. McGuire could fit in somewhere, but his fit with the Red Sox isn’t great.
