The Red Sox are the team that needs to win this offseason the most.
Patience, discipline, reported interest and another last place finish just aren't going to cut it.
Maybe "complementary piece" would be a good description.
If you plug Abreu into the 2022 Astros you get these fWAR numbers for position players:
Alvarez 6.6
Altuve 6.6
Bregman 5.5
Tucker 4.7
Abreu 3.9
Pena 3.4
McCormick 2.0
I have this disturbing vision of Bloom and his minions swamped in spreadsheets, hunting for value plays, shocked by the prices for top talent, and slightly paralyzed by all they have to do and all that's against them.
That's true. But even before that we were commenting on how the winter meetings didn't seem to be much of a catalyst any more.
And why would they be any more? In-person interaction has become kind of an optional thing.
Devers is the only unequivocally impactful prospect acquired by the Red Sox since the 2011 draft, in terms of major league production. After Devers you're talking about Margot and Benintendi. Moncada hasn't done much yet. Kopech and Houck and Bello have potential.
It's not much wonder we're in the situation we're in with that kind of track record.