I wonder if the Sox internal defensive evaluations had Renfroe as significantly worse than the ones we know or our own opinions of his defense. We might tend to be wow’s by all the OF assists, but Fenways’s RF is do large, maybe his short range really convinced them he had to go.
Maybe the thought of how important OF defense improvement also led them to view JBJ in a more positive light than most of us view him.
If Renfroe ends up with a plus 2-3 WAR, the Sox might still think his value is less than that even going forward, too, so what we might view as a good season by Renfroe, they might see as much worse.
I’m just saying this could be a view they have taken. It’s pure speculation on my part.
Personally, I thought Renfroe’s arm cancelled out a sizeable chunk of his poor D, and his offense more than made him a good plus player. Maybe they don’t see it that way or the expect Renfroe and JBJ to regress towards their norms in 2922.