Red Sox’s Biggest Weakness May Not Be Fixable This Season

The Boston Red Sox certainly aren't going to have their work cut out for them.

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox continue to take one step forward and two steps backwards.

It's been one of the stories of the season so far. Boston's pitching is carrying the load right now. The Red Sox haven't allowed more than three runs in a game over their last four games. While this is the case, Boston is 1-3 over that stretch, including a 3-2 loss in extra innings on Friday night against the Atlanta Braves. Boston's pitching struggled a bit more than expected out of the gate to kick off the 2026 season, but it has clearly turned things around. But the offense hasn't followed and now the Red Sox are 18-26 on the season.

Last year, the Red Sox floated right around .500 until June and July. While this is the case, at least they were just two games below .500 on May 16, 2025. This year, Boston is eight games under .500 on the same day.

So, how do you fix the Red Sox right now? The obvious answer is offense. Boston undoubtedly needs more, but will a player who can help pop up? That's the tricky part. ESPN's Buster Olney pointed out the mixture of young guys who the club wouldn't want to move and veterans who the club would have trouble moving as a reason why.

The Red Sox Need More

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

"One of the challenges for the Red Sox: even if they want to make substantive changes with the roster, it would be tough to do so, because they’ve got a combination of young (and cheap) players who they expect to develop; and expensive veterans who can’t easily be moved," Olney wrote. "And as the Royals can testify, adding offense in trades — power, in particular— is much tougher than adding pitching. Their best chance to add offense was in free agency."

For the Red Sox, the best inspiration the club could find is the 2025 Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are a club that had a few significant pieces, like Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, and Randy Arozarena, along with an elite rotation.

Then, the Mariners followed up by acquiring Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez. For the Red Sox, they need to add pieces like that this season at some point. It's still too early to know if guys of that caliber will be available around the trade deadline, but Boston can't just add to the edges. The offense is struggling too much to go out and get a bench bat. If the Red Sox want to turn this around, they need to do what they should've done before the season and add a legit, middle-of-the-order bat, along with Willson Contreras. He was a great pickup this past offseason, but the Red Sox have needed another guy the whole time as well.

As Olney pointed out, it won't be easy. There may have to be a tough call made. Do the Red Sox add another third baseman and use Caleb Durbin as a utility guy? Do you move away from Trevor Story? Do you trade Jarren Duran? The list goes on. It's not going to be easy, but Boston needs more.