With Lucas Giolito Maybe Out For The Year, The Boston Red Sox Might Be Truly Terrible

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I just woke up from a long nap but even I know things look really ominous for the Boston Red Sox this season. I don't mean another 78-84 season of mediocrity like we've seen in 2022 and 2023. With the news about Lucas Giolito this week, it could get really bad.

SOURCE - Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito will be headed to Alabama for a second opinion on his ailing right elbow.

Manager Alex Cora told reporters on Wednesday that Giolito will head to Birmingham on Monday to talk with Dr. Jeffrey R. Dugas as they explore treatment options, including surgery.

Now, I know you're thinking. If you season rests on Lucas Giolito, you are probably fucked anyway. Before last week, no one was saying the Red Sox were even going to be a playoff team. But while Giolito is not an exciting name, he was desperately needed on a already shitty pitching staff. Not only that, but if the news is bad on Monday, this could be Giolito's second Tommy John surgery. He also has a $19 million player option for next year. 

It's rare when a contract is a disaster before a game is even is played but this is where the Red Sox are right now. Everything that went right in the first two decades is crashing down around them. History really does repeat themself as they traded away Mookie Betts before the 2020 season…just like they traded away Babe Ruth before the 1920 season.

I swear this is not a troll job against Red Sox fans. I wish the Red Sox were better. I hate the Yankees and have to deal with total "27 Ringzzzz!!111!!!" scum like Hubbs, Marty and Tommy Smokes constantly reminding me how great the Yankees are and how the Mets are trash. If the Red Sox were better and could knock down them down a peg, that would be absolutely fantastic. The Orioles really bailed us all out last year.

(Believe me, I know the Mets are in a horrible situation this year with Kodai Senga missing potentially months. But thankfully Clem covers a lot of that. Believe me, Mets and Red Sox fans are in very similar shitty dinghys when we should be in yachts.)

So what now for Boston? How bad will they be? I think this is a 90+ loss team. Not only is Giolito out for awhile but James Paxton and Chris Sale are gone too. This is a pretty horrific rotation:

Brayan Bello: 12-11, 4.24 ERA in 28 starts

Kutter Crawford: 6-8, 4.04 ERA in 23 starts (8 games in relief)

Nick Pivetta: 10-9, 4.04 ERA in 16 starts (22 games in relief)

Tanner Houck: 6-10, 5.01 ERA in 21 starts

Garrett Whitlock: 5-5, 5.15 ERA in 10 starts (12 games in relief)

..and that's about it. They talk about moving Josh Winckowski into a starting role but if they do that, they are losing a very good relief arm. That's a bullpen that still hasn't had Kenley Jensen make his spring training debut. He is expected to do exactly that a week from now but the closer we get to Opening Day, you wonder if the 36 year old closer is going to start the season on time.

Megan Briggs. Getty Images.

In total fairness, there has been a lot smoke regarding Boston and Jordan Montgomery. But, should they even sign him at all? I've spent the last 550 words trashing the Red Sox…but is it better to be awful than to just be bad? I love Montgomery and think he's a perfect number 2 guy in any pitching staff. Despite him being a very good pitcher, can anyone realistically say that would make this a playoff team?

If the Orioles don't win the AL East, the Yankees will. But you know what? The Blue Jays are better than them too. I don't see a path for the Wild Card either with teams in the AL West like the Astros, Rangers and Mariners to contend with as well. Going 80-82 does nothing for anyone. It's better to just go something like 67-95 and get that better draft pick.

I'm not trying to kick the Red Sox fans when they are down. If anything, I really empathize with them especially this season. It sucks coming out a long winter and trying to play mental gymnastics into tricking yourself that Vaughn Grissom can become Jose Altuve or that Tyler O'Neill turns into Jason Bay despite having a slash line of .229/.310/.397 the last two seasons. I get it. I'm doing the same thing with Luke Voit and Sean Manaea. You think I want to watch 162 games of Mark Vientos and Brett Baty? 

But enough about the Mets problems. The Red Sox have their own. Everyone agrees with that. The question I ask is if they should fix these problems at all? I say no. Tear the whole thing down. Maybe that would get John Henry caring again? Maybe ripping everything down to the posts and beams would make the team easier to sell? The current path clearly doesn't work. 

But back to my Babe Ruth/Mookie Betts comparison. After trading Ruth in 1920, do you know the next time they even made a World Series again?

1946. It took 26 years. That can't happen again. We can't let the Yankees keep getting away with this.