ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney is among the few baseball analysts commending the Boston Red Sox on their offseason moves.

The Sox have been the talk of the town lately, and not in a positive way. Between Alex Bregman free agency rumors dominating MLB drama and writers critiquing their precarious acquisitions, Boston has faced plenty of negative press despite its busy offseason. Until now, the Sox have been afforded little credit for doing what they were supposed to do.

Olney highly praised the Sox for their recent offseason adjustments, and he ranked them the second most-improved team behind the Reds (subscription required).

“Boston won the Garrett Crochet sweepstakes, making a deal with the Chicago White Sox for the power lefty, and then signed free agent Walker Buehler. Those additions thickened Boston’s rotation, which also includes Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford,” he wrote.

Buster Onley ranks the Red Sox as second-most improved team this offseason despite no offensive additions

While he’s not wrong, Olney fails to see the Sox’s improvement for what it is: heavily focused on its pitching and not on its lineup. With a rotation loaded with depth, the Red Sox are undoubtedly better in the pitching department. However, their lineup has a ways to go.

They still have their lefty-heavy lineup but now they don’t have Tyler O’Neill’s powerful righty swing and Gold Glove defense. Trading away top prospects Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery also drained potential depth Boston likely would’ve leveraged come July and August.

Additionally, the Sox’s bullpen hardly changed. The Sox sent Cam Booser, who impressively held a 3.38 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in his first MLB season, to Chicago. They also welcomed Aroldis Chapman, who isn’t the elite closer he was with the Yankees and Reds years ago, and Justin Wilson, who’s had a volatile last five years. Though Garrett Whitlock is expected to move to the bullpen this year and Liam Hendricks is returning from Tommy John surgery, there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the bullpen’s advancement.

Olney’s applause is premature and overzealous. While speculations about Sox signings and trades this offseason may have gotten overambitious given Boston’s spending habits in the last few years, it’s hard to say that the organization will do markedly better than 81-81, its 2024 record. The roster is by no means transformed, and it’s not unlikely that the Sox don’t see the best of Crochet, Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, and Lucas Giolito in their (hopefully) first full years at Fenway Park.

While there’s still plenty of hope and optimism for the Sox to win a few more games than last year, the Sox still need to prove that talent on paper translates to the field.

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