John Henry's Refusal to Spend Big Could Absolutely Blow Up in Boston's Faces
By Jared Kish
The Boston Red Sox have not got off to the right foot this season, as they are 11 games back from their rival Yankees who sit in first place of the AL East standings. With that in mind, the Red Sox need to improve drastically if they want to return to their World Series form like last year.
That may not be the case for Boston, however, as owner John Henry refuses to spend big come the July 31 trade deadline.
Some interesting comments from John Henry to WEEI over the weekend...https://t.co/xlXtxCVuSz
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 2, 2019
Instead, Henry would like to use internal resources such as the farm system to help his ball club out. The Red Sox already have the highest payroll in the majors with $222 million. Henry's concern isn't with the luxury tax, as his issues with the team lies with how much money he has spent on them already.
The first major move the Red Sox are considering making in house is making Nathan Eovaldi the team's closer when he comes off the IL. This move would be the first step in trying to solve the Boston bullpen woes.
According to sources, the Red Sox plan on using Nathan Eovaldi as their closer when he returns from the Injured List. https://t.co/cxrS0ZErV0
— Tom Caron (@TomCaron) July 2, 2019
By moving Eovaldi to the bullpen, it leaves a hole in their rotation. It would be smart for the Red Sox to go out and get a top-notch starter at the deadline, but according to Henry, that won't happen.
Henry believes the team he has right now can make the playoffs, but they haven't done anything this year to show they can. Staying in house to fix the issues of the Boston Red Sox just does not seem like the right option at this point in the season. Hopefully Henry wakes up.