I'm unclear on what made this year's team uniquely "not built to contend" when it was built with the same MO as the 2021 and 2022 teams. Is this just a Bogaerts thing?
See this is where I lose the conversation. The 2012 Red Sox had Pedroia, Ortiz, A-Gon, John Lester, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, obviously Nick Punto - this was a team built to win that didn't.
2014 came off a world series - Napoli, Pedroia, X, Ortiz, Lester, Lackey, Peavy, obviously guys didn't work out, but this would be the comparison to the 2019 team - built to win, didn't.
2015 - Napoli, Boegarts, Pedroia, Pablo, Hanley, Mookie, Ortiz, Porcello, ERod, Buchholz - built to win, obviously didn't.
The 2023 Red Sox were not fielded like these three teams. They were fielded to contend. This one was not. Perhaps that was a smart move given the MLB economy and where the team stands, but in my opinion, Chaim Bloom this year (ignoring 2020) fielded the first Red Sox team not seriously built to contend since I'd argue 1992-94 timeframe, and I think fans have good reason to ask what's changed.