[Litty]

I also wanted to look at the Boston Red Sox, who have crashed (and crash in many of the sims I’ve run). The Red Sox now boast the current line-up (January 17th, 2024):
C Carson Kelly (Acquired via trade in February 2022)
1B Luke Voit (Signed as a free agent in April 2023)
2B Antoni Flores (Signed as a free agent in July 2017, farm product)
3B Rafael Devers (Signed as a free agent in August 2013, farm product)
SS Didi Gregorius (Signed as a free agent in February 2020)
LF Kyle Tucker (Acquired via trade in November 2022)
CF Kevin Kiermaier (Signed a free agent in January 2023)
RF Will Benson (Acquired via trade in July 2023)
DH Leonardo Rivas (Acquired via waiver claim in April 2023)

SP Chris Sale (Acquired via trade in December 2016)
SP Lance McCullers Jr. (Signed as a free agent in December 2023)
SP Connor W Jones (Acquired via trade in July 2023)
SP Carlos Martinez (Signed as a free agent in December 2023)
SP Michael Matuella (Signed as a free agent in April 2022)

RP Roberto Osuna (Signed as a free agent in January 2022)
RP Ken Giles (Signed as a free agent in January 2024)
RP Ryan Pressly (Signed as a free agent in December 2023)
RP Jose Alvarado (Signed as a free agent in December 2023)
CL Durbin Feltman (Drafted in 2018, farm product)

The Red Sox went 59-103 in the 2023. This comes only two years after a World Series appearance. My belief is that the Red Sox suffered the same problem that anyone playing GM Mode with the Red Sox finds- too many players wanting extension, not enough money to bring them all back. This causes them to lose big name players and turn to their not great farm system as well as relying on free agency signings. But what is certain is that Boston are long way from the team that went back-to-back at the start of this series.