The first modification to the Red Sox coaching staff for 2022 didn't take long.
The Red Sox revealed Monday that they had parted ways with first base coach Tom Goodwin, informing him of their decision over the weekend.
The club was not happy with its outfield defense at times, nor its baserunning -- two areas that came under Goodwin's purview.
Goodwin also missed two separate stints with the club in the second half -- one as a close contact, another time following a positive COVID test -- and was unvaccinated. But chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said the decision to move on from Goodwin was not related to his vaccination status.
"It's important to clarify that his vaccination status had nothing to do with this,'' said Bloom. "This was a baseball decision.''
Bloom said that's likely to be the only change in the staff, with hitting coach Tim Hyers, assistant hitting coach Pete Fatse, pitching coach Dave Bush, bullpen coach Kevin Walker, bench coach Will Venable, third base coach Carlos Febles, quality control coach Ramon Vazquez and game planning coordinator Jason Varitek all expected to return,
"It's early and we haven't put pen to paper with everybody we need to,'' said Bloom. "But the intent is that everybody else will be back.
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Bloom revealed that third baseman Rafael Devers was dealing with elbow inflammation toward the end of the regular season and throughout the postseason. Devers was obviously in discomfort at times when he swung and missed, often dropping the bat in pain.
"We did our best to get a handle on this while it was going on,'' said Bloom. "We did some imaging and nothing concerning was found. Kudos to our medical staff and to Raffy for how they managed it and played through it. It's something that rest should do a lot to help.''
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Two of the team's most important players -- third baseman Rafael Devers and shortstop Xander Bogaerts - have contractual situations that will be soon addressed. Bogaerts can opt out after 2022 while Devers hits free agency after 2023.
"Both of those guys are cornerstone players for us,'' said Bloom. "They are guys that you want here as long as you can have them here. They're a huge part of what we did this year, they were a huge part of our last championship and they're going to be a huge part of our success going forward. Obviously what that means and how we address it and when we address it, it's still early to say. We have a lot of conversations to have and a lot of things to weigh out as far as how we're going to go through the offseason.
"But we want them here and we want to win with them.''
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J.D. Martinez has an opt-out in his deal and Kyle Schwarber is almost certain to not pick up his half of a mutual option. Bloom was asked, after having both on the roster for the final two months, whether they could continue to co-exist.
"We played some of our best baseball in that alignment,'' said Bloom. "Both guys are really talented players. We like them both. We have to look at it all, obviously. The offseason can unfold in different ways. There's different ways this can unfold. Talent is talent. There's a lot of different ways that we can get where we want to go and we just have to weigh all the benefits and tradeoffs in each configuration.''
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The Sox hold a $7.5 million option on catcher Christian Vazquez, and while he wouldn't fully commit to picking that up, he certainly hinted they were intending to do so.
"I think, generally speaking, we know that (catching) is a really hard position to find somebody who not only is physically capable but is also mentally and emotionally capable of carrying that load,'' said Bloom, "and we have a guy who has done that. He's a really important guy to us and we know how much the organization means to him. It's a hard position to check all the boxes and you don't take for granted when you have someone who's shown that he can do it.''