Christmas. A time to find the perfect gift for the one you love. This winter Boston sports fans are loving what they’re seeing at TD Garden, with the Celtics and Bruins in first place.
Things are very different at Fenway Park and in Foxborough. The Red Sox are coming off back-to-back last place finishes while the Patriots continue their death march to the bottom of the pack.
Time to once again check the wish list of Boston sports fans this holiday season.
Red Sox fans are asking for signs of life from the front office. They’ve seen superstars like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto sign mega-contracts with the Dodgers, seen other pitchers like Aaron Nola and Eduardo Rodriguez sign lesser deals, but have not seen any movement from the pitching-starved Sox.
Craig Breslow knows he doesn’t have to win December, and there are plenty of pitchers still available. But we’re about halfway through the offseason and the biggest signing the Red Sox have made is acquiring oft-injured Tyler O’Neill from the Cardinals.
The level of unrest in Red Sox Nation is about the highest it has ever been during the Fenway Sports Group’s administration. Signing or trading for a No. 1 starter would be a good first step to calm fans down.
Patriots fans have been wishing for losses to improve the team’s status in the NFL draft next spring. Those wishes took a hit Sunday night when New England beat Denver, 26-23, on a late field goal by Chad Ryland — dropping the Patriots to No. 4 in the draft order. That’s unlikely to give them a shot at landing a potential franchise quarterback like USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye. But another QB early in the draft may prove to be an upgrade over Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe, and would represent the start of New England’s rebuilding process.
Part of that process will be the much-needed end to the Bill Belichick saga. It will be an undignified ending to one of the greatest football coaches in history, but the “when will he leave?” drama has dragged on too long. New England needs a complete reboot. It will take a new head coach — and, more importantly, a new general manager to rebuild to the roster — to get it done.
Bruins fans aren’t asking for much. Despite losing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci in the offseason, they have watched the Bruins pick up where they left off after last year’s record-setting regular season.
Yet the pain of last spring’s early playoff exit remains fresh. And no matter what this team accomplished between now and April there won’t be a final judgment on this team until it wins a playoff series or more next spring.
A little more toughness would help them reach that goal. GM Don Sweeney can help add that with a midseason trade. He did it last year when he acquired Tyler Bertuzzi, a tough-as-nails scorer who was one of Boston’s best players in the postseason. Bertuzzi left for Toronto after the season, and now the Bruins have to find someone like him for the stretch run … and beyond.
If you’re a Celtics fan, you are looking for health this Christmas season. Brad Stevens has built one of the best rosters in the league, and the offseason addition of Kristaps Porziņģis is a big part of that success. He has brought size to a guard-heavy Celtics team, but has battled injuries and has missed at least 25 games in six of his last seven seasons.
The Celtics are good enough to manage Porziņģis’ playing time now, with an eye toward keeping him ready for the NBA playoff jungle. If he’s able to answer the call at the end of the winter, the Celts should be a favorite to win it all next spring.
That would end a championship drought in Boston that is nearly five years old. In this Golden Age of Boston Sports, that seems like an eternity.
Tom Caron is a studio host for Red Sox broadcasts on NESN. He is a graduate of Lewiston High School.
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