BOSTON — Monday night’s defeat at the hands of the Rays was an organizational loss for the Red Sox.

This went above manager Ron Roenicke, who suffered through a 16th game of limited pitching options this season. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom must shoulder a share of the blame for assembling this staff of rather nondescript parts that allowed 16 hits to the visiting Rays.

But as always, in all matters of sports and business, the buck stops with ownership. [...]

BOSTON — Monday night’s defeat at the hands of the Rays was an organizational loss for the Red Sox.

This went above manager Ron Roenicke, who suffered through a 16th game of limited pitching options this season. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom must shoulder a share of the blame for assembling this staff of rather nondescript parts that allowed 16 hits to the visiting Rays.

But as always, in all matters of sports and business, the buck stops with ownership. This is the unwatchable product John Henry deserves for his infamous "goal, not a mandate" to bring Boston’s payroll under the lowest threshold of the Competitive Balance Tax.

Tampa Bay’s 8-7 victory took 264 minutes and was a complete eyesore. The empty seats at Fenway Park, had they been filled to capacity at any point like in pre-pandemic days, would have been mostly vacant by the time Boston tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. The clock was approaching midnight when Michael Chavis struck out swinging to end it.

Roster moves have been made based on dollars and cents, not performance and sense. Bloom is only doing the job he was brought in to carry out, and Roenicke has been left helpless in the home dugout. This was the 10th time the Red Sox have used at least five pitchers in a game this season, and few of them would have been granted an appearance two years ago for the World Series winners.

"We can’t keep pitching the same guys every time we have a close game," Roenicke said. "That seems to be what we’re playing."

Seven of Boston’s nine available relievers had worked at some point over the last two days against the Blue Jays. Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Austin Brice all were summoned for the third time in four games. These nine innings were collateral damage suffered through three turns of what is a nonexistent starting rotation.

Ryan Weber and Matt Hall have already been optioned to the alternate site at Pawtucket. The Red Sox began the season with a vacant fifth spot designed to use an opener, the strategy thrifty franchises like the Rays and Athletics require just to survive. Henry hoped for a similar approach — winning baseball at a bargain price — when he hired Bloom away from the Tampa Bay front office in October.

Monday was a perfect example of why quality pitchers like Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer take home their annual buckets of cash. Boston built leads of 3-0 and 4-1 that were given back by Colten Brewer, Marcus Walden, Jeffrey Springs and Phillips Valdez. Brewer surrendered three runs in three innings while Springs allowed Tampa Bay to take the lead in both the sixth and seventh.

"It was just because we were trying to stay away from two guys in our bullpen who we’ve been using a lot," Roenicke said. "We needed (Springs) to go."

Nobody could have foreseen Eduardo Rodriguez (COVID-19 complications) being lost for the season. But the Red Sox certainly had the best look at Chris Sale’s medical records — the club had to know his left elbow was seriously ailing ahead of his Tommy John surgery. Nothing of real substance was done during the winter months or prior to the sport’s July restart other than signing Martin Perez to a potential two-year deal, and he’s now your No. 2 starter.

Henry, to be fair, has generally paid top dollar for past rosters during his tenure in charge. But this notable exception is jarring to witness, and Boston could already be playing its way out of any realistic hopes of a postseason berth. The Red Sox fell to 6-10 with a defeat that was wholly avoidable with another serviceable arm or two.

Then again, perhaps winning games wasn’t the franchise’s sole aim this season. And it’s a good thing, because there doesn’t appear to be too much immediate on-field glory on the horizon.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25