The 2024 season marked the Boston Red Sox’s fifth playoff miss in the last six years, and the organization will have to make serious changes this winter to contend in 2025.

Former Red Sox pitcher James Paxton may know what Boston needs to put itself back in the spotlight. He thinks adding another veteran player could help set the Sox on the right track.

“They could use another veteran presence on that team, I think,” Paxton said on the Oct. 25 installment of the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast. “. . . if they want to win a World Series, I could see them going out and getting one more big-time player to go out there and give the players some confidence, like ‘hey, we’re going for this, we’re doing it.”

The influence of a veteran presence on the Red Sox roster was palpable after Trevor Story was sidelined with his shoulder injury just eight games into the season. After a solid start, Boston’s infield defense fell apart and the club ended the season with 115 errors.

James Paxton said Red Sox need more veterans to contend for World Series

Paxton specified that the Sox could use a “horse,” meaning an experienced, durable, No. 1 starting pitcher. Tanner Houck emerged as a quality top-of-the-rotation option this year and secured a well-deserved All-Star nod, but he still flashed some mid-season inconsistency that a more experienced hurler may be able to avoid.

Starting pitching is already on the Red Sox’s offseason radar, but their search for a top starter wasn’t fruitful last year — Lucas Giolito had to miss the entire campaign after he underwent UCL surgery during spring training, and he likely wouldn’t have been an ace anyway based on his performances in 2022-23. Corbin Burnes, Jack Flaherty and Max Fried will all be available when free agency opens five days after the World Series ends, and Boston should be on the phone with each of them as soon as possible.

Paxton’s assessment of the Red Sox’s needs matches the front office’s findings from 2024. Boston’s management has done a fine job of identifying the team’s deficiencies but a poor job of meeting them the following year. Hopefully, Red Sox ownership takes Paxton’s advice seriously and bolsters the roster with veterans this winter.