The Boston Red Sox have been sleeping since February 11th, 2020, when they traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers and began the suck era of the John Henry Owned Red Sox. It is going on five years since this team has been genuinely invested in, and this team’s city and fanbase have reacted to the level of disinterest.
This offseason gives them a unique opportunity to prove that the Red Sox are back to being one of the sport’s biggest franchises. Before any outside additions, resigning Kenley as closer and Tyler O’Neil to play DH wouldn’t be a bad idea if they took more team-friendly deals.
It’s probably silly of me to think the Sox are in this race for real, but what? Screw that! I have faith that they are players in this conversation. I’m not sure if this comes to 700 million, but if it does, they will go there to get the guy who will fill seats and sell merch. Soto’s resume doesn’t need explaining; he is the modern-day Ted Williams and the most high-profile free agent since Alex Rodriguez in 2000.
He would dominate in this market. Soto wants to be THE guy on the team; if he came to Boston, he’d be on Jayson Tatum’s level of superstar status. David Ortiz is his idol. The pairing makes too much sense, and on top of it all, you hurt the Yankees in the process. Is it an overpay? Yes, but they have been pinching pennies for a few years; spend them smeckles Henry! SPEND ‘EM.
After this move, the Red Sox would still be 40 million under the luxury tax.
The Red Sox had a solid start to the season in 2023-2024, and it was built on the back of their over-performing rotation. Most fans and analysts said they would run out of steam with the usage and how the pitching coach, Andrew Bailey, wants more spin on the ball. Inevitably, they did break down, and the team fell apart.
If they are going to invest in a player like Soto, that is wonderful and signifies they are back to trying to spend, but it doesn’t fix that rotation. Fried averages 19 starts and a .670 win percentage with a 3.07 ERA. He is a proven vet who has pitched in a big market his whole career.
He basically replaces Nick Pivetta in the rotation if he leaves, and if he stays, they could move him or someone else into the bullpen. It’s all about the arms. After this move, the Red Sox would still be 16.8 million under the tax threshold.
I don’t think the Sox should stop there on the pitching front. Cal Quantrill had two stellar seasons back to back in 2021-2022 with the Guardians when they were one of the better teams in baseball. He averages 18 starts with a .558 win percentage and a 4.07 ERA.
He pitches better with good defense behind him since he doesn’t strike as many people out. He also doesn’t walk a ton of batters, which means he’s getting the ball put in play. This version of the Red Sox has speed on defense and should be adding Trevor Story back to the interior of the infield. Quantrill could even come here and log some time in the bullpen, depending on who is healthy in our rotation.
At this point, it would be Max Fried, Tanner Houck, Bryan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Cal Quantrill, which is a much more stabilized unit; if they bring back Pivetta, they are six deep. After this move, they would be 3.8 million under the tax threshold.
I understand this would put them over the tax, but Sam Kennedy said they would be willing to go over the tax to improve the roster. Before you comment but we have Raffy. No, he isn’t leaving Boston, but he would be transitioning to first base, which allows him to be less relied on defensively and puts a gold glove, two-time World Series champion in his spot at third base.
Bregman gives the Red Sox something they desperately need: a veteran right-handed bat that can protect Raffy in the lineup. This is more than I wanted to spend on him, but I had some wiggle room. In this scenario, we also would move on from Yoshida for deep future picks and maybe a player to be named later and get roughly 20 million off the books to absorb the extra spent on Bregman. It turns what we have a lot of into something we need.
After this scenario, we would be 28.2 million over the luxury tax, and we have one more move to make to complete the redemption arc offseason.
The White Sox were one of the worst teams in baseball, but they do have an elite pitcher who doesn’t seem like he wants to stay in Chicago, so they have been trying to move him. Their price remains three players plus a little on top. Casas is a great player and a budding star, but his time in Boston has been fine. Something is off, and it doesn’t feel like he wants to be here, either.
Kyle Teel is a top-25 prospect in the league at the catcher position and a top-five prospect in an excellent Red Sox farm system. Catcher is hard to get right, and this kid is just about ready to come up to the big leagues, but Connor Wong quietly had a solid season; with the other talent coming up, moving one of the top 5 was a must to acquire another high-level arm.
Wessiert and the picks are more throw-ins to meet the White Sox’s demands because Garret Crochet has some nasty stuff. His record isn’t excellent due to being in Chicago, but he was 7th in strikeouts, had a solid 3.58 era, and had a 4.1 WAR in a year where the White Sox set the MLB loss record at 41-121.
If this is close to correcting the Red Sox, it will return to the World Series in 2025. Their lineup would be Durran (CF), Soto (LF), Devers (1B), Bregman (3B), O’Neil (DH), Abreu (RF), Rafaela (2b), Story (SS), Connor Wong (C). That lineup brings speed, power, consistency, and balance.
The starting rotation would be Max Fried, Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Bryan Bello, and Cal Quantrill. All of the players we used as openers last year can settle into the bullpen and increase the strength of the back-end veterans like Hendricks, Martin, Chapman, and Jansen. Alex Cora, at the helm of this roster, would feed families in Boston.
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