Red Sox Reportedly Actively Pursuing These Four Free Agents According
The Boston Red Sox Likely will be making at least a few moves in the not-so-distant future.
Now that superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto have signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the free agent market is expected to pick up in a major way.
It’s unclear exactly what the Red Sox’s plan is going to be, though. Boston was involved in the Yamamoto sweepstakes, but there have been rumblings that the club doesn’t want to spend big.
While this may be the case, the Red Sox will be adding in free agency no matter what. The Red Sox need to improve the starting rotation and also could use another right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup.
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It sounds like Boston knows this and a few players the club reportedly is targeting are pitchers Shōta Imanaga, Lucas Giolito, and James Paxton along with slugger Teoscar Hernández, according to the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.
“Major league sources peg the Sox as having been active in the markets of a broad array of free agents, including Imanaga, Lucas Giolito, James Paxton (with Audacy’s Rob Bradford describing the Sox as showing “strong interest in bringing back” the lefty), and Teoscar Hernández (first reported by The Athletic),” Speier said. “It’s worth considering each — and what, if anything, the pursuit of those players illuminates about the Red Sox’ overarching strategy this winter.”
Boston has a lot of work to do. After winning just 78 games in each of the last two seasons, the Red Sox have holes on the roster. If they aren’t willing to spend big this offseason, hopefully, they at least will land multiple players on smaller deals then.
Boston has won just 78 games in each of the last two seasons and if it doesn’t significantly add to the starting rotation this offseason likely will be in the same spot in 2024.
The Red Sox were among a handful of teams who heavily pursued former Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto but missed out as the Los Angeles Dodgers landed the star with a massive deal.
Now, the Red Sox need to go back to the drawing board. There have been some rumors that the club would be pursuing former New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Texas Rangers ace Jordan Montgomery, but he may be “too expensive” for Boston, according to MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam.
“Lately, with little public acknowledgment, there’s been a change in philosophy at Fenway: every once in a while (Rafael Devers, Trevor Story), the Red Sox will green-light a big signing,” McAdam said. “But those are few and far between. And it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon.
“In the aftermath of the (Yoshinobu Yamamoto) news, one industry official was speculating on how the Red Sox might pivot to find the necessary starting pitching. When I suggested free agent Jordan Montgomery as a good fall-back option, the official scoffed and offered that even Montgomery would be too expensive for the Red Sox’s current budget plans.”
Montgomery has been linked to the Red Sox on multiple occasions and seemingly would be a perfect addition, but now sounds like he may not be in the cards for the club.
