Latest On Red Sox Pitching Trade Discussion

sharonorn

s first offseason as Bostons chief baseball officer has been marked by one notable free agent signing (  s ) and several significant trades, with the likes of  and Anthony Rendon Jersey   joining the roster and  ,  , and  all leaving Fenway Park. With more work on the pitching staff still to be done, writes that the Red Sox could again turn to the trade market, though with some limitations on the scope of their talks.  Rather than pursue pitchers who are just under team control through the 2024 season (i.e.  or  ), Speier reports that the Sox are trying to acquire pitchers who have multiple years of control. Naturally, such hurler come at a high asking price in trade talks, yet Boston is unsurprisingly wary about parting ways with its top prospects. It doesnt appear that any of  ,  , or  are available in talks, though it isnt clear if the Red Sox might be more open to dealing from the next tier down on their list of minor leaguers. Speier cites outfielder  and second baseman  as among the several other Sox prospects who have drawn trade interest from rival clubs.  Between these relatively le ser prospects and other potential younger trade chips on the big league roster, the Red Sox might be able to swing some kind of deal for a more proven upgrade, whether in the rotation or perhaps even somewhere else on the roster. However, as Speier writes,   theres little sense theyll push in the chips to land an established top-of-the-rotation starter either via trade or free agency. Further additions appear more likely in the middle or back of the rotation to improve depth and reliability.  This isnt markedly different from past reports about Bostons offseason plans, though the Sox were at least somewhat engaged on enough big-ticket names (  ,  ,  ) to create the impre sion that the team was willing to splurge in the right circumstance. Even with Montgomery and Snell still unsigned, it doesnt look like the Red Sox will emerge as a real suitor unle s either starter drops his asking price  though in that situation, one would imagine a lot of other clubs might also step up their pursuits.  One of the lingering questions of Bostons offseason is how much Breslow has been authorized to spend, considering that some level of payroll limitation . The Sox currently have approximately $177.5MM on the books for 2024 according to , so theyre pretty close to matching their $181.2MM Opening Day payroll from 2023. That figure from last year ranked 12th in all of baseball, the first time in the 21st century that the Red Sox werent at least in the top ten in Opening Day spending.  This relative hesitation towards larger spending has manifested itself not only in the lack of movement on Montgomery or Snell, but also in Bostons pursuit of  . Granted, it appears as though the league as a whole perhaps had some concerns over Imanagas viability as a Major League starter, given that with the Cubs fell below industry expectations. However, Imanagas contract could become a five-year, $80MM pact if the Cubs exercise a club option for 2028, and theyll have to make that decision following the 2025 season and 2026 seasons or else Imanaga can trigger an opt-out clause.  The Red Sox also had interest in a more creative deal for Imanaga, but Speier reports that their offer included only two guaranteed years   with the potential for two additional vesting years.   Imanaga will earn $23MM ($22MM in salary and a $1MM signing bonus) over his first two seasons in with the Cubs and Speier writes that Bostons offer paid him more than that $23MM amount through 2025, though it isnt surprising to see why Imanaga decided to take the Cubs offer.  Theres still plenty of offseason left for Breslow to make more moves, and an argument could be that made that the Red Sox roster is already looking better than it did in 2023. That said, simply being better doesnt nece sarily translate to a team capable of contending for a championship or even a playoff berth, and patience is running thin amongst the fanbase after consecutive last-place finishes in the AL East.  Andrew Wantz Jersey
Click here Click here Click here