The Red Sox are known to be interested in adding to the front of their rotation this winter, though Alex Speier of the Boston Globe suggests that desire could come with a major caveat. Speier relays that the club prefers to avoid signing a player attached to a Qualifying Offer. President of baseball operations Craig Breslow neither confirmed nor denied that preference when asked about it by reporters, acknowledging that while there are instances where a player being attached to draft pick compensation “shouldn’t be an impediment or deterrent,” there are also other situations where a QO could be an obstacle.
Of course, such a preference wouldn’t completely shut the door on a top-of-the-market arm for the Red Sox. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery isn’t attached to draft pick compensation after being dealt from the Cardinals to the Rangers midseason, while posted NPB stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga are both free of a qualifying offer as well. With both Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola already having signed long-term deals this offseason, a preference to avoid signing qualified free agents for their rotation would really only take Boston out of the running for left-hander Blake Snell, who rejected a QO from the Padres earlier this offseason. While the Red Sox have also reportedly been connected to two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani this offseason, previous reporting indicates that the club is no longer pursuing the offseason’s top free agent.
More from around MLB’s East divisions…
- On the heels of a report earlier today that the Mariners are among the teams interested in Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes this offseason, Jon Morosi of MLB Network indicates that outfielder Randy Arozarena is also believed to have come up in discussions between the two clubs. There’s no indication that a deal between the sides is particularly close, as is the case with Paredes. That said, it’s noteworthy that the sides have discussed a deal around Arozarena, who Morosi described as “available” in trade. Earlier this week, reporting indicated that while teams have inquired after Arozarena, the Rays weren’t shopping the outfielder. Arozarena, 28, would be a particularly good fit for a Mariners club that lacks a surefire starting outfielder to pair with Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic. The 28-year-old slashed a strong .254/.364/.425 with 23 home runs and 22 stolen bases for the Rays this year en route to his first career All Star appearance.
- The Mets appear focused on improving their run prevention as they enter the winter meetings, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. Sammon notes that in addition to pitching additions, the club is hoping to improve their outfield defense this winter. KBO star Jung Hoo Lee is one player the club has interest in who could do just that, and Sammon suggests that free agent center fielder Michael A. Taylor could be another fit, though the 32-year-old is garnering plenty of interest around the league, per Sammon. Taylor had the strongest offensive season of his career since 2017 with the Twins in 2023, slashing .220/.278/.442 (96 wRC+) while clubbing a career-best 21 home runs in just 388 trips to the plate this year. Sammon goes on to suggest that adding a player who could contribute in center field is the easiest way for the club to improve its defense, as it would allow Brandon Nimmo to slide over to left field more often.
I think at the end of the day, the Red Sox won’t sign any of the top of the FA’s
I think you will be wrong
i agree, i think breslow was brought in to the front office to be aggressive. ownership got tired of bloom’s slow churn, and decided it was time to bring in someone more willing to push the chips in with clear approval and maybe even direction to do so
LOL. Bloom’s slow burn. Like that was Bloom’s decision to make. Ownership dictates how much money is available to be spent.
For people who followed the transactions, it wasn’t HOW MUCH money was spent, it was HOW money was spent.
Boston still spent and still was near the cbt or over it. It’s just money was spent on guys who were DFA’d, or, signed as bounceback candidates who were either scuttled or just plain didn’t perform. Or taking on underwater deals like JBJ.
Had more of those guys turned up to perform, he’d probably still have a job and wouldn’t have been as hated as he was. (Leaving aside mishandling of existing pieces as far as extensions and trades or failures to trade.)
mp2891 – You do not understand the process. Ownership funds requests. If a tool like Bloom doesn’t request it they can’t fund it.
BLOOM WAS THE PROBLEM not ownership.
Exactly the cheap owners told Bloom his budget
Uh huh…. Whatever you say.
poh – Agreed! Henry realizes Bloom refusing to sign quality free agents at reasonable prices because he didn’t want to lose the draft pick was absurd. Again the goal is to improve the ML team and put them in a position to win. The goal is NOT to build the strongest farm system in MLB.
This is really a non-story, as there is no team that seeks out QO free agents. EVERY team would prefer non-QO free agents over QO-free agents. But at the end of the day, if there’s only one SP remaining and he can help your team win and he has a QO attached to him, you’re not gonna pass on him …. unless your name is Bloom.
Henry realizes Bloom refusing to sign quality free agents at reasonable prices because he didn’t want to lose the draft pick was absurd.
=========================
That was never an issue.
In 2020, we signed almost no one.
In 2021, we signed almost no one.
In 2022, we signed Story and surrendered a pick.
In 2023, we signed Jansen, Martin, Turner, Duvall, & Kluber.
There was never a case where we signed a $20M player without a QO instead a $20M player with a QO.
TF – Excellent point!! For example Henry is not the one who wanted to spend a fortune on Story, it was Bloom.
No different than when your wife asks you for $500 in spending money. You give her the money, but she’s the one who decides how to spend it.
Joe – Bloom didn’t have to sign a $20M+ player just because he didn’t sign one with a QO. There are other options, such as going without.
Which has nothing to do with avoiding guys with a QO.
Joe – Haha …. you either forgot what you wrote, or perhaps you weren’t responding to my post.
I wrote that Bloom gave hardly any large contracts because he tried to stay away from free agents with QO’s attached. This is not news, it was frequently reported.
The problem with that approach is most quality free agents have a QO attached to them, so Bloom was extremely limiting himself by shunning free agents with QO’s attached to them.
Hey Breslow quit stalling don’t be a Bloom
“Sammon goes on to suggest that adding a player who could contribute in center field is the easiest way for the club to improve its defense”
Ohtani for CF, ez. I won’t charge for that idea, Mr. Stearns if you’re reading. The next one will cost tho
Much better than signing the wrong FA, as a number of past top FA signings by Boston have shown!
I tend to agree.
Michael Lorenzen: Hey, I like Boston!
Breslow: Super. Here’s a couple of tickets for the swan boats.
So..nothing new here
Breaking News Randy Arozarena Traded To Arizona
Making ut up.
nah that was your mom
Looking for a new CF only one year after paying Nimmo as a CFer isn’t a good look, but it does further indicate the Mets won’t let pride get in the way of improving their club. I applaud them for that.
Is 125+ ops+ and a tick below average CF really a bad thing? Answer: no. He’s not a bargain but Nimmo is far from an albatross as an everyday CF’er.
Yeah i think he easily earned his $20m+ this year when you look at other OF performance vs salary
Mets fishing with the minnows this off-season. Stearns is maintaining a Milwaukee mindset when it comes to finding players on the Blue Light special that can fill needs cheap.
Have some patience.
Anyone who thinks depth signings are indicative of anything other than depth signings, especially from the team owner who broke payroll records last offseason, is….
The name says it all.
Agreed on the mindset. I hope he realizes that now he has blank checks. Michael Taylor is not that answer.
“Michael A. Taylor … is garnering plenty of interest around the league.”
I seriously doubt that.
Arozarena and Paredes for Woo, Hancock, and Marlowe
LOL. That trade package might get the Mariners Aroz, but Paredes will cost twice as much.
Lol no.
Red Sox and Brewers linked up on trade deals the last few seasons…
Nothing wrong with Woo or Bryce straight up for Paredes in my opinion
I think if they were to come off Arozarena, we would need to come off Logan or Kirby, and I sincerely doubt that will happen.
You have it reversed…
Arozarena is the bigger name but Paredes is almost twice as valuable. Better stats last year, WAR, OPS, and 5 years younger.
I doubt it happens too but I would love to figure out a way to snag Aroz off them
Arozarena for Woo straight up seems about right.
Parades would probably cost Gilbert. It sounds like Snell really wants to come home to Seattle he’s been vocal about it. If Seattle doesn’t get Ohtani, they have cleared nearly 30 million in payroll, maybe the sign Snell and make Gilbert available. If the did make Gilbert available Parades might be able to be pried from Tampa. Another possibility is Mayo and Kjerstad from Baltimore for Gilbert.
Seattle is going to be very interesting to watch I still think Ohtani could sign in Seattle might be why Dipito cleared payroll space with Kelenic trade.
The Rays would never trade Aroz for Woo straight up. For one, Aroz most certainly has more trade value. For another, the risk of a pitcher blowing out an elbow and missing 2 years just doesn’t exist with position players. Rays are generally risk averse, and like to hedge their bets. If they trade Aroz, the trade return may include Woo but it will definitely include more than 1 player.
Ohtani seen in Boston today. Very interesting.
He’s not coming there. They’d be better offer spending on someone who can pitch in 2024 and doesn’t have two TJ surgeries already anyways
Roiste – Don’t really understand TJ surgery do you? Saying ANYTHING negative about Ohtani is pure ignorance. The guy is the best player ever. It’s just that simple and Boston would be fortunate to land him but why would he want to pick Boston with Cora as Manager and Devers at 3B and yoshida in LF?
Don’t worry he won’t be in Boston but you don’t really get baseball if you don’t want him in Boston.
As I mentioned last time, outside of Eovaldi, how many successful pitchers have had two TJS?
Depends how you define ‘successful’…
Taillon, Soria, Capuano and Hudson could be on the list.
That said, seems to be about a 50/50 shot of it not working as well, and, of that group I mentioned a few fall into the servicable category with plenty of games and innings, but, a middling era.
I still think giving out $400m, 500m, and this newl6 thrown around 600m is insane.under the totality of circumstances
Taillon had an ERA+ of 112 before his 2nd TJS and 97 afterwards.
Capuano went from a 101 to an 87.
Hudson only made 3 career starts after surgery.
Soria went from a 181 ERA+ to a 117.
I generally enjoy a roll of the dice, but if we view Ohtani as 50% SP and 50% hitter, then I cannot see how $250M/10 wouldn’t be better spent on Yamamoto.
Past that, I wouldn’t like signing a 29.5 year old hitter to a 10-year contract either.The halfway point of that contract would be ages 34-38, and that doesn’t age all that well either.
At the end of the day, I’d much rather YY and one of Snell, Monty, Glasnow, Cease, Imanaga in no particular order.
Tollfree….You lost me with Cora as Manager… unless that was sarcasm, because that is not a selling point.
Joe – I wasn’t sure if you actually wanted a list or were being a bit sarcastic since there are so many TJ surgeries that have occurred.. If you are ONLY counting SPs and not RPs that changes the list significantly. I also have no way to count the TJs that happened before the player was drafted. For example, Ryan Borucki had TJ surgery in 2012 and also in HS. Neither appears in the list I have added below. Who knows how many surgeries each player have had since surgeries prior to being drafted and players not worthy of recording seem to be omissions from the full list of TJ surgery experienced players.
If you simply want to see the list of TJ surgeries here is the link.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gQujXQQGOVNaiuwSN6…
The thing missing from your comment is how many good pitchers have had two TJ surgeries. Average or Bad SPs that have had two aren’t likely to have improved from it. That’s not what TJ surgery does for a pitcher.
So name the GREAT pitchers who have had TJ surgery then went under the knife a second time.
deGrom is one and we’ll find out in 2024 how that worked out.
Ohtani is in the same boat.
Jonny Venters has a crazy story that includes 5 tears and surgeries and still contributing successfully at the MLB level.
Jason Isringhausen is similar to Venters.
Since Tommy John first had the surgery Sept of 1974 there have been many, many success stories for one time surgeries. The number of two time surgeries isn’t that great and more importantly the pitchers to try it weren’t all that good before they did it. This year is the litmus test. deGrom and Ohtani will define the question you are asking. I bet on the athlete so I believe both will come back and be outstanding due to the nature of the surgery. Replacing a ligament in 2023 is much different than in 1974. I believe these great pitchers will simply pick up where they left off and the question will be = How long will this ligament last compared to the original ligament? When the late great Jose Fernandez had his surgery he had 3 ligaments attached in an attempt to create a longer sustained success with the surgery. Unfortunately, we never got to see if it worked.
Let’s table this discussion until after deGrm and Ohtani return. Then we’ll actually have facts to draw conclusions from.
I already said he’s not coming to Boston, explicitly, but thanks for the lecture.
Saying the Red Sox would be better off spending $500M+ dollars on people they can count on to pitch is completely valid. The Red Sox organization absolutely does not have enough pitching depth to sustain Ohtani’s 2024 absence from the mound, protect against the extremely real long-term injury risk due to his elbow, or even field the six-man rotation that Ohtani requires when he is healthy. He is the most talented player ever – he is also not a good fit for the Red Sox at his price tag. Both things can be true.
GASox – As you know I’ve felt the same way, but I’m beginning to wonder … how good an outfielder was Ohtani in Japan? If he was at least league average, his ability to play the OF would help justify a contract of $400M.
“Let’s table this discussion until after deGrm and Ohtani return. Then we’ll actually have facts to draw conclusions from.”
Trollfree – So you’re for allocating hundreds of millions of dollars of budget to someone we don’t have facts to draw conclusions about how he may perform? Hmmm.
Fever – would it really though? Because he’s worth maybe 20m right now as a DH. Is a league average OF worth another 20m a year?
Another question we would need to add as he aged would be how his legs were.
The final piece of that puzzle is you would really need to just hide him in LF, which, in the case of Boston, you’re stuck with Yoshida.
And if you move Yoshida to DH, that means you’re forced to keep the Devers/Casas tandem on your corner OF which in itself is a problem. One of the two of those need, NEED to learn to play at least league average defense, or DH. And since we haven’t seen the former, that means the latter.
If yoshi stays as what he showed this past season results-wise, his deal is about 10-12m/season underwater, with plenty of seasons left. That’s a bunch of money to eat just to move him for not much return. Devers deal is un-tradable as he himself is about $160m underwater. You could move casas, but, he’s dirt cheap for the bat he provides, and, has the best shot at improving, so he should be the last to move.
But, if you meant to a non-redsox team @400m… I still don’t see him as a $400m OFer, and as of right now, his pitching arm is too suspect to be worth much.
If you divorce the pieces of his game, how much is a pitcher who barely by a handful of innings qualifies once for the ERA title in 6 seasons, is off his second TJ and won’t pitch for a year, and settles between a 3.xx and 4 era really worth? Especially when he refuses to pitch every 5th day?
That pitcher is somewhere between a minor-league make-good contract and a 2yr 10-15m pact, right?
JoeBrady – Quite a few these days. The Rays have Fairbanks (their closer) and D.Rasmussen (pitched 3+ years after his 2nd TJS and currently rehabbing an elbow brace procedure). Ras is going to be an interesting guy to watch because the elbow brace rehab is essentially the same timeline as TJS and I’m guessing they went with the brace procedure because they didn’t think a 3rd TJS would result in a favorable outcome. Ras is a good guy and I’m hoping for the best for him, but his arm has had A LOT of work done to it.
He likes the city, though reports have him not signing there.
New idea since he likes Boston so much…. give him a 10 year $100m deal, and throw in some FSG shares. Not sure how you’d CBT value it, but, it’s not direct shares of the ballclub so im not sure it runs afoul of those aspects of things…
GASox – I don’t believe that’s allowed, conflict of interest to be both a player and part owner. The union would have a conniption.
Fever, it’d be a bit of an oddity, since you wouldn’t be a direct owner. Sort of as if a player bought shares in Liberty Media. You don’t actually own part of the team.
Remember, IIRC Billy Beane had part of Redbird, who invested into FSG, but, he still works for the As….
GASox – That reminds me, does LeBron ever talk about the Sox or show up for any of their games? It’s like he’s non-existent.
Fever – I don’t think he does, but, again, he bought into FSG, not the red sox itself. It’s possible, and dare I say likely, his motivations were other than any interest in the baseball portion of the company
That is interesting as the staff is at the winter meetings.
No wonder nooone is giving up a half a day at work to go watch an afternoon playoff game. Rays are just going to trade the most interesting players on the team.
Scott – I’ve been saying that about the Rays for years. The best way to lose fans is having their favorites leave and replacing them with players they don’t know.
Familiarity with players and emotional attachment to them is what keeps fans interested. The Rays are living proof that winning doesn’t ensure fan interest.
Totally amazing a guy with a .220 average had an outstanding offensive year…really✌️❤️
I came here waiting for this comment. The Batting Average Brigade never disappoints. You guys are so simple and predictable. I’ll explain it for you. They didn’t say he had an outstanding offensive year. They said he had his best season SINCE 2017. You guys can’t read AND you can’t come to accept that players are now evaluated by more important things than batting average.
Okay 96 ops+. I don’t get the Taylor luv either?
He plays a reliably above average center field. There aren’t a ton of guys in the world who can do that, and most of them hit worse than Taylor.
He’s not “outstanding” at the plate (nobody was saying that) but playing good defense at a premium position without being a complete black hole with the bat would help a lot of teams off the bench
For the Mets I’d much rather have the 25 yo Lee than the 33 yo Michael Taylor, given Lee has a solid shot at being useful over the entire life of a five year deal, and the Mets’ need for an OFer who can play any of the three positions. It’d be nice to think both of Gilbert and Williams will succeed as OFers, but it’s hardly a guarantee, and if they do at roughly 10m a year Lee works in that mix unless he’s a complete bust.
What deranged team is going to pay Blake Snell $200m just because he’s had one season of the last five where he beat 2 WAR?
A 135 inning guy who puts up an ERA+ around 120…. a guy who’s routinely hurt and will be 31 in 2024, but is terrific when he’s healthy, about 4 months out of the year? You’d pay a $30m AAV if Snell could pitch full time. Since he can’t and since he’s exactly the kind of guy whose career crashes and burns in his early 30s, what’s your offer? Three-quarters of that? Two-thirds? For 5 years? 6?
I agree, I don’t even consider Snell an ace. We need to stay far from him. I’d rather have Montgomery.
He wants to pitch for the Mariners (he’s from Seattle) but he’d have to take a hometown discount. Maybe the same contract as Cy Young winner Robbie Ray got from the M’s: 5/110.
Who are you talking about? Snell or Montgomery?
Jack – In all seriousness the contracts being given out to free agent SP’s have been insane for about a decade now.
You think Nola is worth what he got?
You think Monty will be worth what he gets?
You think it’s wise to give a $250M+ contract to someone who has never thrown a pitch in the majors?
Like I said last week, the pitching market is like the housing market. Prices are inflated, but if you need a place to live you have no choice. You pay the market prices which are very high because so many others are willing to pay the prices.
@Fever Pitch Guy Well said throughout. I’ve been around long enough to remember being so appalled by the $1ooK=plus contracts handed out to mediocre IFers like Bucky Dent that I stopped watching the MLB game for a few years, preferring my local AA and A ball teams.
At some point, with TV deals the way they became, I just decided it’s all play money in that arena—and besides, if the players don’t get it the absurdly rich only get absurdly richer. Still, it’s hard to think of Snell and Scherzer as “labor.”
Breslow hasn’t given a clear answer since he’s been in office…
Which has been all of two months.
Have you spoken with him often?
Just going off reports that mention what he says. I should be patient but I see players go off the board and the urgency to fix this team and nothing happening yet.
@Cora, we don’t know his style yet, so it is hard to tell.
I am starting to think Breslow is more tight lipped than Ohtani lol.
Or, he may not be big on Yamamoto or Ohtani.
It is frustrating having to wait and see, isn’t it?
but I see players go off the board
==========================
Not really.
The only player that I have seen come off the board, and that I liked, was Nola. And he was probably always going to re-sign with Philly.
The rest are Gray, Maeda, Lopez, Martinez, Heyward, and Severino. I could’ve lived with Martinez, but which of these guys did you want us to sign?
Joe, i just read on the Blobe site that 18 teams have NOT made a FA signing yet.
Since this Sox biggest need is pitching, I think they are in wait mode for Ohtani to decide like everyone else.
As it should be. It’s like going to an auction and worrying about not adding to your Boyer collection, even though no Boyer cards have been sold.
I am only going to worry about guys coming off the board if those are the guys I want. I don’t really care if Severino and Heyward have signed elsewhere.
I agree with you. Only one that I really care about this year is Yamamoto. He is all I want for xmas!
Breslow hasn’t given a clear answer since he’s been in office…
============================
No leader divulges company secrets. Not in BB and not in real life.
He did say he will rely on the trade market. We will see. I’m just not quick to accept until I see, especially with this job
But to consistently to shower us in oxymorons? He’s avoided picking sides on simple questions, but maybe that’s his strategy.
Taylor in CF over Nimmo? No. Keep Nimmo there and get a true slugger for LF.
@377194 You still have the problem that there’s no RFer. You can try McNeil there, but his bat in a repeat of 2023 and 2021 won’t play in the corner OF spot. You lose 15 runs putting him in RF, and close to 20 runs if you put him in LF.
Miller Ford Clase for Arozarena and Parades
Not remotely enough. You’re talking about adding 7-8 Wins to the Mariners at a cost of around $12.5MM in 2024 (with 3 years of control for Aroz and 4 for Paredes). I don’t understand why Mariner fans can’t understand how costly that’s going to be.
We’ll see….
As a Mariners fan I can tell you why, complete opposite end of the country… Most Mariner’s fan’s think Paredes is a throw-in to the Arozarena deal…
On that note, I would prefer to just go after Aroz, I don’t mind your proposal on BTV though. I would swap out Felnin though (for higher valued prospect) he will be untouchable by the Org for a few years at least
Well, you don’t get if you don’t ask. Celesten would be a huge get for the Rays, but I understand what you’re saying.
Now that the Mariners have shed some bad contracts and sent Kelenic to the Braves to go strike out somewhere else (over 30% strikeout rate), Arozarena would be terrific pickup for a permanent COF spot, even if it cost Bryce Miller. Then they’d have to sign Blake Snell (who’s a Seattle native and is begging for a Mariners jersey) to complete a pretty good rotation.
“Full Throttle ” was the quote for the Redsox off season. Where’s it at? That’s the ONLY things the Nation better witness or the seats and support will continue to decline
Does Alex Speier ever say something worth quoting? Seriously, Boston won’t sign a pitcher with a QO attached? Breslow doesn’t confirm it yet Speier wants his own opinions to be quoted by lesser writers?
Wake up and lay off the Speier quotes. He’s an idiot. Like so many commentators (can’t call them reporters since they make up half the crap they write) he is either pushing his own agenda or the agenda of someone who leaks stories to him. There is no guarantee of truth in any of it.
Who cares if they will or won’t sign QO starting pitchers. Just sign one so we have something to talk about!!!! My suggestion is get Yamamoto with an over pay like Bloom did with Devers, Story, Yoshida and so many more. Those over pays didn’t kill the team either will a Yamamoto over pay.
Of course.
Breslow’s quote:
“there are instances where a player being attached to draft pick compensation “shouldn’t be an impediment or deterrent,” there are also other situations where a QO could be an obstacle.”
The quote is a nothing-burger, and a philosophy shared by probably every GM. If you are signing Ohtani, the #2 pick you surrender isn’t even a rounding error. If you are signing a low-end player, it is a much more important part of the overall value.
Past that, I agree. I’d tell YY’s agent that can sign him today, at the right price, or he can get back to me with any legit offers he is getting and then simply top that offer. Then acquire a #2 type. I had no problem with a rebuild or reset, but the reason a big-market team does that is to go on a spending binge.
Mets should trade for Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Man, I have GOT to get over it
Unfortunately, the only way I could see him returning would be in a trade for the polar bear. I think it would be a big mistake to trade the face of the organization.
This just in…
I’M NOT SPENDING A PENNY ON ANYTHING BOSTON REDSOX IN 2024 UNTIL THEY CHANGE MY MIND!
END OF STORY!
REDSOX NATION MEMBER