The Red Sox are looking to improve their rotation this winter but it remains to be seen how exactly that will play out. They have previously been connected to top free agents such as Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Blake Snell, as well as trade candidate Garrett Crochet.
This week, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Sox actually want to of those top free agents. Sean McAdam of MassLive reports that the Sox are continuing to keep tabs on the pitching market while engaging with Juan Soto. They did have some interest in lefty Yusei Kikuchi, though it’s unclear how strong that interest was and he now has an agreement with the Angels. As for Crochet, McAdam reports that the Sox have pulled off the gas a bit there, with some unknown club getting “very aggressive” recently.
Very early in the offseason, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said the club would be looking to the “raise the ceiling” in the rotation and these pursuits all align with that goal. Burnes, Fried and Snell all have long track records of major league success, with Burnes having a Cy Young award and Snell having two of them. Fried doesn’t have the hardware but does have a 3.07 earned run average in just under 900 career innings. Crochet only just transitioned to the rotation in 2024 but did so with aplomb, posting a 3.58 ERA, 35.1% strikeout rate, 5.5% walk rate and 45.1% ground ball rate in 146 innings.
Any one of those pitchers would be a nice upgrade for Boston or any other club, though that will also make them very popular. In addition to the Sox, those pitchers have been connected to clubs like the Blue Jays, Orioles, Yankees, Dodgers and Padres. There are plenty of other clubs that also make sense, even if they haven’t been explicitly tied to those pitchers in rumors.
For the Sox to come away with two of those pitchers would make for quite an aggressive offseason, but that’s exactly what the club has been signaling. Both Breslow and CEO Sam Kennedy have made comments suggesting the club is planning to act boldly this winter, with Kennedy recently saying that paying the competitive balance tax is on the table. Many fans of the club will bring up last year’s “full throttle” comments from chairman Tom Werner and how those didn’t precede much action last winter, but the club is being more specific this year. Kennedy has repeatedly said the goal is to field a club capable of winning 90 to 95 games and taking the division.
Spending money on free agents is one way they could go about accomplishing that. RosterResource projects the 2025 club for a payroll of $138MM, well below their $184MM spending from 2024, which was itself a drop from what they spent in the previous decade. RR pegs the club’s CBT number at $171MM, which is $70MM below the lowest threshold.
There’s plenty of room in there for two notable contracts, though successfully signing Soto would obviously completely change the calculus, given the expectation that he’ll sign a record-setting contract. Leaving that aside for now, big contracts for two of the big free agent starters is a feasible outcome. As part of MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents post, each of Burnes, Fried and Snell were projected for contracts with average annual values between $26MM and $32MM. Putting two of those onto Boston’s payroll still wouldn’t even get them to the CBT line. They will presumably also make additions to the bullpen and maybe the position player group as well, but with a willingness to cross the line, all sorts of possibilities could be on the table for them.
Crochet would be far cheaper from a financial perspective, with the biggest cost coming in the form of prospect capital. Since he has spent so much of his career either working in relief or injured, he is down to two years of club control but hasn’t been able to raise his salary very high through the arbitration process. He made just $800K in 2024 and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a raise to just $2.9MM in 2025. He would be due another raise in 2026 before he’s slated to become a free agent.
Two years of an ace-caliber pitcher for that kind of money is tremendous value, which is why Crochet figures to be very popular in trade talks. The Red Sox have a strong farm system and could certainly get a deal done if they wanted to, though it seems some mystery club has pulled ahead of them, per McAdam’s reporting.
For now, the Boston rotation projects to be fronted by Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford. Houck had a breakout season in 2024 but may have run out of gas, as he had a 2.54 ERA in the first half and a 4.23 mark in the second. Bello and Crawford are each coming off decent but not outstanding seasons, each finishing with an ERA in the 4.35-4.50 range. Lucas Giolito and Garrett Whitlock could be in the mix in 2025 but they are fairly unknown quantities right now as each underwent internal brace surgery in 2024.
Adding to that group would improve Boston’s chances in 2025 while bumping guys like Cooper Criswell, Richard Fitts and Quinn Priester to depth roles, either in the minors or in the big league bullpen.
The interest in Kikuchi suggests that the Sox are also open to some of mid-market options. With Kikuchi now gone, some of the other names that could be in line for somewhat similar deals include Jack Flaherty, Sean Manaea, Nathan Eovaldi, Luis Severino and old friend Nick Pivetta.
The qualifying offer will likely be a factor, depending on who the Sox ultimately sign. Snell, Eovaldi and Flaherty were ineligible to receive a QO, Snell and Eovaldi because they had already received one and Flaherty because he was traded midseason. Burnes, Fried, Manaea and Severino rejected QOs, meaning the Sox would have to forfeit their second-best pick in next year’s draft and $500K of international bonus pool space to sign them. Pivetta rejected a QO from the Red Sox, meaning they stand to receive a compensation pick just ahead of the third round if he signs elsewhere, though they would not receive that pick if they ultimately re-sign him.
“Some unknown club.” Move over Mystery Team!
As long as its not the Angels, I really could care less who the mystery team is..
It was the phillies – offering Alec Bohm which the chi sox should be very interested in.
The Sox should have zero interest in a guy with 2 years of control.
Yeah I don’t see the Sox having any interest in a return centered around Bohm. Players with 2 yrs of team control don’t fit at all for a team pretty much at bottom of a rebuild.
Hmm. Trade Bohm and sign Bregman maybe.
And the White Sox hung up because the Phillies wouldn’t include Painter
Bohm has two years of control. White Sox have zero interest unless he’s a third piece or something.
Crochet only has two years of control and at this point Bohm might be the more polished player
Why would the White Sox be interested in Bohm? He only has 2 more years of control and there’s no way Chicago is crazy enough to think they’re going to be a contending team in the next 2 years. If they did they wouldn’t be getting rid of Crochet in the first place.
Dodgers would mess with Getz’s head longer for it to be them being aggressive. Doubt Balt either.
I think there is a w missing in the first sentence of paragraph 2.
The Red Sox are lucky that Pivetta declined their offer. They seem to have a desire to spend and also they have players to trade. Could be an exciting offseason for them.
“Sox actually want to of those top free agents.”
Is this supposed to read, “two of those top…”, or is there words missing after “want to…”?
They supposedly want to sign two of Burnes, Fried and Snell.
Wow, that’s interesting. I could definitely see them doing this though.
The Red Sox are my second favorite team I would love to see Crochet traded there. It would nice to see Crochet, Gio and Hendriks on the same team again.
Yep, if the stars align you could catch them all on the same rehab assignment in Portland/Pawtucket
oh, how droll.
TWO not TO
There’s a bunch of free agent pitchers available.
“This week, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Sox actually want TO…, of those top free agents.”
Yes we know they WANT TO, and they’ll select from those top free agents.
Question is, will they?
The aggressive team was the Phillies. Chicago should not play this hold out game, if they get an overwhelming offer, don’t mess around, take it! Learn from the failures of teams before you. Bohm would be a huge return for Crochet.
Bohm would be a nice starting point.
Why should the White Sox be interested in Bohm? He’s only under team control for 2 more years. They won’t be able to compete in those years.
Why should they be interested? Crochet is better and cheaper than Bohm. Maybe if Bohm was the 3rd piece they are getting back.
Bohm would be a huge mistake for Sox. It does nothing for a rebuild, just wastes 2 yrs of MLB talent on a roster devoid of talent as they try and bolster farm system.
Bohm would be a throw in. White Sox are uninterested in a player who won’t be there when they’re good again.
To the Sox he’d be a throw in. For the Phillies they obviously view his value as much more then that. That’s why any trade between the 2 seems a near uncertainty involving Bohm and Crochet.
Ahhhh, just like old times……
LOL
The Red Sox are “interested” in every big name FA in this offseason.
Now all we need are articles saying the Yankees are going to sign at least one of the top starting pitchers along with Pete Alonso as soon as they re-sign Soto.
You might want to take a break from the Internet for a day or two,
I have an iffy feeling about Burnes. He didn’t seem to have quite the effectiveness the second half of ’24. I hope that isn’t an early sign of TJS for ’25 or ’26.
Typo Mistake
“This week, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Sox actually want to of those top free agents.”
Incorrect to, should be two.
Have a great day!
Relax boys & girls. Theo is in the house. Don’t forget amigos! This is exactly why he was hired. Stop w/ all the negativity. 2025 is going to be awesome! 🙂
O agree but you are ying yang. Haters gonna hate. And Red Sox fans gonna hate on their team most of all
Even the writers of these articles keep saying :”full throttle”
It was a throwaway comment during a press conference. The actions mattered those two stupid words didn’t.
For the love of God, please stop.
Why are half the comments here calling out the same insignificant typo… MLBTR posts often have typos, who cares
It shows how egotistical and self centered everyone is ! They are so obsessed with posting their comment they can’t even read the existing comments first. All bc they were triggered by a spelling error. smh
They’re probably not mentioned ever because they’re highly likely to return to their clubs, but hope the Sox are in on guys like John Means, Shane Bieber. Short-term, high-upside contracts. That would count as “raising the ceiling” to me – a Tier-1 plus one of those guys would be great.
As a big Red Sox fan, I want nothing to do with Crochet. He might be a long term ace, but there’s nothing to suggest that he can stay healthy and perform, and he’s going to be expensive.
Here’s an ideal offseason for the Sox:
1. Sign Soto.
2. Sign Fried / Snell / Some Top Tier FA
3. Use those two signings, convince Sasaki that Boston is going to the best fit for him.
Signing Soto adds another great bat and will help take pressure off of Devers – Soto seems to want to be in the spotlight while Devers doesn’t. That’s perfectly fine.
They will need another big signing to show Sasaki they’re committed to winning. In comes one of the top tier SP. Having that top tier SP will help not only Sasaki, but the existing Sox rotation as it’s pretty young.
While I think all of this is possible, I find it highly unlikely. It all will start with Soto, as he’s likely the first domino to fall. If the Sox miss out on him, they could still have a good offseason by spending on two SP and a RHB.
I am a big critic of FSG in recent years, but they can quickly turn around the narrative by signing Soto or a top tier SP.
Seems dwindling attendance and falling tv ratings are motivating Henry to at least consider opening his wallet this winter