The Boston Red Sox didn't have the talent to compete with the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, to put it simply.
But Boston does have a strong foundation to build around, so it doesn't need to rebuild or anything like that. It just needs to buy, and it needs to buy aggressively.
Boston has a few places to add this offseason, but notably, it needs to add a starting pitcher or two - preferably two.
While there are pitchers in free agency to add, many of these guys would come with huge contracts and bidding wars. Boston should be looking to add somebody like Jack Flaherty or Max Fried, but they should also explore a trade for Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet.
Here's a deal that could send Crochet to Boston:
- Boston Red Sox receive: LHP Garrett Crochet
- Chicago White Sox receive: SS Franklin Arias (No. 6 prospect), SS Yoeilin Cespedes (No. 7 prospect), OF Miguel Bleis (No. 8 prospect), SS/2B Mikey Romero (No. 16 prospect)
The White Sox are actively looking to shop Crochet this offseason. They're slowly losing their leverage day by day. The longer a deal takes, especially if it takes all the way into the regular season, the cheaper he will be for a team to acquire.
But for now, his value is incredibly high, so if Boston is stingy about its top five prospects, which it likely will be, it will need to deal something along the lines of its sixth, seventh, eighth, and 16th-ranked prospects to acquire Crochet.
Arias and Cespedes are a pair of teenage shortstop prospects. Both have solid tools across the board and have hit well over .300 during their pro ball careers.
Bleis has struggled since being brought up from rookie ball. His ceiling remains high, but he will need some serious development with Chicago.
Romero is a former first-round pick who had a solid season last year where he posted an .821 OPS across three levels of the minor leagues before finishing the season in Double-A.
The Red Sox need an ace at the top of their rotation next to Tanner Houck. If they can find a way to acquire Crochet without touching their top five prospects, they need to take the shot.
Who says no?
