It's no secret the Boston Red Sox came into this offseason with many holes to fill. To their credit, some of those needs have been met.
Boston's starting rotation is exponentially better than it was at the end of the season. The additions of Garret Crochet, Walker Buehler, and Patrick Sandoval, plus the return of Lucas Giolito, have quickly elevated the Red Sox rotation to arguably the best in the AL East.
Those starting pitching additions have fortified Boston's bullpen as well, pushing the back end of last year's rotation into relief roles. Couple that with the addition of Aroldis Chapman, and the Red Sox pitching staff has an entirely new look heading into 2025.
At the Red Sox's end-of-season press conference, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy both spoke on the team's offseason needs. Of course, both mentioned the need for more pitching depth, but both Breslow and Kennedy also mentioned the need for a right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup. Breslow would go on to highlight the impact of Tyler O'Neill and his 31 home runs from the right side of the plate. The Red Sox front office seems to be singing another tune as of late.
"Agents have come away believing Alex Cora and Sam Kennedy want to add a middle-of-the-order hitter," wrote Pete Abraham in The Boston Globe. "But Breslow, John Henry, and Tom Werner have been cautious."
Abraham would go on to report the Red Sox are not willing to go beyond "short-term, team friendly deals," because of a belief their top prospects Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer will be ready to contribute at the big league level this year.
The Red Sox had the opportunity to offer Tyler O'Neill a qualifying offer this winter worth $21.05 million and chose not to. They have had the ability to sign Alex Bregman this winter, and reportedly have yet to make a competitive offer.
Big market teams do not need to operate on a wait-for-the-prospects basis. The entire advantage of having the financial capabilities the Red Sox have is that they can spend more on free agents and homegrown talent than other teams. The Red Sox have two golden examples in the last five years of instances where they were not willing to pay homegrown talent top dollar to stay in Boston. That same trend is readily apparent with free agents as well.
The Boston Red Sox have not signed a major league free agent hitter since they gave Adam Duvall a one-year, $7 million deal in January 2023 under the leadership of Chaim Bloom. Over two years have gone by since one of the wealthiest ownership groups in baseball have signed a major league bat to a team that has missed the postseason in four of the last five years.
Whether Anthony, Campbell and Mayer become stars is yet to be determined. Their current ability to contribute at the major league level is also unknown. But the Red Sox reportedly have so much faith in these top prospects, they are seemingly willing to suffer the slings and arrows of their fanbase in lieu of spending like they are able and expected to.
