Will Red Sox spend money, pursue top free agents? ‘We’re going to engage’

The million dollar question this offseason remains whether the Red Sox will spend big money and compete for the top free agents.

Team chairman Tom Werner said at the beginning of last offseason that the Red Sox planned to go full throttle to improve the roster. That never happened. Boston gave out only $52.25 million in guaranteed money in free agency It went to Lucas Giolito ($38.5M), Liam Hendriks ($10M), Joely Rodriguez ($1.5M), Chase Anderson ($1.25M) and Cooper Criswell ($1M).

“I think it feels different. I think it should feel different,” Breslow said about this offseason here at the GM Meetings. “I know a lot more about the organization. I think we know a lot more about our players. And so being better informed allows us to make better decisions. Ultimately, our goal is to deliver to the fans a team that is capable of winning the World Series every year. And we are approaching this offseason that way.”

Breslow was asked directly whether the Red Sox are in a better position to potentially engage with the top-tier free agents this offseason than they were last winter.

“Without getting kind of into specifics, I think we have to be open to improving our team and I don’t think we’ve been shy about the fact that our position player group is further ahead than our pitching group,” Breslow said. “And so as it relates to upgrades, it will require really elite talent in order to upgrade the position player group in certain instances. So we’ll kind of focus our attention appropriately. But we’re going to engage. We’re going to explore anything that we think makes us better.”

The Red Sox have several needs, including a right-handed hitter, a frontline starting pitcher and multiple relievers.

Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Max Fried, Yusei Kikuchi, Jack Flaherty and Sean Manaea are among the top free agent pitchers.

Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, Aroldis Chapman and Kirby Yates are among the top free agent relievers.

Teoscar Hernández, Gleyber Torres, Pete Alonso, Willy Adames, Alex Bregman, Christian Walker and Jurickson Profar are among the top free agent right-handed hitters available. (Profar is a switch hitter.)

Free agency obviously is not the only path. The Red Sox could make a trade to acquire a frontline starter, which might mean parting with one of their top four prospects.

“The goal is to construct the strongest team we possibly can and we need to be flexible. We need to be open to a number of paths in doing that,” Breslow said.