Pink Sox
After reportedly providing over $700 million for Soto, the Pink Sox ought to pivot to a number of different free brokers.
COMMENTARY
Juan Soto isn’t strolling by that door.
After weeks of negotiations that launched baseball’s most anticipated bidding conflict into a brand new fiscal stratosphere, the Pink Sox’ aggressive pursuit of celebrity outfielder Juan Soto got here to a disappointing finish on Sunday evening.
Soto is not going to be placing dents into the Inexperienced Monster for years to come back … at the least not till the Mets come to city.
The 26-year-old slugger put pen to paper on a 10-year, $765 million contract with the Mets — inking the most important contract in skilled sports activities historical past.
The Pink Sox — who reportedly provided Soto a 15-year contract value at the least $700 million, in line with MassLive’s Sean McAdam — sadly don’t have anything to point out for his or her aggressive efforts so as to add arguably one of the best hitter in baseball.
Nothing aside from a number of stories — and outright pledges from high brass like staff president Sam Kennedy — that the Pink Sox plan to aggressively bolster a roster that has missed the playoffs in 5 of the final six seasons.
A reported $700 million supply for Soto would seemingly validate that try for Boston to proper the ship simply as an inflow of younger, homegrown expertise enters the big-league ranks.
However that received’t imply a lot of something if the aggressiveness and willingness to spend closely on Soto isn’t channeled into what must be a frantic couple of days throughout MLB’s Winter Conferences.
As transformative a slugger as Soto is, signing him alone wasn’t going to shift the fortunes of a Pink Sox staff that had way more urgent wants elsewhere on the roster.
It’s a sentiment that Craig Breslow shared with McAdam earlier this month.
“I believe the one factor we need to keep away from is placing ourselves able the place the success of our offseason hinges on a single transaction,” Breslow instructed McAdam. “As a result of there’s simply an excessive amount of uncertainty round any of that. We have now to consistently take into consideration, ‘OK, that is Plan A, but when that falls by, what does Plan B appear to be and what does Plan C appear to be?’ And so forth.
So … what’s Plan B and C for the Pink Sox now that Soto is organising store in Queens?
Bolster the beginning rotation
Even when Soto was swatting homers into the Pink Sox bullpen in 2025, his presence within the coronary heart of the lineup would have nonetheless finished little to raise a Boston rotation nonetheless woefully quick on top-end expertise.
If the Pink Sox are prepared to shell out $700 million to a luxurious like Soto, one has to imagine that Boston could have the means to signal at the least one of many high pitchers on the free-agent market in Corbin Burnes or Max Fried.
Boston has reportedly already met with each starters simply because the market is ready to inevitably ramp up following Soto’s signing.
Burnes is a 30-year-old workhorse who already has a Cy Younger Award on his resume (2021), whereas Fried would give Boston a much-needed southpaw of their rotation. Regardless that Fried might not have the identical sturdiness as Burnes — his career-best in innings pitched is 185.1 — he did end second within the NL Cy Younger Award voting in 2022.
Whereas the Pink Sox have the power to signal a No. 1 starter in free company, they may additionally pivot (or outright complement) a kind of signings by additionally buying and selling for a youthful, cost-controlled expertise.
Be it Triston Casas, Wilyer Abreu, or one of many many blue-chip prospects of their system, the Pink Sox ought to have the power to dive into any sweepstakes involving gifted arms like Garrett Crochet or different starters with excessive ceilings and years of staff management.
Boston already has a strong basis of starters in place with arms like Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, and Brayan Bello. One other starter (or two) would all of a sudden make that an space of power for the Pink Sox for the primary time in a very long time.
Add a right-handed bat
The Pink Sox are in want of extra pop on the plate, particularly relating to right-handed batters.
It ought to come as little shock that the Pink Sox have been instantly linked to slugging outfielder Teoscar Hernandez — he of 14 residence runs and 44 RBI in 45 profession video games at Fenway Park — as a high contingency plan for Soto simply hours earlier than the now-Mets star signed.
Anthony Santander — who slugged 44 residence runs final season with the Orioles — is one other potential choice in free company.
Boston’s willingness to maneuver Casas if it nets a gifted pitcher additionally opens up extra potentialities — be it signing Pete Alonso as an outright substitute or shifting Rafael Devers to first and signing/buying and selling for a nook infielder like Alex Bregman or Nolan Arenado.
Add one other energy arm within the bullpen
The Pink Sox did add a flamethrowing lefty already in Aroldis Chapman final week. However even along with his addition and the anticipated return of Liam Hendriks following Tommy John surgical procedure, Boston may use one other bullpen arm with a robust strikeout price to assist ferry the Sox by these perilous closing innings of a sport.
Boston might not need to shell out the massive bucks for an additional hard-throwing lefty like Tanner Scott, however a righty like Jeff Hoffman (2.17 ERA, 89 strikeouts in 66.1 innings of labor with the Phillies) might be an intriguing choice.
Add within the return of Garrett Whitlock in a possible lengthy aid position and the encouraging play of Justin Slaten final 12 months, and Boston has the means to assemble an electrical bullpen with simply one other impression signing.
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