With how lackluster the “full throttle” offseason from the Boston Red Sox was last winter, the first under Craig Breslow, it would be hard for fans to not approach this offseason with caution. Despite the Red Sox meeting with Juan Soto, being connected to the likes of Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell, Max Fried, Garrett Crochet and many others, and a consistent buzz that the team would spend, what evidence since the Mookie Betts trade has there been that would actually be the case?
Now, Red Sox fans have a reason to believe in that — and hopefully not a reason to be rightfully furious come March.
On Wednesday night, Mike Silverman of the Boston Globe spoke with Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy about the team’s offseason plans. And after not outright speaking on the plan for how aggressive the organization would be this winter, despite having already met once with Soto, he spoke plainly and aggressively about the plan:
“Even if it takes us over the CBT [Competitive Balance Tax]. Our priority is 90 to 95 wins, and winning the American League East, and winning the division for multiple years.”
That’s as clear as it gets, but Kennedy wasn’t done there.
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One of the big reasons for the caution from fans to believe that Boston’s brass was serious about a pursuit of Soto or even just spending big this offseason is because the franchise already has Rafael Devers under a $313 million long-term contract. But Kennedy didn’t back down from the possibility of inking Soto to a longer, more expensive deal projected to go over $600 million in total value. When asked about the Red Sox being willing to add another contract of that magnitude, he again was frank.
“Is that possible? If that’s what it takes, yeah, absolutely. We are investing more than we did last year. We intend to invest going forward.
“There is an extreme urgency internally to be competing for the American League East Championship and to set ourselves up for a deep postseason run in 2025 without question. The goal is to win 90 plus games to not be worrying about a wild-card spot.”
In addition to Soto, which Kennedy said he couldn’t divulge details of, the Red Sox president also specifically noted that the team will pursue “front of the rotation guys and bullpen” arms, two of the most obvious needs for the club. That also confirms what we’ve already heard with the connections to Sasaki, Crochet, Snell, Fried and more.
Beyond that, Kennedy relayed that the impression from his early discussions were that Boston was an attractive destination with the young core the organization has in place or coming up with three Top 25 prospects on the verge of their major-league debuts.
Make no mistake, all of this talk is just that until there are names on dotted lines for the Red Sox. However, to hear this message coming from the top of the organization is something unfamiliar over the last half-decade. This isn’t a vague promise of good things — it’s an outright promise that big moves are coming.
If they don’t, then the ire will be more fervent than in previous years, as it should be. At this point and after hearing Kennedy’s comments, though, it’s getting harder to not believe in what the Red Sox have cooking.
