The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are currently two of the five teams left in the Juan Soto sweepstakes. However, neither American League East contender is universally favored to land the outfielder. Many think the New York Mets will come away with the $700 million superstar. If that ends up being the case, these two rival AL East teams will find themselves in bidding wars for the next tier of free agents. Max Fried and Corbin Burnes are two pitchers who have been connected to both the Red Sox and the Yankees.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today recently reported the Yankees and Red Sox were the top two teams involved in the Fried bidding war this winter. “When Matthew Boyd receives a 2-year, $29 million contract without throwing more than 79 innings since 2019, when Luis Severino is getting $67 million over three years and Blake Snell is making an average annual salary of $36.4 million, Burnes and Fried should top $200 million,” Nightengale wrote. “The San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox all lurk. The only drama is whether Fried goes ahead and signs before Burnes, or lets Burnes set the bar. Fried priced himself out of Atlanta but is expected to sign with the Yankees or Red Sox. If Soto goes to the Mets, Fried could find himself in a nice bidding war between the Red Sox and Yankees.”

Both AL East teams have the money to spend, especially if they miss on Soto. When the Soto sweepstakes comes to a close, the teams that missed out on him will quickly pivot to very expensive backup options like Fried and Burnes. I expect both of these starters to land with one of the five Soto suitors (Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers).