Perfection is a nice ideal to strive for, but living in an imperfect world, we often have to settle for less.
Not the Red Sox, mind you. In John Henry’s eyes, there’s either a perfect deal… or there’s no deal.
That’s the mindset these Sox have seemed to live by the past half decade, and I fear it’s exactly the parameters that Craig Breslow is being forced to operate within yet again this offseason.
Why do I think that? Let me ask you this: when is the last time this team exerted itself to bring in a top tier free agent? Exactly, case in point.
If the Sox really want to get one of these remaining top tier free agents — be it Corbin Burnes, Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, Teoscar Hernandez, etc. — they’re almost certainly going to have to push past their comfort zone contractually.
I’m sure Breslow & Co. have their ideal number for each of their target free agents. But winning organizations have that initial figure AND the range they’re willing to exceed it to sign a player. I just don’t believe that secondary range exists right now within this front office right now…
Maybe, just maybe, the number you’ve set for a certain player will be good enough to get a deal done. Yet in a system where the market determines your value, the number is almost always going to balloon up way past the initial figure.
Breslow said it himself earlier this offseason: the Sox are going to need to get uncomfortable to bring in talent. It seems they did that on the trade front for Garrett Crochet, and that’s commendable. Still, we haven’t seen them do that yet on the open market.
And time’s running out…
Constant contact
The Sox’s front office might not have a lot of home runs when it comes to free-agent signings, but at least they have a pretty decent batting average.
Because they’re always making constant contact with every free agent on the market…
Beyond that, of course, nothing much else happens.
The latest word on Boston’s free-agent pursuit is that they’ve remained “in contact” with Burnes (still feels unlikely), Walker Buehler (I’d take him) and Nick Pivetta (blech), according to The Boston Globe’s reporting.
Well, that’s good… I guess? It’s better than not being in contact with key free agents, and you have to talk to guys to get deals done obviously. Yet almost every single time, it seems like these conversations go nowhere.
As BSJ member “Brian” astutely commented on a previous column following the Patrick Sandoval signing, “Given their track record, the only reasonable disposition is to presume they're done until they prove they weren’t.”
As always, the ball is in the Sox’s court here. The only way to change the narrative is by making a significant signing.
How about starting with Alex Bregman?
Connecting the dots
Christian Walker is now an Astro. Paul Goldschmidt is going to be a Yankee.
On face value, those look like bad outcomes for the Red Sox. Two American League contenders who are closer to winning a World Series than you are just got better.
But if you’re the Sox — or somebody hoping the Sox sign Bregman — then these are two very welcomed developments.
With Houston’s addition of Walker on a three-year, $60 million deal, consensus thinking is that the ‘Stros are now officially out of the running for retaining Bregman’s services.
As for Goldschmidt, who signed a one-year, $12.5-million deal with New York, it represents another one of 26 spots filled for the Yanks and could also make a Bregman signing less likely.
Of course, New York isn’t paying a ton for Goldschmidt. But with the luxury tax threshold for 2025 set at $241 million and a $266 million projected payroll before this signing, the dollars and cents are adding up.
(And for what it’s worth, that payroll is still down from last year’s $308 million figure…)
Now, nobody would be truly shocked if the Yankees or Astros turned around and signed Bregman, but I do think these moves increase the likelihood that Bregman winds up coming to Boston. It may only be by a percentage point or two, but it’s something…
Spring flings
The Sox have officially sent out their non-roster invitations to the debutante ball that is spring training.
The list includes catcher Seby Zavala and utility man Nate Eaton. More interestingly, it also includes pitchers Michael Fulmer, Bryan Mata, Isaiah Campbell and Wyatt Mills.
My eyes will be on Fulmer and Mata, first and foremost. Fulmer comes with the bigger billing as a former AL Rookie of the Year and one-time All-Star, but is coming off UCL surgery.
Fulmer signed a two-year, minor league deal with Boston prior to last season, so now is his chance to take the ball and run with it. I’m optimistic that he will be able to grab a roster spot and become a valuable bullpen contributor.
As for Mata, this may very well be his last shot to prove he’s major league worthy — and certainly with Boston, who let him go earlier this offseason before re-signing him on a minor league deal. Despite a solid 3.46 career ERA in the minors, the powers that be have yet to be convinced to give him a shot in Boston.
Campbell is still a project who is worth keep around in the system as a depth piece.
As for Mills, Zavala and Eaton, it’s much ado about nothing to me. But hey, I’m always open to spring-boarding a strong spring training into carving out a role as a contributor….
RIP Rickey
Rickey Henderson had but a cup of coffee here in Boston during his legendary career.
Still, in true Rickey fashion, baseball’s greatest base stealer still made an impact.
Henderson made the second-to-last stop of his quarter-century big league career in Boston, playing 72 games with the Red Sox in the 2002 season. By that point he was a shell of his former self, batting just .223 with five homers, 16 RBIs and only eight steals.
(Amazingly, his eight-steal season with the Sox marked just the third time in his *25-year-career* that he finished with fewer than 22 steals in a campaign. That’s pretty wild…)
Nevertheless, it was still fun to see Rickey in a Red Sox uniform. That was around the time I was coming into my own as a young Sox fan, and I remember being enamored with him even then.
Like Ken Griffey Jr., Rickey Henderson is one of a handful of players in baseball history who simply personify the word “cool.” To me, Griffey is the Michael Jordan of baseball, and Henderson isn’t far behind…
His best days may not have come with Boston, but the Red Sox will forever remain a small part of the story of one of baseball’s greatest players ever.
Rest in peace, Rickey.