The Red Sox’s offseason has dried up like the Sahara…
After the fruitless but entertaining Juan Soto pursuit, the exciting trade for Garrett Crochet and the Walker Buehler signing, the local nine have not done much of substance. And don’t look now, but pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers on February 12th…
Yet plenty of roster deficiencies remain, such as that whole “needing to add a legitimate right-handed hitter” thing. That still feels pretty important, and if the Sox wind up punting on that need, it will be an incomplete, “C” level offseason.
Alex Bregman and the rumors tying him to Boston remain. It appears his other options are also drying up, which might just leave the Sox by default. In that case, I can’t imagine Bregman will be thrilled to come to Boston. The team has basically said “yeah, we’ll take you… I guess.” If he really wanted to be here so badly, he’d be here already.
So while we wait for that stalemate to sort out, I’d like to revist another — and potentially better — fit who could check that box of aforementioned need for the Sox.
Pete Morgan Alonso, a.k.a. the Polar Bear.
I have been genuinely shocked at the seemingly non-existent market for a four-time All-Star who only just turned 30 years old and routinely hits 30 to 40 homers a year. How is that not a high priority for teams?
Now, Alonso — like Bregman — is no Soto or Shohei Ohtani. The latter two add more consistent contact hitting to their gaudy power numbers. Alsono, meanwhile, hit just .240 last season and has a lifetime .249 average.
I thought we didn't care about batting average anymore in modern baseball?
Perhaps Alonso and his agent (shocker, Scott Boras) are asking for the moon, won’t budge and teams just aren’t willing to meet him there. He’s running into the same problem Bregman has, though: running low on suitors, and running low on time.
The potential for the Sox to swoop in and give him a very John Henry-led Sox-type deal is increasing. As with Buehler, why not offer Alonso a one-year “prove it” deal for something in the mid-$20 million range?
You get a motivated Alonso playing for a contract and all the power benefits that come with him, you don’t have to overcommit, and it gives the core hitting prospects another year to season.
Of course, there’s the whole “where do you put him” dilemma. Triston Casas is firmly entrenched at first base, as well he should be. That leaves the designated hitter spot, and we’d be back to “trade Masataka Yoshida” territory. I don’t think anybody has a problem with that (except for the Sox, only because they're going to have to pay a good chunk of change to get out of that one)…
Any way you slice it, it's annoying to see the Sox once again fail to be aggressive with an obvious need to fill and options to address it so readily available.
But hey, what else is new?
No. 2, but No. 1 in our hearts…
Roman Anthony is getting screwed a little bit…
The Sox’s top prospect who rose to No. 1 in Baseball America’s prospect rankings at the end of last season is again among the best of the best this season according to MLB.com's list.
He just isn’t number one…
That designation would belong to Roki Sasaki, of all people. You know, the 23-year-old Japanese pitching sensation who wouldn’t even give the Sox a sniff in free agency (and why should he?) before eventually deciding to join those underdog Dodgers…
I’m not saying Sasaki isn’t one of the best and brightest young talents in the game. He sure seems to be, and again, he is 23 years old and he is a “rookie” as far as MLB rules are concerned.
But there’s a catch. Unlike Anthony, who hasn’t played in his nation’s top league to date, Sasaki has played in the top league in his native Japan, including spending the last *five years* with Chiba Lotte in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Who’s excited to see Roman Anthony hit at Fenway? ✋ pic.twitter.com/ZvR4YOoS10
— MLB (@MLB) January 25, 2025
Anthony, 20, can at least claim the title of the top “hitting prospect” in baseball at No. 2 overall, but I definitely think he has a gripe here — if he even cares at all. Ultimately, being a No. 1 prospect in baseball doesn’t guarantee success. It’s a nice honor to have in your back pocket, but there have been plenty of top prospects who haven’t been able to parlay that staus into stardom or even a successful career.
Thus far, it doesn’t seem like Anthony is at risk of being a flop. He seems pretty legit...
Wagner gets his day
A former Red Sox player is headed to Cooperstown.
It isn’t any of the (should be) obvious candidates, of course. Manny Ramirez isn’t headed to Cooperstown yet, even though he should. And I’ve already made my opinions clear on Dustin Pedroia’s Hall candidacy… no.
But Billy Wagner?
Relievers have been a scarcity in the Baseball Hall, and that feels like an understatment. There have been 20,787 players to ever play in the majors. Of that number, only 351 are in the Hall of Fame.
And only nine are relief pitchers... and Wagner is now one of them.
Now, I don’t mean to knock his career. I think Wagner’s career was wothy of Hall of Fame consideration, but why should a closer who doesn’t even rank in the top five in saves (you know, the ONE stat that completely defines that position) be in?
Wagner is eighth all-time in saves, even trailing active relievers and former Sox closers Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel. As much as I loved Kimbrel (hard pass on Jansen), do we think either of those guys are HOFers? No, of course not.
This was Wagner’s last year of eligibility, and wouldn’t you know it, he magically gets in. We’re talking about a guy who got 10.5 percent of the vote in his first year of eligibility. Suddenly, in his last, he gets 82.5 percent???
What a dumb, self-righteous sham this whole process is…
Don’t even get me started on the Mannys and Alex Rodriguezes of the world. Clear as day Hall of Famers like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens didn’t get their day in Cooperstown. I’ve made my opinions clear there, and I know many of you disagree. So be it, that’s fine.
Oh, and the whole Ichiro debacle… being left off one ballot? What a joke.
I don’t have a Hall of Fame vote. I know and respect many of my colleagues who do. But something has to change here. This process is very broken and the role of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and some of the “holier-than-thou" attitudes of voters has gotten out of hand…
It’s time to Make Baseball’s Hall Great Again.
