Even after missing out on Juan Soto, Red Sox must stay aggressive in free-agent market

DALLAS — Imagine being told at the outset of the offseason that the Boston Red Sox would engage in a legitimate pursuit of star free-agent outfielder Juan Soto. Better yet, that Soto would meet with the Red Sox, and the team would be considered a finalist for him. And get this: The Red Sox would eventually offer him a contract worth $700 million.

Oh, one more detail: That $700M offer over 15 years? It would not be nearly enough to sign Soto.

That would be a lot to process on several fronts if you had been granted a peek into the future back at the beginning of November. But now that this month-long saga has reached its epic conclusion — with Soto signing a 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets, the largest contract in professional sports history — we are left to contemplate the fallout for the teams that failed to seal the deal, Boston especially.

When Soto’s historic free agency commenced, the Red Sox did not seem like relevant characters. A franchise mired in mediocrity in recent years had rarely acted like the big-market behemoth it purported to be, especially in the winters since the team failed to extend and eventually traded homegrown superstar Mookie Betts to the Dodgers in fundamentally embarrassing fashion. This winter, it seemed highly unlikely that many — if any — non-New York clubs would be prepared to make competitive offers for an unprecedented free agent such as Soto — let alone a team such as Boston that had been maddeningly frugal in recent years.

It wasn’t just the Yankees and Mets, though. The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers also emerged as quasi-finalists in the Soto sweepstakes, though neither became a fixture in the daily discourse surrounding Soto’s future the way Boston did over the past month. After their surprise pursuit of Shohei Ohtani last winter, Toronto, as a big-market club eager to reassert its relevance with a massive star, made sense as an aggressive entrant. And the laughably loaded Dodgers are always involved when elite talent becomes available via trade or free agency; that’s just what they do.

But the Dodgers and Blue Jays remained on the periphery of the conversation as the East Coast elites prepared for the ultimate bidding war. It was the Red Sox who surfaced as the most viable competition for the two New York clubs, fueled by a rejuvenated willingness to spend at the highest level and a rich history of Dominican stars such as David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez publicly declaring their desire to see their countryman choose their preferred team.

On the surface, it’s some consolation that Soto chose not to stay with Boston’s biggest rival for the next 15 years. This is not an insignificant outcome for Boston. With him departing the AL East (and the AL in general), not only will the Red Sox need to worry far less about getting Juan Soto out on a regular basis, but also the Yankees are a far worse team without him. The gap between Boston and New York is undeniably smaller now, with Soto no longer alongside Aaron Judge forming baseball’s most overwhelming offensive duo atop the Yankees lineup.

But there’s still a gap. The Red Sox won 81 games in 2024, while the Yankees won 94 and reached the World Series. And even if you subtract Soto from New York’s lineup, there’s still reason to feel good about the Yankees’ roster compared to Boston’s.

And this is where the Yankees also missing out on Soto might turn out to be bad news for Boston. While the Red Sox and their fans can point and laugh at the Yankees’ failure to retain a player of Soto’s caliber, their own team’s path toward becoming a legitimate playoff contender again might’ve just become more daunting.

Because now the Yankees must pivot as well. And if both of these clubs were willing to spend that much on a single player, might they be prepared to spend a similar amount on a more diversified collection of free agents and trade acquisitions? Having not committed to Soto, the Yankees now both have more funds to allocate to other players and are further motivated to do so with such a crucial piece having departed their roster. Based on recent reports, both clubs have interest in several of the same free agents, namely the two top frontline arms on the market in Corbin Burnes and Max Fried. Either starter will cost a hefty chunk of change regardless of the circumstances, but having a motivated team in the Yankees eager to not be outbid again could complicate pursuits for Boston.

And by the way: The Mets — who have no reason to stop spending now — need pitching as well. The San Francisco Giants, who also appear eager to spend their way out of the messy middle and back into contention, have already landed one big fish in shortstop Willy Adames. They, too, are interested in adding to their rotation. Starting pitching has proven to be costly on the market so far this winter, and now the Red Sox must fend off several foes in order to address their most glaring weakness.

It’s not just about the pitching, either. Even with help on the way via an ultra-stacked farm system flush with position-player talent, Boston could use some instant impact on offense, especially with one of their biggest 2024 bats in Tyler O’Neill having signed with rival Baltimore on a three-year deal. The Sox are reportedly linked with outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, a perfect fit whom they also pursued a year ago. But swaying him from a reunion with the Dodgers will not be easy, and the Yankees might get involved now, with their outfield looking far more shallow post-Soto.

Help on the mound must remain Boston’s focus, though. Aroldis Chapman was an intriguing, if volatile, step toward addressing the bullpen. If not Fried or Burnes, there are other options for the rotation. But the market is moving quickly, and this is not a team that can afford to wait around for Plans C, D or E.

In the end, Soto opted to stay in New York, and the Red Sox’s surprising chase came up short. But that’s hardly the end of the story. If anything, it has only enhanced the spotlight on what Craig Breslow and Boston’s front office will attempt to accomplish before Opening Day 2025. Their serious interest in Soto thrust the franchise back into the inner circle of clubs jockeying for the game’s top talent.

The Red Sox have started talking like a big market again. Now it’s time to act like one.