Boston Red Sox 2018-19 offseason is off to a quiet start so far

The Red Sox offseason is off to a quiet start. There have been some rumors about where players may end up but it is quieter from recent years.

Over the last few years, the baseball offseason has gotten off to a quiet start.  There haven’t been many major trades or signing early on in the offseason as we’ve seen in the past. Sometimes a major trade or signing happens closer to spring training in February. As for the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox, it’s been quiet for them too.

For example, the 2003-2004 offseason had some hype to it. The Sox were in the running for Alex Rodriguez. From the start of the offseason to February, the Sox and Yankees were going back-and-forth on who was going to get A-Rod. He eventually would go to the Yankees but all the hype surrounding a big name player wanting to go to two different big name teams is something we haven’t seen since then. There have been rumors about different players may be going to other teams but nothing like we saw in 2003-2004.

All the Sox have done so far is signing Steve Pearce to a one-year, $6.25 million deal. That was a great signing as he was the World Series MVP and could be a great contributor in 2019. The other thing they’ve done this offseason was pick up Chris Sale‘s option for 2019. The Sox will pay him $15 million then will hit free agency after the 2019 season. Finally, of course, David Price opted into his massive contract. Price will remain with the Sox until 2022. He’s won the fans and media over after his domination in the playoffs when it mattered the most. But there are some big name free agents that haven’t been signed yet.

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For example, Nathan Eovaldi, who teams across the league are interested in. It’s around this time we see players deciding where they want to go. I’m sure he’d like to stay in Boston after that great pitching performance in Game Three of the World Series but there are teams who may want to pay him more to play for them. For example, the Yankees, who he’s played for before but didn’t pitch well for them. I don’t seem him going to New York because it didn’t work out before. You would think if the Sox wanted to sign him they would soon before another team snatches him up.

I’m also surprised that closer Craig Kimbrel hasn’t been picked up by another team yet. It’s clear the Sox are moving on from him as he’s testing out free agency. He wasn’t that good this season closing out games. In the postseason he was a complete disappointment, posting an 11.57 ERA against the Yankees in the ALDS.  He also only pitched 2.1 innings and gave up three runs,  on two hits, and three walks. His WHIP was 1.714. In the ALCS, his ERA was 4.50  He gave up two runs on four hits while walking four batters. His WHIP was 2.000. During the World Series, his ERA was 4.15 and gave up two runs on three hits. He walked two batters and his WHIP was 1.154.

On the offensive side, it’s being reported that Dustin Pedroia will be coming back in 2019 which means Ian Kinsler, who is a free agent, maybe finding another team to play for in 2019. Maybe the defending World Champs would like to keep Kinsler as insurance in case Pedroia gets injured.

There are lots of questions about what this team will look like in 2019 that will hopefully be answered soon. With the Holidays approaching you would think a team would want to sign a player to improve their team because before you know it it will be spring training.