The Boston Red Sox missed out on the signing circus on slugger Juan Soto, but this may have been a deft sleight of hand for PR purposes.
Indeed, this is a skeptical point of view with traction, considering Boston's recent history of avoiding long-term contracts. Still, Soto, his agent Scott Boras, and Mets owner Steve Cohen can genuflect at the altar of Gordon Gecko's "Greed is good" mantra. Eventually, all will be funded directly or indirectly by fans.
The Red Sox — if they were just in PR mode — have set themselves up to just a reverse, a PR disaster. Fans expect the team to be willing to spend $700 million for Soto, so the money is there, which could be allocated to the dire and consequential need — pitching.
The Red Sox lost, but an opportunity to win by doling out dollars for pitching can now step to the forefront. The team is in a rare position of being well under the luxury tax and, in this instance, $88.6 million under. What will that buy you?
The top three pitching possibilities that remain on the board are Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, and Jack Flaherty. Righty Burnes and lefty Fried have reportedly met with Boston, and if projections are correct, both are doable vis a vis the luxury tax. Burnes is projected at seven years for $200 million and Fried at six years for $156 million, and both, especially Burnes, could be considered ace material. That brings us to Flaherty.
The Red Sox can afford both Corbin Burnes and Max Fried with their Juan Soto fund
Flaherty had a career year at precisely the right time and has a projection of five years for $115 million. The 29-year-old righty went 13-7 with a 3.17 ERA and a career-best 2.1 walks per nine innings. Flaherty offers an option if the Red Sox sign either Burnes or Fried or lose out in the expected bidding war with either. It's a nice second choice and even a possible signing if the Red Sox go all in and sign both Burnes and Fried.
Hovering in the background are another two options with a historic track record with the Sox. The first is Nick Pivetta, whom the Red Sox qualified in a surprising move. That QO could decrease Pivetta's value on the open market. The second name is Nathan Eovaldi, projected to receive a two-year, $44 million deal after a 12-8, 3.80 ERA season with the Rangers. Both Pivetta and Eovaldi could be considered mid-rotation starters.
With the Red Sox's history of late taking on pitching question marks, there is right-hander Max Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner and a future Hall of Fame member. Scherzer is 40 years old, but Boston once traded for another three-time CYA winner, 41-year-old Tom Seaver, who helped them win a pennant in 1986.
The free agent scrum has many possible pitching options, but the target should remain Burnes, Fried, and Flaherty as a fallback option. After the Soto bidding, Boston has the money, payroll flexibility, and the need. The rest of the list is more James Paxton types. It's time for management to step up.