The Boston Red Sox are about to embark on an offseason that is going to set the tone for years to come. They have a new chief baseball officer in Craig Breslow that certainly seems like he wants to be aggressive, but who also is going to need time to get up to speed and who actually knows if ownership is actually going to give him enough resources to make some noise with.
Red Sox free agent predictions for this offseason
Part of the problem is that Boston is set to lose some fairly important players to free agency this year on both sides of the ball. While it isn't a lock that all of these guys will leave Boston (more on that in a bit), it is a fair guess that most of them will have new teams in 2024. Here are some guesses as to where they could end up for the 2024 season.
James Paxton
Paxton is a tough one because he has a history of injuries, but who also is a tremendous performer when he is on the mound. One need only look at his performance in the first half of 2023 where he posted a 2.73 ERA to see what he is capable of.
However, the second half was a reminder that Paxton is far from a sure thing as he faded badly before having to go on the shelf with issues with his knee. It doesn't seem likely that he will be back in Boston and with Scott Boras as his agent, he is going to try and get paid one last time in a free agent market that doesn't have a lot of great starting pitching. Several contenders like the Cardinals, Dodgers, Braves, and Rays could use him, but he feels like a signing that Minnesota would make on a short-term deal.
Prediction: Twins - One year, $9 million with a vesting option for 2025 based on innings pitched.