Sox close Meetings with two big moves, one departure
SAN DIEGO — The Winter Meetings began slowly for the Red Sox, however then they led to a frenzy, with the membership including two key new gamers however dropping a franchise cornerstone.
By mid-afternoon, they agreed to phrases with Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida on a five-year, $90 million deal simply hours after the 29-year-old had been posted by the Orix Buffaloes. The Red Sox haven’t introduced both transfer, as each agreements are pending procedural issues.
But simply when it appeared all was going properly, Xander Bogaerts slipped away to the Padres shortly after midnight ET on Thursday. A supply advised MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand that Bogaerts reached settlement on an 11-year, $280 million deal. San Diego hasn’t confirmed the deal, which is pending a bodily.
Earlier within the day, studies surfaced that the Red Sox have been constructing momentum towards re-signing Bogaerts.
Biggest remaining wants
1. Replace Bogaerts
Considering all Bogaerts meant to the Red Sox, the duty of changing him is daunting. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom had mentioned because the first day of the offseason that discovering a solution to re-sign Bogaerts was the crew’s high precedence. Now that Bogaerts seems to be San Diego-bound, it is going to be attention-grabbing to see what technique Bloom deploys for Plan B.
There are two elite shortstops nonetheless in the marketplace in Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson. The Red Sox hadn’t been linked to both of them whereas Bogaerts was nonetheless in play. It stays to be seen whether or not that may now change.
The Sox even have the choice of shifting Trevor Story again to shortstop after shifting him to second base in 2022. There are questions in regards to the energy of Story’s proper elbow, however Bloom had mentioned earlier within the offseason that the membership believes he can nonetheless play quick.
Another possibility can be to maneuver Kiké Hernández to quick or have him exchange Story at second base. But that would go away the Sox skinny in middle area. Jean Segura is the perfect free-agent possibility at second base, and he could possibly be on Boston’s radar.
2. Add one other beginning pitcher
There is a variety of uncertainty in Boston’s beginning rotation. The two most completed pitchers on the workers — Chris Sale and James Paxton — have been on the injured record way over the lively roster the previous couple seasons. Garrett Whitlock is shifting to the rotation full time, and Tanner Houck would possibly observe him there, however each righties are nonetheless within the means of constructing a observe document as starters. Nick Pivetta is sturdy but inconsistent. Veteran righties Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Wacha are each free brokers, however the Sox are holding strains of communication open with each of them. The Red Sox have been linked with Japanese free agent Kodai Senga, a 29-year-old who has had a dominant profession in NPB.
3. Add a catcher
The Red Sox have had a void behind the plate since they traded Christian Vázquez to the Astros in August. Sean Murphy from the A’s is an intriguing commerce candidate and somebody Boston has pursued prior to now. Vázquez is a free agent, and a return to the Red Sox is at the least doable. Reese McGuire did a strong job after being acquired from the White Sox, however he’s extra of a backup.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s the first pick or the last pick, it means that he’s not our player anymore, and that’s a bummer because of what he’s been through medically and the upside that he has,” Bloom mentioned. “Hopefully we get him back. We know there’s a chance that we won’t. He was probably our toughest decision as we set rosters and knowing what our plans were and are for this offseason.”
Boston additionally misplaced Andrew Politi to the Orioles and Noah Song to the Phillies. Song being chosen by the defending National League champions was attention-grabbing as a result of the righty hasn’t pitched since 2019 as a consequence of his service dedication after graduating from the United States Naval Academy. It is unclear when Song will be capable of pitch once more. The Red Sox didn’t add anybody within the Major League part of the Rule 5 Draft.
The backside line
“To me, it’s important not to put too much on the Winter Meetings in that this is just one part of the offseason,” Bloom mentioned. “Other than the Rule 5 Draft, there isn’t really any formal deadline that even happens here. But it is a time when there’s a lot of action and there’s going to be opportunities. As I’ve said, we have a lot to do this offseason. We need to knock dominoes down early, middle and late, and hopefully we came out of this having made progress toward accomplishing all of our goals.”
