For their inactivity thus far in the winter, the Boston Red Sox have been under fire.
Tom Werner, a part-owner of the Red Sox, stated that the organization will go “full throttle” this offseason, but Cooper Criswell, a right-handed depth reliever, is the lone free agent signed for an astounding $1 million.
This is the first sign that the Red Sox are truly beginning to spend money, even though the majority of supporters are getting impatient.
According to sources, The Athletic’s Jim Bowden said on Saturday that “the (San Francisco) Giants and Red Sox both made a strong recent push for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, both with offers more than $300 million dollars.” “Certainly others too making strong runs.”
In 164 innings over 23 starts, Yamamoto finished 16-6 with a 1.21 ERA, 169-to-28 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 0.88 WHIP for the Orix Buffaloes in 2023.
The top spenders in Major League Baseball are interested in this 25-year-old ace. The competition to hire him will be fierce.
If Yamamoto decides to go, it won’t be for lack of trying. All they can do is hope their pitch was convincing enough after making a very generous offer, which they have already done. It’s encouraging to see the Red Sox show urgency in light of their recent reluctance to make significant purchases.
Many excellent starting pitchers are still available. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow should have no trouble rebuilding the rotation in time for Opening Day if he keeps things this aggressive.