The Crimson Sox have made plain that their prime precedence this winter (besides, maybe, for his or her pursuit of free agent celebrity Juan Soto) is bettering their beginning rotation. That’s led the membership to be related to a variety of prime free agent and commerce candidates all through the winter to this point, starting from Corbin Burnes and Max Fried in free company to Garrett Crochet through the commerce market. Earlier this winter, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow indicated that the membership had no real interest in parting with younger first baseman Triston Casas in commerce this winter, praising him as a participant with “40-home run potential” who he described himself as “excited” to have on the staff.
Whereas that infatuation with Casas’s talent set could also be true, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported earlier at present that the Crimson Sox have been “open” to together with Casas in a commerce that achieves their aim of including a pitcher to the entrance of their rotation. What’s extra, Speier goes on to report that one govt from a rival AL membership famous that he Crimson Sox had supplied Casas because the headliner in a bundle for one in all his staff’s pitchers. That openness to dealing Casas comes as one thing of a shock given Breslow’s public feedback final month however Speier cautions that whereas the membership is “exploring all avenues” to enhance this winter, together with the opportunity of a Casas commerce, the Crimson Sox really dealing the teen stays unlikely on condition that they’d possible be promoting low after a season the place he appeared in simply 63 video games as a consequence of torn cartilage in his ribcage.
When wholesome sufficient to take the sphere, Casas hit fairly nicely for the Crimson Sox this 12 months with a .241/.337/.462 slash line (119 wRC+) and 13 homers in 243 journeys to the plate. With that being mentioned, there have been some crimson flags in his profile this 12 months which will give golf equipment pause. Notably, he struck out at an elevated 31.7% clip this 12 months that helped maintain him again from reaching the unimaginable heights he flashed after the All-Star break in 2023, when he crushed the ball to the tune of a .317/.417/.617 slash line in a 211 plate look pattern that just about matches his shortened 2024 marketing campaign. Provided that tantalizing upside, it’s not essentially a shock that the Crimson Sox could be hesitant to half with Casas following an injury-plagued season that raised questions on his strikeout fee.
To that finish, offers involving Casas are removed from the one sort of commerce the Crimson Sox have explored this winter. Speier notes that Boston has seemed into trades with varied golf equipment that are available in a number of kinds, with Casas, rookie outfielder Wilyer Abreu, and a number of the membership’s prime prospects all being potential headliners for varied offers the membership has mentioned this winter. Speier means that each prime outfield prospect Roman Anthony and prime second base prospect Kristian Campbell are thought-about “solely off-limits” in commerce talks, however that also leaves a variety of thrilling prospects within the Crimson Sox farm accessible in the suitable commerce, doubtlessly even together with catcher Kyle Teel and infielder Marcelo Mayer.
The membership has additionally, after all, explored free company as they search for rotation upgrades. The membership has been related to prime pitchers like Burnes and Fried all through the winter, however they’ve additionally seemingly been concerned at decrease tiers of the pitching market as nicely of their seek for arms. Robert Murray of FanSided reported yesterday that the Crimson Sox made a “severe push” for Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber earlier than he re-signed in Cleveland, and Bieber reportedly turned down more cash from different golf equipment in an effort to return to the one group he’s often known as knowledgeable. Moreover, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported earlier at present that the Crimson Sox have been among the many groups occupied with Clay Holmes earlier than he signed with the Mets yesterday. Holmes landed in Queens as a beginning pitcher after spending the vast majority of his massive league profession as a reliever, however Rosenthal and Sammon emphasised that it’s not clear whether or not Boston was among the many golf equipment occupied with Holmes as a starter or in the event that they meant to make use of him out of the bullpen had they finally signed him.
That curiosity in Bieber (and Holmes, in the event that they deliberate to place him within the rotation) means that the Crimson Sox might be keen to get artistic so as to add pitching expertise to their rotation, whilst they seem targeted on including a surefire front-of-the-rotation arm. The Crimson Sox rotation definitely has room for a number of starters on condition that Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford appear to be the one hurlers locked into rotation spots subsequent 12 months, and pairing an ace-level pitcher like Burnes, Fried, or Crochet with an intriguing bounce-back choice could be a great way for the membership to lift the ceiling of their rotation considerably while not having to land two top-of-the-market pitchers. Max Scherzer and Tomoyuki Sugano are among the many fascinating one-year veteran choices this winter who may have substantial upside, whereas Jeff Hoffman stands out as a reliever who has acquired curiosity as a starter this offseason.
