There’s gotta be something coming our way, right folks? Right? Right???? Please say right.
It’s a big week in America.
Soon enough, citizens will be making their selection of who they want to lead them into the future. Millions of dollars are invested throughout this process, and those decisions are sure to make headlines from coast to coast—even if we don’t know the outcomes right away. Pundits will make their predictions and opinions may vary on who the best options are for each community, but regardless of the results: the impacts are sure to be felt for years to come.
In other news: there’s a presidential election taking place on Tuesday.
Free agency officially opens today, as you’re reading this—or it’s already open, if you aren’t reading this on November 4. It’s a period that hasn’t resulted in much excitement for the Boston Red Sox in recent years. You could argue Trevor Story was a significant splash at the time, but the fact that his market value was impacted by his injury history before he put pen to paper mixed with the fact that he, unfortunately, hasn’t been the model of health since joining the club means that I wouldn’t call him an impact signing.
In short: Boston hasn’t had a groundbreaking acquisition via free agency in quite some time. Consider that along with the whole not-extending-your-All-Star-outfielder-and-letting-him-go-to-a-team-where-he’s-now-won-multiple-championships thing, and you can understand why some Sox fans might be pessimistic heading into this winter. After all: there are only so many times that you can only hear members of the front office promise that they’re committed to winning without the fiscal resources being shelled out to make those dreams a reality.
Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
But I dunno. Maybe this is just wishful thinking, but I’m more optimistic that we’ll see some legit movement from the Red Sox brass this offseason. There’s a solid chance that I’m setting myself up to be Charlie Brown trying to kick the football, but I do see reasons to be optimistic this time around—sorry if that offends.
Of course, it seemed like it would behoove the Red Sox to spend some cheddar at this time 12 months ago. I think it’s even more obvious this time around, though.
The team was lucky enough to find out that someone like Tanner Houck can be A Guy in the rotation going forward. Brayan Bello ended a helter skelter year on a solid and encouraging note after posting a solid 3.21 ERA across 61.2 innings from his July 31 start onward. Lucas Giolito can, hopefully, enter the mix to eat some innings as a steady rotation piece. There are multiple options to fill out the back half of the ritation. Outside of that, though, there’s a clear need for a guy to offer a high ceiling to lead the pitching staff—if only Max Fried, Corbin Burnes, and Jack Flaherty were available for just money, right?
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Same idea with the bullpen. There are a few guys already under contract that you could see being in the fold there, but someone like a Tanner Scott should fit right in to the arm barn at Fenway.
Meanwhile, a lot of the core on offense is spoken for going forward. Rafael Devers is the undisputed cornerstone of the franchise, Triston Casas ain’t going anywhere, despite what you might have heard. You’ve got no shortage of options for the outfield, while guys like Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell could become fan favorites in relatively short time.
The best part of those position players? A lot of them are either locked in for the long haul (like Devers or Rafaela, who signed multi-year extension) or partners in the law firm of Anthony, Casas, Mayer, Teel, Duran, Abreu, Campbell, and Montgomery, all of whom are under one form of team control or another for the foreseeable future. Plus, the money earmarked for Trevor Story and Masataka Yoshida will be off the books within a few years.
All of this is to say that now is the time to spend in the free agent market, especially in regards to pitching.
The team is not up against any albatross contracts for years to come—not that that should paralyze their efforts, of course—and the money committed to some players who don’t figure to be in the long-term blueprint will be moving on in a few years. All it takes to make All-Star Tanner Houck your number two starter—hell, maybe even your number three starter—is money. You could flip an outfielder or two in a package for an arm, considering that you can’t play 10 outfielders at the same time in a sport that isn’t called soccer, but I’m talking more about the free agency window that opens today. Max Fried’s services just require money. Corbin Burnes’ services just require money. Sean Manaea, Jack Flaherty, Blake Snell, that’s all it is: money, as opposed to prospect capital.
I’m optimistic that free agency will bear fruit, because if it’s not going to happen now, when is it ever going to happen? When else would the team splurge in free agency? I don’t need the team to sign every star in the pool, but this is an obvious time to strike. I don’t think I’m alone in believing that.
What really matters is whether the front office believes that, too.