Red Sox
“For now, though, the club’s eyes are on additions.”
The Red Sox’ odds of replacing Rafael Devers’ production at the plate appear slim moving forward.
But after making the shocking call to trade their star slugger to the Giants on Sunday, could Boston use that added fiscal flexibility to retool its roster on the fly?
While the Red Sox’s return from the Giants — pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison, along with prospects James Tibbs and Jose Bello — may not steal headlines, Boston does have a significant amount of money coming off the books as a result of Sunday’s deal.
As part of the trade, San Francisco is assuming the remaining $254 million balance of the 11-year, $331 million contract Devers signed with the Red Sox in January 2023. Boston is now expected to shave at least $29 million off their payroll for each of the next eight seasons.
Of course, that added spending power will only assuage disheartened Red Sox fans if Boston uses that money to augment other areas of the roster — be it adding more pop to the lineup or bolstering the team’s pitching staff.
Even though most of that spending would conceivably be struck next offseason, MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam reported on Monday that the Red Sox might aim to reinvest that newfound money as soon as next month ahead of MLB’s trade deadline.
“The Devers deal opens the door for a major trade deadline addition of a controllable, high-dollar player and a high-ranking source indicated Sunday that the Red Sox, at 37-36 after a big weekend sweep of the Yankees, still wholeheartedly intend to buy at the trade deadline and shop aggressively,” Cotillo and McAdam wrote. “That, obviously, could change with a bad few weeks in the wake of the Devers move. For now, though, the club’s eyes are on additions.”
It remains to be seen just how the trade market will play out this summer, especially in terms of what names actually emerge out on the market. Boston could use an everyday first baseman with pop, a proven No. 2 starter behind Garrett Crochet, and another power arm out of the bullpen if the team does plan on contending this year.
The Red Sox’s best bet is to be aggressive in free agency during the winter, especially if it means that Boston could be in the running for a power bat like Kyle Tucker, Pete Alonso, or Kyle Schwarber — or a proven pitcher like Michael King, Dylan Cease, or Zac Gallen.
Granted, the Red Sox might also be doling out an even heftier contract for a player in his prime like Tucker this winter.
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