If that ends up being the case, these two rival AL East teams will find themselves in bidding wars for the next tier of free agents. Max Fried and Corbin Burnes are two pitchers who have been connected to both the Red Sox and the Yankees.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today recently reported the Yankees and Red Sox were the top two teams involved in the Fried bidding war this winter.
“When Matthew Boyd receives a 2-year, $29 million contract without throwing more than 79 innings since 2019, when Luis Severino is getting $67 million over three years and Blake Snell is making an average annual salary of $36.4 million, Burnes and Fried should top $200 million,” Nightengale wrote. “The San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox all lurk. The only drama is whether Fried goes ahead and signs before Burnes, or lets Burnes set the bar. Fried priced himself out of Atlanta but is expected to sign with the Yankees or Red Sox. If Soto goes to the Mets, Fried could find himself in a nice bidding war between the Red Sox and Yankees.”
Both AL East teams have the money to spend, especially if they miss on Soto.
When the Soto sweepstakes comes to a close, the teams that missed out on him will quickly pivot to very expensive backup options like Fried and Burnes. I expect both of these starters to land with one of the five Soto suitors (Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers).
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Boston opted against heavy spending over the last few years as it looked to rebuild the organization’s farm system and young core. Clearly, the front office thinks the team is in a different spot than it was in and seems to be willing to invest.
The Red Sox have been linked to pretty much every player in line for a large contract this offseason. Surely, the Red Sox will land some star power, although it’s unclear who.
We should see fireworks start popping up across baseball over the next week or so at the Winter Meetings and Boston reportedly still is interested in Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Teoscar Hernández along with LA and the New York Yankees, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.
“Red Sox remain in on Teoscar Hernández but face stiff competition from Dodgers and Yankees, per source,” Cotillo said. “That market is expected to heat up once (Juan Soto) signs, not pre-empt it like (Willy Adames) and (Tyler O’Neill) did.
“Obviously, Hernández is a very logical pivot for the teams who don’t land Soto. He’s expected to let it play out that way. Adames and O’Neill jumped on good deals from non-Soto suitors.”
Boston has been tied to Hernández all offseason to this point. He is projected to receive a three-year, $71 million deal from Spotrac this offseason. If Cotillo is hearing that the Red Sox are in on him, that means there certainly is a chance of a move. He is one of the most respected Red Sox insiders out there so keep an eye on Hernández.
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