After the Red Sox traded for Garrett Crochet and signed Walker Buehler, the Fenway Faithful probably knew the club also wasn’t going to land Corbin Burnes.
But fortunately for Boston, its fiercest competitors didn’t sign the superstar right-hander.
After Blake Snell and Max Fried both signed relatively early in free agency, Burnes set himself up nicely on the open market. Coming off his fourth straight All-Star season, the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner was in position to command top dollar from any team interested in bolstering its rotation.
Burnes, however, reportedly left money on the table to move back to the West Coast and join the Arizona Diamondbacks. And after the reported agreement, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman shed light on the teams that missed out on Burnes despite serious efforts to sign him.
“Hearing three East teams — including Jays and Orioles — were the biggest Burnes bidders,” Heyman posted to X on Saturday. “Burnes, ultimately, chose to be home in Arizona.”
If the Red Sox want to end their postseason drought in 2025, improving their play against division rivals will be imperative. And seeing upper-echelon players like Burnes and Juan Soto leave the American League East only will help Boston with that objective.
So too will adding more talent, which the Red Sox still might do even though most of the notable offseason dominos already have fallen.
One Projected $174 Million Blockbuster Move For Red Sox To Consider
Right now, the most talked about free agent out there is All-Star Alex Bregman. He has spent his entire career to this point with the Houston Astros but likely will be elsewhere by the time Opening Day gets here for the 2025 season.
Adding Bregman would be the perfect move for the Red Sox, but what if they miss out on him? If the Red Sox don’t land Bregman, they should pivot and go after Pete Alonso. The former New York Mets star is available and Spotrac is projecting him to land a six-year, $174 million deal.
The longer he is available, the more likely that the price will go down. The Red Sox already have a very good first baseman in Triston Casas. Adding Alonso would surely lead to some logistical changes. If the Red Sox wanted to land Alonso, they likely would have to make a trade. They could either move Casas or designated hitter Masataka Yoshida.
The best solution would be moving Yoshida. If they opened up the designated hitter spot and somehow found a way to have Alonso, Casas, and Rafael Devers in the same lineup that would be phenomenal. Boston already seems like it could be one of the best teams in the American League in 2025 and adding Alonso could put them over the top if they miss on Bregman.
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