The Boston Red Sox entered the 2023 season as the third-most valuable franchise in Major League Baseball. One year later, the MLB team worth more than $4.5 billion is reportedly still losing out on top free agents for financial reasons.
While Boston expressed interest in top free agents like Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, both of whom signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, it wasn’t. willing to get into a bidding war with teams like the Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers.
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It’s been par for the course from the Red Sox organization. Even after firing chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom in September, Boston’s ownership has stuck to its commitment to keeping payroll down. In the months since hiring Craig Breslow to run baseball operations, it appears the same limitations Bloom worked through are now hindering Breslow.
Once Ohtani and Yamamoto came off the board, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery emerged as two front-line starters who could upgrade Boston’s rotation. The need for more reliable pitching became even stronger after the Red Sox traded Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves.
According to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, the Red Sox are effectively out on Snell and Montgomery right now because the franchise isn’t willing to commit to long-term deals and the lack of a financial commitment has pushed the top free agents elsewhere.
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In November, Red Sox chairman Tom Werner vowed to fans that the organization would go “full throttle” to improve the roster this offseason. In the following months, Boston traded Sale to Atlanta and shipped off outfielder Alex Verdugo to the New York Yankees.
While Snell’s contract demands would partially explain Boston’s lack of involvement for him, the same can’t be said for Montgomery. The World Series champion is expected to sign a deal with a lower average annual value than Snell and Montgomery’s wife is in residency at Harvard Medical School.
Yet for an MLB team with less than $100 million in committed salaries for 2025 ($97.678 million) and 2026 ($94.418 million), it appears the Red Sox are still opposed to making long-term financial commitments. In related news, the Red Sox announced in October that ticket prices will increase in 2024.