The Boston Red Sox always seemed like underdogs to land Juan Soto despite a concerted effort to woo the winter’s most coveted free agent.
On the eve of the Winter Meetings in Dallas, that expectation became a reality as the New York Mets agreed to terms with Soto on a 15-year, $765 million deal, which will be the largest contract in professional sports history.
At the outset of the offseason, the Red Sox front office vowed to make this winter different from those in their recent past when the club had curbed spending and shopped on the periphery of the market. Red Sox leadership promised a different level of aggressiveness in spending this winter.
And while they had floated similar promises to no avail last offseason, their unexpected pursuit of Soto marked a turning point of sorts. The problem was, however, that after missing the postseason in five of the last six years, finishing in last place in the American League East four times in that stretch, it was hard to take their pursuit of Soto seriously.
Still, Boston remained in the mix as one of five finalists in a months-long quest to sign the 26-year-old outfielder, who grew up a Red Sox fan and remains good friends with fellow Dominican native David Ortiz. The Red Sox had a productive and lengthy meeting with Soto in mid-November and by all indications were willing to spend more than double the amount of money they gave Rafael Devers in 2023. Devers’ 10-year, $313.5 million deal remains the largest contract in Red Sox history.
According to MassLive’s Sean McAdam, Boston’s final offer to Soto was 15 years and roughly $700 million. The New York Yankees reportedly offered 16 years, $760 million.
In the end, the Red Sox fell short. Soto was always going to go to the top bidder and Mets owner Steve Cohen reportedly vowed he would outbid every offer by $50 million. The Red Sox and principal owner John Henry could have made a statement in matching Cohen. But the most telling part of the process was that even in bidding more than half a billion dollars, the Red Sox were still not considered serious contenders to actually sign Soto, a casualty of their shortcomings — and short-changing their payrolls — in recent years.
Would Soto have been more inclined to sign with his childhood favorite team, having idolized the likes of Ortiz and Manny Ramirez in his youth, had Boston been more competitive on the field and committed more to payroll in recent years?
We’ll never know.
Now the Red Sox must pivot quickly to bolster their roster. On the offensive side, Tyler O’Neill has already signed with the Baltimore Orioles and the market for the next tier of free-agent hitters after Soto — Teoscar Hernández, Anthony Santander and Alex Bregman — figures to pick up dramatically in the next 24-to-48 hours.
On the pitching front, the Red Sox have already met with top free-agent starters Corbin Burnes and Max Fried and very well could pour the resources they didn’t use on Soto into pitching to bolster the front-end of their rotation.
With just two major-league free-agent signings so far (relievers Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson), the Red Sox have roughly $60 million to spend before hitting the $241 million luxury tax threshold, though it’s possible they will surpass that mark.
Regardless, Soto’s signing has broken the Winter Meetings dam and a flurry of moves is on the horizon. The Red Sox need to act quickly and decisively in securing their top free-agent targets to ensure the momentum they built with the Soto pursuit doesn’t go to waste and they don’t leave their fanbase hanging out to dry yet again.
(Photo: Emma Corona / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
