Red Sox Reportedly ‘Not Seriously’ In Contention For Cy Young Award Winner Despite Rumors
The Boston Red Sox’s starting rotation needs to look different next season if they want to make their way back to the postseason.
Boston was in contention for an American League Wild Card spot for much of the 2023 campaign but the wheels fell off after the trade deadline when the Red Sox didn’t make any significant addition to the rotation.
The Red Sox’s rotation dealt with a plethora of injuries and struggled to go deep into games and eventually causing a strain on the bullpen. Boston has been looking to upgrade this offseason and has been pursuing Orix Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
There have been rumblings that if Boston missed out on Yamamoto, it could turn its focus to two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, but it sounds like that won’t be the case, according to MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam.
“Maybe reports in recent days that had the Red Sox offering Japanese free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto in excess of $300 million will prove true and the Red Sox will end up winning the bidding,” McAdam said. “That would go a long, long way to restoring confidence in ownership’s commitment to winning and could help vault the Red Sox back into playoff contention.
“But if the Red Sox are ultimately outbid and Yamamoto signs elsewhere, it’s hard to see how the Red Sox generate the kind of necessary winter buzz they so obviously need. It would seem they’re not seriously in the running for Blake Snell and every other available free agent pitcher is at least a rung below elite.”
Snell would be an intriguing option and has been linked to the Red Sox multiple times this offseason at this point. He had a stellar year that season with the San Diego Padres en route to his second Cy Young Award, but his age and advanced metrics have come into question as the offseason has progressed.
