Insider Calls Red Sox 'Long Shot' For Four-Time All-Star Projected For $513 Million

And as it turns out, the Yankees are the favorites...

Aug 14, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a New York Yankees hat and glove on the bench against the Atlanta Braves in the third inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

It's been a while since the Boston Red Sox shopped for marquee free agents. Will 2024 be the winter that changes?

Since signing Trevor Story in the winter of 2021, the Red Sox have not given out a nine-figure contract to any free agents. They brought in designated hitter Masataka Yoshida for $95 million, which already looks like an overpay, and have not gone outside the organization for any other big names.

There are plenty of big names to be had in 2024, from ace pitches like Corbin Burnes to big-time sluggers like Pete Alonso. But the name that will be atop every team's list, though his team is currently still playing, is the New York Yankee's Juan Soto.

Coming off a career-high 41-homer campaign, Soto will have his choice of suitors. But will the Red Sox get into the mix for the supremely talented young outfielder?

One insider believes they have only an outside chance. Jon Heyman of the New York Post called Boston "long shots" among the group of eight teams he named as potential Soto suitors.

"In that next group, I'll put the Red Sox, the Cubs, and the Phillies... At this point I would call them all long shots, giving them all a chance at Soto."

Soto will be 26 in 2025 and has already put himself on a Hall of Fame trajectory. He's the type of player any team would want, and the type of player a big-market team like the Red Sox should be in the running for. But Boston may not be prepared to swim in those waters.

Meanwhile, while the Red Sox float on the periphery of the Soto sweepstakes, Heyman made it clear that he thinks the Yankees are the team with the best shot to land him, potentially making Soto the face of the Red Sox's nightmares for the next decade-plus.

"I mean, the Yankees are the favorites for Soto," Heyman said. "He's generally enjoyed his time in New York, it's worked out nicely."

It's still early in the offseason, and a lot can still change. But it sounds as though Red Sox fans may want to brace themselves for many more years of having to deal with the generational slugger.

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