Red Sox Still In Play For 23-Year-Old Phenom After Walker Buehler Deal

Will the Red Sox shock the baseball world?

Sep 6, 2020; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; An empty Fenway Park is seen during the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images / Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox have added two major pieces to the starting rotation but could another be on the way?

Boston likely won't splurge on any other expensive free-agent pitchers, but that doesn't mean another hurler couldn't be on the way. The Red Sox acquired Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox and signed former Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Walker Buehler.

The Red Sox have the makings of one of the best rotations in baseball for the 2025 season, but there still is a big prize available. Former Chiba Lotte Marines 23-year-old phenom Rōki Sasaki won't sign with a team until mid-January. He's someone that every team in baseball should be after because he could be a team's No. 1 or No. 2 starter as soon as 2025 and is going to be very cheap.

Boston hasn't met with him at this time, but it hasn't been ruled out of the sweepstakes yet, according to MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo.

"But as Boston chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told The Boston Globe earlier this week, the Sox have not been invited to the negotiating table with Sasaki and do not have a meeting scheduled," Cotillo said. "That doesn’t necessarily mean Boston is out," According to a source with knowledge of the process, Sasaki informed teams earlier this month that he may meet with additional teams (ones that don’t get December meetings) in January. There’s no hard and fast date at which he’s planning on eliminating potential contenders.

"That strategy will allow him to circle back and add teams to the mix at any point. The initial list of suitors is just that: initial. Still, it’s not a good sign for the Red Sox that they’re not part of the first round of meetings, especially after Breslow and a team of officials made a special scouting trip to watch Sasaki pitch in Japan earlier this year."

If the Red Sox somehow could land Sasaki, they undoubtedly would have the best rotation in baseball in 2025. A rotation featuring him, Crochet, Buehler, Tanner Houck, and some combination of Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito, and Kutter Crawford would be amazing. It seems like more of a pipe dream, but it would be great.

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