'Decent Chance' Red Sox Trade Lone All-Star From 2023, Dodgers Linked As Logical Fit

Boston are looking for payroll flexibility

Scott Neville | Feb 1, 2024

'Decent Chance' Red Sox Trade Lone All-Star From 2023, Dodgers Linked As Logical Fit /

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Will the Boston Red Sox trade their lone All-Star from a season ago amid this incredibly depressing offseason that just continues to get worse for Red Sox fans?

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is in search of starting pitching as well as an impact right-handed bat with positional versatility.

If he has to remain under last season's payroll -- as Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy implied at Winter Weekend -- he might have to consider trading high-end assets to stay under ownership's imaginary financial restraints.

The most logical player to trade is closer Kenley Jansen, who is owed $16 million next season, the final year of his contract. Jansen's availability has been widely reported. One insider could see him being on the move soon.

"Kenley Jansen to the Dodgers, someone speculated," Heyman said Wednesday while appearing on a Bleacher Report live stream. "I think that's a pretty good speculation. Not going to say likely, I do think that Kenley Jansen has a decent chance to be traded and I'm sure he wouldn't mind going to the Dodgers -- who wouldn't at this point."

The Red Sox could use the extra payroll flexibility to sign Jordan Montgomery and then sign someone along the likes of Ryne Stanek to bolster the bullpen if Jansen was moved.

That would follow along with the latest trends of the Red Sox making moves that improve one area of the roster only to hurt another -- leading to two last-place finishes in a row.

Crazy idea -- what if the Red Sox just tried to get better without shooting themselves in the foot with each move?

More MLB: Red Sox Linked To Free-Agent Starting Pitcher With Career 3.27 ERA

Published Feb 1, 2024

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu