Red Sox In 'Heavy Discussions' With Japanese Ace Kodai Senga On Massive Deal

Boston is aiming to spend heavily internationally

Scott Neville | Dec 10, 2022

Red Sox In 'Heavy Discussions' With Japanese Ace Kodai Senga On Massive Deal /

In this story:

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox pinched pennies when negotiating with star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, but appear willing to write blank checks in the international market this offseason.

With over $40 million to play with before approaching the luxury tax, the Red Sox appear to be doubling down on Nippon Professional Baseball League stars just days after acquiring outfielder Masataka Yoshida on a five-year, $90 million contract.

"The Red Sox are in heavy discussions with Kodai Senga," MLB Insider Héctor Gómez tweeted Saturday. "They are willing to go seven years for him."

It should be noted that the report was ignited by Jon Muller -- a Twitter user with no previous credibility, but Gómez claims Muller is well-connected.

After a week at the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings where the entire Red Sox media group -- myself included -- were led astray on the Bogaerts discussions, there is some well-deserved skepticism in regards to this news.

Still, Senga has been linked to Boston for months and is one of the few notable arms not attached to the qualifying offer.

It would make sense for the Red Sox to spend a little extra on the 29-year-old from Japan in order to avoid the penalties of signing a starter with a qualifying offer.

Senga posted an 11-6 record in the NPB this season with a 1.94 ERA, 156-to-49 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .200 batting average against in 144 innings across 22 games.

It would be worth the gamble to invest in Senga, though it would be somewhat frustrating to see the Red Sox go all-in on two Japanese stars before allocating any funds to their two homegrown stars -- Bogaerts and Rafael Devers (free agent after 2023).

If the Red Sox are going to live in this $100 million contract range -- Trevor Story, Yoshida, potentially Senga -- going the discount route of taking a shot on an NPB star would line up.

A rotation of Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock, James Paxton and Senga with Josh Winckowski, Kutter Crawford and Connor Seabold as depth options would be solid -- though it still would make sense to attempt a reunion with either Nathan Eovaldi or Michael Wacha given the injury history of Sale and Paxton.

At this point, the Red Sox need to add talent wherever they can to improve a roster with more questions than answers. Still, they could end up being a solid team with a few more pieces.

More MLB: Intriguing Star Yankees Infielder Would Be Perfect Trade Target For Depleted Red Sox

Published Dec 10, 2022

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