Red Sox Ownership 'Understands' They Need To Be More Aggressive In Free Agency

Boston should be rising up the payroll rankings this winter
Red Sox Ownership 'Understands' They Need To Be More Aggressive In Free Agency
Red Sox Ownership 'Understands' They Need To Be More Aggressive In Free Agency /
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The Boston Red Sox are about to enter a pivotal free-agency period that could define their success for the better part of this decade. 

It will be the first showing for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow at a time when the club has a reset luxury tax and the desperation to increase its budget after another failed season. A few notable starting pitchers could bolster a promising core. Another failed offseason could derail the club. 

Red Sox ownership has shown a sense of urgency that has been missing in recent years, which bodes well for the offseason. WEEI's Rob Bradford reinforced that point in a recent radio appearance.

"I do think, whether it's (acquiring) Yoshinobu Yamamoto or whoever it is, they understand that they have to be more aggressive," Bradford said on WEEI's "Jones and Mego with Arcand" radio show.

"Now is it going to be Dave Dombrowski, we're going to pay $40 million more than the next (team) for David Price aggressive? I don't know about that."

The Red Sox desperately need to bolster their pitching staff and Yamamoto might be the best weapon available after dominating in Japan for years. 

Boston will have an extensive list of notable pitchers to sort through this winter and needs to make multiple notable additions to get back on track.

The lineup could use a right-handed slugger -- which could mean the return of designated hitter Justin Turner or an external addition. Boston could also use an upgrade at second base but there are some serviceable players in-house.

The most important thing is to get back up toward the top of Major League Baseball spending after sitting in the middle of the pack for a few years. Boston needs to return to their big-market ways to compete for a championship. 

More MLB: Red Sox Legend & Team Advisor Makes Pitch For Shohei Ohtani To Come To Boston


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Scott Neville
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