Red Sox Reportedly 'Listening To Offers' For Trio Of Impact Players

Boston continues to be bad on purpose

Scott Neville | Feb 13, 2024

Red Sox Reportedly 'Listening To Offers' For Trio Of Impact Players /

In this story:

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox made it very clear this offseason that they have no intentions of trying to keep up with the growing powers in the loaded American League East.

Their messaging was inconsistent but their actions have pointed toward one vision -- punting on the upcoming season in hopes of brighter days ahead.

That trend has continued with spring training underway as the Red Sox reportedly are willing to trade some key pieces of arguably the strongest area of their roster -- the back of the bullpen.

"The Red Sox are willing to listen to offers for closer Kenley Jansen," MassLive's Sean McAdam and Christopher Smith reported. "But to date, they have been reluctant to take on any of Jansen’s 2024 salary of $16 million, according to a source."

Jansen has been long rumored to be a trade candidate amid ownership's incredibly unnecessary budgetary restraints but he's not the only player up for grabs.

"According to an executive with another major league team, the Red Sox have made it known that they are willing to listen to offers not only for Jansen but also setup men Chris Martin and John Schreiber," McAdam and Smith continued.

The Red Sox have been clear that they will not spend unless the team appears to be a sure-fire contender -- which it never will be due to increasing payroll restraints.

Since they refuse to spend, it does make sense to get some prospects back for valuable pieces on expiring deals such as Jansen and Martin. However, their unwillingness to absorb any of their salaries will hurt their return from a prospect compensation standpoint.

So, in all likelihood, if they are dealt, it will be for a middling prospect with little hope of making any real impact down the line -- which will continue this spiral of mediocrity.

OR -- they could sign Jordan Montgomery, keep the majority of their current pieces in-house and actually make strides toward competing instead of spinning in circles.

More MLB: Red Sox's Craig Breslow Admits That He Has Underperformed Since Taking Over

Published Feb 13, 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