Red Sox Reportedly Lose Bidding War For Starting Pitcher To Royals

Boston could have used the veteran

Scott Neville | Dec 12, 2023

Red Sox Reportedly Lose Bidding War For Starting Pitcher To Royals /

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Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has repeatedly informed the media of his intentions to retool the rotation with an influx of external talent.

However, all the new leader of baseball operations has done so far is watch the market slowly deplete in front of him.

One intriguing arm heavily linked to the Red Sox during the Winter Meetings has fallen off the board.

'Right-hander Seth Lugo and the Kansas City Royals are in agreement on a three-year, $45 million contract," ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Tuesday.

Lugo posted a 3.57 ERA with a 140-to-36 strikeout-to-walk ratio, a .249 batting average against with a 1.20 WHIP in 146 1/3 innings pitched across 26 games for the San Diego Padres last season.

At one point, the Red Sox appeared to be the frontrunner for the 34-year-old starter.

"Red Sox stepping up efforts on free agent right-handed pitcher Seth Lugo," the New York Post's Jon Heyman reported last week. "Four or five others, including (Atlanta) Braves, interested."

The Red Sox could have shifted their efforts to go big-game hunting for Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jordan Montgomery -- but given their track record, it's fair to think pessimistically.

Boston has pursued Lugo two offseasons in a row and failed to land him both times. It's still early to pull the plug on the 2024 season as many impact free agents remain available.

With that said, the fans are rightfully impatient and losing a bidding war to the Royals is not going to aid matters.

It's very possible that Breslow and company do not value Lugo at that price point but the optics behind the move do not look great. Heyman's report implies that they did have serious interest in the hurler before they lost out.

We'll have to see if the Red Sox can acquire some notable starters and shift the narrative that winning no longer remains the priority. There's still plenty of time on the clock.

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Published Dec 12, 2023

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