Red Sox Reportedly 'Particularly Invested' In Sweepstakes For One Highly Coveted Ace

A splash of this caliber would re-engage the fan base

Scott Neville | Nov 29, 2023

Red Sox Reportedly 'Particularly Invested' In Sweepstakes For One Highly Coveted Ace /

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Boston Red Sox

Will Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow kick off his tenure by making one of the biggest splashes in free agency?

The Red Sox have no time to waste after consecutive last-place finishes in the American League East and finally appear to be properly motivated this winter.

"I do think they are going to be particularly invested in the (Yoshinobu) Yamamoto sweepstakes," The Boston Globe's Alex Speier said while appearing on MLB Network on Tuesday.

"When you think about the history of this organization, there's a reason why they were the winners when it came to Daisuke Matsuzaka about 16, 17 years ago. They really value that ideal sweet spot of age and elite performance. But, of course, they are not alone in that chase."

Yamamoto is the best pitching prospect to ever come out of Japan and already has garnered league-wide interest.

The 25-year-old posted a 16-6 record with a 1.21 ERA, 169-to-28 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 0.88 WHIP in 164 innings across 23 starts for Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball League last season.

The hard-throwing right-hander would be the perfect player for the Red Sox to build their rotation around, regardless of the price tag.

The Athletic's Tim Britton projects that Yamamoto will sign a deal in the region of seven years, $203 million.

While many teams will be interested and his cost will be quite high, Boston needs to remind the rest of the league that it is one of the largest markets in the sport.

Signing what appears to be a generational ace to an average annual value in the range of $29 million would do just that. It would also be the first big step to climbing back into contention.

No lone player will be enough to move them from last to first but adding a bona fide ace would have more impact than any other addition. No player is more qualified for the job than Yamamoto.

More MLB: Red Sox Deemed Favorite To Land Free-Agent Ace With Boston Ties By Oddsmaker

Published Nov 29, 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