Red Sox Still In Contact With Pair Of Frontline Starters Despite Pessimism

Boston is in a flux state

Scott Neville | Jan 21, 2024

Red Sox Still In Contact With Pair Of Frontline Starters Despite Pessimism /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are less than a month away from spring training with expectations at an all-time low.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow could add one of the two impact starters available and a solid right-handed bat to put Boston in the playoff contention conversation.

However, the Red Sox brass spent almost all of Winter Weekend talking about lowering payroll and punting on the 2024 season. Despite this, Breslow reportedly is still making a run for the top starters on the market.

"Red Sox did their best to tamp down expectations this weekend, but they’re still in contact with the top remaining free-agent starters," The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham reported Sunday. "Whether they’re serious or not is the question. This much is true: majority of fans are angry. They could be hoping prices drop and somebody like (Jordan) Montgomery makes sense. Or it’s just posing so they can claim they tried."

It's flat-out odd how long it's taken Montgomery and Blake Snell to sign this winter, indicating that neither player has received the contracts they are seeking.

Snell is a less likely fit given the team's need for innings and consistency but there is a slim chance of Red Sox owner John Henry greenlighting a deal with Montgomery.

Despite how often they object to it, the Red Sox ownership is not showing signs that they are trying to compete this season. With that said, I would advise not getting hopes up.

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Published Jan 21, 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