Rumor: The Red Sox Plan On Spending This Winter

[Matthew Lenz]

Red Sox President of Baseball Operations, Sam Kennedy, was recently quoted as saying the team could afford another to add another massive contract to their payroll stating "If that's what it takes, yeah, absolutely".

The 2025 payroll is currently estimated to be just north of $130 million while they were sitting almost $100 million more than that in a disappointing 2024 season. While they already have $313 million dedicated to Rafael Devers, they've been tied to the biggest names on the Free Agent market, including Juan Soto, Willy Adames, Blake Snell, Max Friend, and Nathan Eovaldi. They've also had preliminary talks with the Chicago White Sox on a deal for Garrett Crochet and, if they were to acquire him, it would be understood that he would sign a spendy extension.

Missing the playoffs in back-to-back-to-back seasons, Kennedy went on to say "there is an extreme urgency to compete for an AL East championship and make a deep playoff run in 2025." There is belief internally and externally that the Red Sox will be a force for most of the next decade with a strong core at the Major League level and one of the better farm systems in all of baseball. Signing a top end Free Agent or two, would only solidify that belief and set them up nicely to compete with the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. Of course, you can't sleep on the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays in what may be the best division in baseball from top to bottom.

In the words of Kennedy, "[it's] going to take shrewd investment in free agency, shrewd trades, and dedicated player development in the Major Leagues on down" if they plan on making good on their large 2025 and future goals.

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[mvp 78]

They're at the point where they need to prove it to the fans. 

[moonslav59]

"If that's what it takes" are the words than make me wonder.

Of course, that's WHAT IT TAKES! DUDE!

We all know it does. The fact that he is acting like they need to figure that out, still, makes me think "sham" all over agin.

[notin]

I hope they don’t waste money on Max Friend.  Is he even a minor leaguer?

[moonslav59]

51 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They're at the point where they need to prove it to the fans. 

No more words.

We need actions. (Emphasis on the "s.")

[Bellhorn04]

I'm actually feeling optimistic now, because why not?  It makes no difference how I feel anyway.

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm actually feeling optimistic now, because why not?  It makes no difference how I feel anyway.

It could be a form of self care as long as you aren't going to fall off hard later on. 

[moonslav59]

25 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm actually feeling optimistic now, because why not?  It makes no difference how I feel anyway.

I'm too sick of being let downs to go there.

[mvp 78]

18 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm too sick of being let downs to go there.

Everything is bigger in Texas even the feeling of being letdown by your favorite baseball club. 

[Hugh2]

It's going to be different this time, just like I said last offseason. 

[moonslav59]

16 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Everything is bigger in Texas even the feeling of being letdown by your favorite baseball club. 

My biggest "letdowns" were 1975, 1978, 1986 and 2003- all while in Maine.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

46 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

My biggest "letdowns" were 1975, 1978, 1986 and 2003- all while in Maine.

'72 was a tough one, but a fun year.

'74 is maybe the most underrated Red Sox choke of that era: first place on August 23rd by 7 1/2 games... and they finished freaking third. 

Lowlight of '74 was losing a Labor Day doubleheader in Baltimore by identical, excruciating 1-0 scores. Tiant and Lee pitched great in 8-inning complete games, but Grimsley and Cuellar were better in 9s (if the internet existed back then, it might still be extinct after Sox Nation blew it to Kingdom Dumb).

[moonslav59]

Missing the playoffs by a half game was a killer. Not sure that ever happened before of afterwards.

[Zippo102]

The key word there is "shrewd". They will make it look like they are in on everyone and then turn around and say that this person or that person "didn't fit into the red sox plans". No longer have any faith in the ownership.

[Brock Beauchamp]

13 minutes ago, Zippo102 said:

The key word there is "shrewd". They will make it look like they are in on everyone and then turn around and say that this person or that person "didn't fit into the red sox plans". No longer have any faith in the ownership.

Welcome to the site!

And while I normally agree that skepticism is warranted, the mere suggestion that the Red Sox are ready to go over the CBT again makes me think they're not just blowing smoke.

Because if you say you're willing to go over the CBT and you don't even come close to doing so, the backlash is going to be enormous. There's no reason to hang yourself out there like that unless you plan to actually do it. Kennedy would have lost nothing by keeping his mouth shut.

[mvp 78]

26 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Welcome to the site!

And while I normally agree that skepticism is warranted, the mere suggestion that the Red Sox are ready to go over the CBT again makes me think they're not just blowing smoke.

Because if you say you're willing to go over the CBT and you don't even come close to doing so, the backlash is going to be enormous. There's no reason to hang yourself out there like that unless you plan to actually do it. Kennedy would have lost nothing by keeping his mouth shut.

I mean, Sam Kennedy has said really dumb stuff in the past and has walked it back poorly. If they did it again, I wouldn't be all that surprised. Just like how we warned you about the impending Aug/Sept Sox collapse. We've seen it before. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I mean, Sam Kennedy has said really dumb stuff in the past and has walked it back poorly. If they did it again, I wouldn't be all that surprised. Just like how we warned you about the impending Aug/Sept Sox collapse. We've seen it before. 

That's fair, it just seems like an incredibly dumb and unnecessary thing to say if you're not even going to try to meet the goal. All it does is give the media and fans extra ammunition.

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

That's fair, it just seems like an incredibly dumb and unnecessary thing to say if you're not even going to try to meet the goal. All it does is give the media and fans extra ammunition.

They tend to talk a big game and be "all in" on lots of free agents prior to season tickets and the annual winter weekend. They have consistently fallen on their faces since 2019.  They used to be better, but it's been a while. 

[Duran Is The Man]

39 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Welcome to the site!

And while I normally agree that skepticism is warranted, the mere suggestion that the Red Sox are ready to go over the CBT again makes me think they're not just blowing smoke.

Because if you say you're willing to go over the CBT and you don't even come close to doing so, the backlash is going to be enormous. There's no reason to hang yourself out there like that unless you plan to actually do it. Kennedy would have lost nothing by keeping his mouth shut.

full throttle.

[Bellhorn04]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They tend to talk a big game and be "all in" on lots of free agents prior to season tickets and the annual winter weekend. They have consistently fallen on their faces since 2019.  They used to be better, but it's been a while. 

I have a feeling Henry and Kennedy and all of them know fans' patience is exhausted now.  Kennedy might be a bozo, but Henry is still a pretty smart guy, I believe.

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I have a feeling Henry and Kennedy and all of them know fans' patience is exhausted now.  Kennedy might be a bozo, but Henry is still a pretty smart guy, I believe.

Bullying works. That's how Devers was signed. We need to march on Henry's house.