Article: Red Sox Increase Their Pursuit of Juan Soto, Ask for Personal Meeting With Soto Himself

[Nick John]

The Red Sox have made their desire for Soto abundantly clear, but no one knows what will come next.

The Boston Red Sox appear to be ramping up their pursuit of Juan Soto. The offseason's top free agent appears to be narrowing the teams in consideration, and the Red Sox don’t want to be left off his list. Thursday night, the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported that the Red Sox have requested a meeting with Soto and his representatives to figure out what price it would take to get the outfielder to Boston. The move is an interesting one, signaling Boston’s desire to get a deal done with the generational talent. At the moment, however, it is not known if the meeting has been agreed upon or even taken place.

Although the Juan Soto Sweepstakes has featured surprisingly few leaks, the denouement seems likely to arrive soon. Many newsbreakers throughout baseball have voiced the opinion that Soto will announce his decision by the end of the upcoming Winter Meetings, and possibly as early as their opening on Sunday. "We’ve had meetings with a number of franchises," said Scott Boras, Soto's agent. "He’s begun the process of eliminating teams."

By all appearances, the Red Sox have managed to stay in the hunt. Their competition is widely reported to include the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, division rival Toronto Blue Jays, the Steve Cohen-led New York Mets, and of course the Sox' eternal rivals, the New York Yankees. It’s been reported that currently the Red Sox have upped their latest offer to the slugger for over $600 million, as have the other four teams in contention.

Soto is coming off of a monster season with the Yankees, slashing .288/.419/.569 to go along with 41 home runs and 129 RBI. Jay Jaffe's JAWS metric, which estimates worthiness for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, already counts Soto as the 53rd-most deserving right fielder, and he's just 26 years old. If the Red Sox manage to convince the slugger to join a lineup that already includes Jarren Duran, Rafael Devers, and Triston Casas, it could make for a terrifying force. Add in a healthy Trevor Story and Wilyer Abreu looking to take a step in his second full season, and the Red Sox could have as deep a lineup as any in the American League.

Excitement about the possibility of landing Soto isn't limited to the fans and the front office. On Thursday, the Globe's Julian McWilliams relayed comments from reliever Liam Hendriks:

Quote

“I think he’d mesh really well in our clubhouse....I think every organization should be on him. He’s a 26-year old-guy with elite everything, and now he’s got an ability on the free agent market to cash in. He’s a generation-type player. You’re not going to find too many of those guys coming along. So if you’ve got the means and the capabilities, go for it.”

While the Red Sox have given every indication that they are extremely serious in their pursuit of Soto, as far as the public knows, it’s anyone’s game. If they do manage to snag the offseason's top prize, they could become one of the favorites in the American League. If the pursuit of Soto turns out to be unsuccessful (and basic math still says that you should take the field over any one team), the Red Sox will need to pivot in a hurry in order to fulfill the promises made by Sam Kennedy and Craig Breslow. Once the big domino has fallen, there may well be a rush on free agents, and the Red Sox have serious holes to fill in order to make the team into a contender once more. While not as enticing a name, the team could look to bring back outfielder Tyler O’Neill, who had a decent season with the club, or bolster their infield with the addition of stars Willy Adames or Alex Bregman.

The Red Sox know they have to do everything in their power to convince both Soto and Boras that they mean business, and they’re trying to do just that.

 

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[moonslav59]

It's hard to keep oneself from getting hopes up on Soto. The guy in a generational player.

Signing him would also go a long way in repairing the fans' view of JH & Co.

We cannot stop at just Soto. Adding just Soto, Eovaldi and Danny Jansen would be an improvement, but we'd still be a fringe playoff team and not a top ring contender. I suppose, if everything gelled at once, we could see a repeat of 2021, or better, but injuries and unexpected decines happen, every year.

[mvp 78]

It seems like Henry wants to get it done, but he's not the only owner at the table. Soto isn't going to give him a $$$ amount as he (and his agent) just wants to go back and forth until he gets the most he can. 

[Bellhorn04]

Supposedly Cohen has said he'll beat any other offer by $50 million.

Kind of makes it an exercise in futility if you think it's just top dollar wins.

I think that's why they're asking for the meeting.  And it sounds like they're ready to walk away and move onto other things.

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Supposedly Cohen has said he'll beat any other offer by $50 million.

Kind of makes it an exercise in futility if you think it's just top dollar wins.

I think that's why they're asking for the meeting.  And it sounds like they're ready to walk away and move onto other things.

Walk and chew bubble gum. They should still be able to sign Fried right now if they want to. 

[notin]

Breslow:  “We understand you don’t take our offer if it isn’t the best.  But whatever you do instead of Boston, just please don’t go back to the Yankees.  Heck we will help the Mets pay for you to stay out of the Bronx.”

[moonslav59]

I can understand the Sox reasoning for asking for a "number you will take." If Soto truly wants to play in Boston, he could just name a number and not worry about the possible $50M more from the Mets. (Hell, the tax differential might eat most of that up, anyway.)

I can also understand Soto choosing to wait, thinking the Mets will add $50M to the final best offer anyone else makes. If it's all about maxing out the money, he will choose this, but again, the tax thing might even the money out, more of less.

The Sox may not want to miss out on other top FAs by waiting too long on Soto, just have him sign with the Mets.

[Bellhorn04]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I can understand the Sox reasoning for asking for a "number you will take." If Soto truly wants to play in Boston, he could just name a number and not worry about the possible $50M more from the Mets. (Hell, the tax differential might eat most of that up, anyway.)

I can also understand Soto choosing to wait, thinking the Mets will add $50M to the final best offer anyone else makes. If it's all about maxing out the money, he will choose this, but again, the tax thing might even the money out, more of less.

The Sox may not want to miss out on other top FAs by waiting too long on Soto, just have him sign with the Mets.

I understand the Sox reasoning totally.  It's absurd to just keep increasing your offer if Cohen has promised to beat them all by $50 mill.

Unless you think it would be fun to make Cohen pay $800 million, I guess...

At some point someone has to force the issue like this.

[notin]

Just now, Bellhorn04 said:

I understand the Sox reasoning totally.  It's absurd to just keep increasing your offer if Cohen has promised to beat them all by $50 mill.

Unless you think it would be fun to make Cohen pay $800 million, I guess...

At some point someone has to force the issue like this.

That $50mill won’t even cover parking in NYC…

[moonslav59]

26 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I understand the Sox reasoning totally.  It's absurd to just keep increasing your offer if Cohen has promised to beat them all by $50 mill.

Unless you think it would be fun to make Cohen pay $800 million, I guess...

At some point someone has to force the issue like this.

That's how I see it, otherwise, everyone else should just stop bidding, unless they want to push the Mets to absurd level, while risking Cohen says no to some number.

I like how the Sox put this ask.

[moonslav59]

27 minutes ago, notin said:

That $50mill won’t even cover parking in NYC…

I really feel the taxes and Cost of Living might cancel out that $50M.

[Army Strong]

Allocate the available funds to acquire two top-tier starting pitchers, while simultaneously pursuing a right-handed batter. This strategy will leave sufficient resources for acquiring a quality infielder. Should Soto ultimately join the Mets, it would be a positive development for our team, as we would enhance our roster while the Yankees would suffer a significant loss.

[mvp 78]

23 minutes ago, Army Strong said:

Allocate the available funds to acquire two top-tier starting pitchers, while simultaneously pursuing a right-handed batter. This strategy will leave sufficient resources for acquiring a quality infielder. Should Soto ultimately join the Mets, it would be a positive development for our team, as we would enhance our roster while the Yankees would suffer a significant loss.

The Sox were 11th in wRC+ last year. With Story coming back and all the potential additions from AAA, I'm not sure they really need to invest heavily in offense. 

If they locked down Fried AND Burnes in one swoop, it'd be a bigger boon to this team than anything else they could do. It potentially gives them a top 5 rotation. 

[Thunder]

Alright everybody, it's time I emerge from the void in which I have fallen into, and provide my thoughts on this topic:

 

Do I want Juan Soto on the Red Sox? Yes - as much, if not more so, than anybody else out there. The dude and I look alike (other than skin tone), for God's sake! I want him so bad I have been refreshing news feeds every hour on the hour since Monday for any slightest bit of news

 

Do I think we have a realistic shot at getting him? I will believe when I see it. I think Henry and Breslow wanting him and being willing to spent $700ish million is legitimate. What I am caught up on is I think Boras is playing us to get more out of the Yankees and Mets. I have nightmares from Boras doing us dirty with Xander, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

I also think that the fact he has taken this long to mull over his 5 offers is telling. If he was going to go to the Yankees all along, I would figure he would have signed with them by now, unless he and Boras really want to milk all the possible money they can out of Hal and Cashman. If he is automatically going to go to the highest bidder, he can tell Steve Cohen the price he needs to beat, and he can do it. Done deal. I think he's seriously considering us and Toronto, otherwise he would have decided by now. And there's a lot of good reasons to come here, as I am sure all of you have discussed in every possible thread that I can't possibly be bothered to catch up on.

 

Regardless of whether or not we get him, I think we will have a great free agency cycle and drastically improve our team. I like every bit of the messaging I've been seeing from Sam Kennedy and Breslow so far. 

[moonslav59]

Good to see you back, Thunder.

Nice post.

[moonslav59]

57 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The Sox were 11th in wRC+ last year. With Story coming back and all the potential additions from AAA, I'm not sure they really need to invest heavily in offense. 

If they locked down Fried AND Burnes in one swoop, it'd be a bigger boon to this team than anything else they could do. It potentially gives them a top 5 rotation. 

I agree, and despite our issues against LHPs and the loss of O'Neill, I think our offense will be fine. We also have 3-5 top prospects, all of whom are non pitchers, looking very close to ML readiness. Most have a very nice offensive profile, although only Campbell and Meidroth bat righty.

I also think we could probably make a sideways move, by trading a LHB for a RHB of near equal abilities, except with more advantageous splits vs lefties.

I doubt Devers hits .686 vs LHPs, next season. (He was at .824 in '23.

Casas has a pretty nice .772 OPS v LHPs and missed most of '24.

I hate to put a lot of trust and hopes into a Story return, but he could make a big difference on D and O v LHPs.

[notin]

1 hour ago, Army Strong said:

Allocate the available funds to acquire two top-tier starting pitchers, while simultaneously pursuing a right-handed batter. This strategy will leave sufficient resources for acquiring a quality infielder. Should Soto ultimately join the Mets, it would be a positive development for our team, as we would enhance our roster while the Yankees would suffer a significant loss.

Infielder?  Barring trades the Sox have Devers, Casas, Story, Hamilton, Grissom, Gonzalez, Campbell, Mayer, and possibly Meidroth.  They need another infielder like Fenway Franks need more gelatinized red polymer goo…

[Thunder]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Infielder?  Barring trades the Sox have Devers, Casas, Story, Hamilton, Grissom, Gonzalez, Campbell, Mayer, and possibly Meidroth.  They need another infielder like Fenway Franks need more gelatinized red polymer goo…

I'm never eating a hot dog again. Thanks a lot for that visual...

[notin]

4 minutes ago, Thunder said:

I'm never eating a hot dog again. Thanks a lot for that visual...

You’re welcome…

[moonslav59]

24 minutes ago, notin said:

Infielder?  Barring trades the Sox have Devers, Casas, Story, Hamilton, Grissom, Gonzalez, Campbell, Mayer, and possibly Meidroth.  They need another infielder like Fenway Franks need more gelatinized red polymer goo…

Too bad only 2-3 can actually field their IF position well.

[moonslav59]

One guy I hoped we'd sign, if no Scott, is Jeff Hoffman. Apparently, he is about to re-sign with PHI. He has really improved over the last 3 years.

First 7 years combined:  5.96 ERA/5.49 FIP/1.61 WHIP/1.8 K:BB  (8.2 K/9 to 4.5 BB/9)

2022 (age 29):  3.83/4.30/1.41/1.96 (9.1 to 4.6)

2023 (age 30):  2.41/2.57/0.92/3.63 (11.9 to 3.3)

2024 (age 31): 2.17/2.52/0.96/5.56 (12.1 to 2.2)

I doubt we'll sign Scott, and with Holmes gone, I'm not seeing much left, except via trade. Maybe Estevez could work out?

 

[Bellhorn04]

18 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I agree, and despite our issues against LHPs and the loss of O'Neill, I think our offense will be fine.

It would be kind of nice if they could figure out why our offense had an OPS of .654 in September.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

I believe Soto ends up with the Mets. However, there is a plan B. How about the SOX trade 

Casas, Abreu and either Mayer or Campbell to the Jays for Vlad, Jr? 

IMHO, Vlad is a better hitter than Soto and better defensively. He's also the answer to the SOX RH batter shortage.

The money saved gives the SOX a better chance of signing either Fried or Burnes.

I doubt the Jays' trade happens, but at least it's an alternate plan.

[Bellhorn04]

3 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I believe Soto ends up with the Mets. However, there is a plan B. How about the SOX trade 

Casas, Abreu and either Mayer or Campbell to the Jays for Vlad, Jr? 

IMHO, Vlad is a better hitter than Soto and better defensively. He's also the answer to the SOX RH batter shortage.

The money saved gives the SOX a better chance of signing either Fried or Burnes.

I doubt the Jays' trade happens, but at least it's an alternate plan.

Vlad is a great hitter but he falls well short of Soto.

Career OPS+

Soto 160

Vlad 137

[moonslav59]

18 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

It would be kind of nice if they could figure out why our offense had an OPS of .654 in September.

Normally, I'd say it could have just been a fluke, but we hit .651  in Sept 2023, so it may be more than an outlier.

The Devers injury was big (.496 in SEP w 7th most PAs.)

The big bomb was Duran leading the team in SEPT PAs and also having a .596 OPS. Yoshida hit .633, Rafaela .512 and Abreu .517- all were top 9 in PAs

Ref had only 19 PAs in Sept (1.186,) and nobody had over 30 PAs and an OPS over Tristan's .790 mark. That suggests a total team meltdown.

Our hitting is a big concern, but IMO, our ace and closer slots are far bigger concerns. We also have help on the way, from the farm, on offense (and defense.) We don't have much, in terms of pitching, except a pretty large amount of pitchers that are decent AAAA type depth guys.

We need top quality pitchers, and just two is likely not going to be enough.

I think that unless we have a very large winter budget, there will not be enough to spend on bats. Much depends on our willingness to pull off a major trade or two, as well.

 

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I believe Soto ends up with the Mets. However, there is a plan B. How about the SOX trade 

Casas, Abreu and either Mayer or Campbell to the Jays for Vlad, Jr? 

IMHO, Vlad is a better hitter than Soto and better defensively. He's also the answer to the SOX RH batter shortage.

The money saved gives the SOX a better chance of signing either Fried or Burnes.

I doubt the Jays' trade happens, but at least it's an alternate plan.

I'd rather trade for Pablo Lopez and sign a better defensive guy to play 3B (Adames or Bregman) and moce Devers to 1B/DH. To me, we don't need a 1Bman.

(We don't really need a LF'er either, but Soto's bat is a major upgrade. I'm not sure that even if we extend Vladdy, he will outhit Casas over the next 5 years, combined.)

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

12 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Vlad is a great hitter but he falls well short of Soto.

Career OPS+

Soto 160

Vlad 137

Both are approximately the same age so a long term contract for Vlad, Jr would be just as reasonable as the same length contract for Soto.

Personally, I just prefer Vlad over Soto. Like I posted above, the odds are the SOX acquire neither. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

25 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'd rather trade for Pablo Lopez and sign a better defensive guy to play 3B (Adames or Bregman) and moce Devers to 1B/DH. To me, we don't need a 1Bman.

(We don't really need a LF'er either, but Soto's bat is a major upgrade. I'm not sure that even if we extend Vladdy, he will outhit Casas over the next 5 years, combined.)

Vlad is one year older than Casas. I seriously doubt that Casas will outhit Vlad over the next 5 years. 

On a more realistic path I certainly hope the SOX can pick up either Fried, Burnes or Crochett.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

In the likelihood  that Soto does  sign with the  Mets,  at  least it gets him out  of the AL  East.

Also, the Yankems losing Soto would also be great.

[moonslav59]

32 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Vlad is one year older than Casas. I seriously doubt that Casas will outhit Vlad over the next 5 years. 

On a more realistic path I certainly hope the SOX can pick up either Fried, Burnes or Crochett.

Good point. I forgot how young Vladdy is.

I do think Casas is a damn good hitter, and Vladdy is no whiz on D, but better than Casas.

OPS+ 2022-2024

138 Vladdy

125 Casas

 

OPS+ 2023-2024

141 Vladdy

126 Casas

 

Ages 23-24:

126 Casas (just 745 PAs)

125 Vladdy