Article: Rounding up the Red Sox Free Agent and Trade Rumors From the Winter Meetings

[Davy Andrews]

Although nothing has happened for the Red Sox just said, a lot has been said.

The Winter Meetings are in full swing and free-agent signings are starting to come quickly. Things are really moving, unless you’re a Red Sox fan. The Red Sox haven’t made a move this week, and with the notable exception of Corbin Burnes, the pitchers they’ve been linked to, Max Fried, Blake Snell, Yusei Kikuchi, and Shane Bieber, have all signed elsewhere. So has that Soto guy. While the actual news has been somewhat bleak, the rumors have been flying fast and thick. Let’s give them a quick recap.

The team has is now reportedly readying an offer for Burnes. What does “readying an offer” mean, and why wasn’t the team courting these free agents concurrently? It’s anybody’s guess. “Given our needs and what we intend to address this offseason,” said Craig Breslow, “it’s safe to say we were, we are, and we intend to remain on top rotation options.” That is to say that the Red Sox are taking Burnes seriously. Hopefully they’ll make their offer soon.

The team is well known to be interested in trading for White Sox starter Garrett Crochet, and on Tuesday, Jon Morosi reported that they’re part of a group of teams interested in trading for Dylan Cease of the Padres. Cease is an excellent player with a proven track record, but he’s also in his final year of arbitration, which would make him a one-year rental, as opposed to Crochet, who has two more years on his deal. San Diego GM A.J. The current report is extremely speculative, but Preller is never shy to pull a trade.

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reported on Monday that the team is also interested in Walker Buehler. After multiple major injuries, the 30-year-old Buehler is neither the player nor the prospect he once was, but toward the end of the season and in the playoffs, he showcased a new approach that worked well. Few would consider him a top-of-the-rotation caliber pitcher, but for a team with a solid pitching development program, he’s an interesting choice.

A particularly concerning rumor arose on Tuesday, when Sean McAdam of MassLive reported that the Red Sox have strong interest in Alex Bregman, but that the organization isn’t in agreement on the matter. Bregman has said publicly that he’s open to switching to second base if necessary, and adding him at that position would constitute a huge upgrade for the Red Sox. According to McAdam, Craig Breslow the operations department is less sold the idea of adding Bregman, while Sam Kennedy and Alex Cora, who coached Bregman in Houston, is much more sanguine. This is a concerning rumor. It’s not uncommon for different members of an organization to differ in their assessments, and it’s great that Cora feels empowered to pound the table for a player based on extensive knowledge of him. On the other hand, those schisms don’t usually end up in the newspapers, and there are some very good reasons for that. The team is supposed to speak with one voice. When signs of dissension in the ranks go public, it’s a bad sign.

Before the Winter Meetings started, Alex Speier, also of the Globe reported, “According to multiple major league sources, the Red Sox have been open to using Casas as a trade chip for pitching help.” The team has publicly been adamant that they aren’t shopping Casas, but either that has changed, or they’re simply listening to offers despite their commitment to the first baseman. Adam Jude and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reported something much more specific, the Mariners and Sox had “exploratory talks,” but they didn’t go anywhere.

No one can say for certain which, if any, of these moves will actually come to pass. One thing we can be certain of: there are more rumors to come.

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[Larry Cook]

Crochet. Chapman and Wilson! All left handed pitchers so far this offseason.