Article: For the Red Sox, One-Year Deals Are the Order of the Day

[Davy Andrews]

The Red Sox have been very active this offseason, but it's hard to argue that they've been going for it.

For the second year in a row, this was the offseason when the Red Sox were going to turn it all around. They were going to put the pedal to the metal, sign all the big free agents, and get back to competing for a World Series trophy. However, it hasn’t exactly happened just yet, and that sounds familiar too. The Red Sox didn’t do much of anything before the 2024 season. This offseason, they have made several moves, but I don’t think you could argue that they represent an all-out effort to build a championship team. Although the Red Sox have been linked to a galaxy of star players, they've signed just two players from FanGraphs’ list of the top 50 free agents. Neither was in the top 20, and both signed one-year deals. In fact, I’d argue that fear of commitment has been the running theme of this offseason. Here are the free agent contracts the Red Sox have awarded so far:

Abraham Toro, one year
Walker Buehler, one year
Aroldis Chapman, one year
Justin Wilson, one year
Austin Adams, one year
Sean Newcomb, one year
Patrick Sandoval, two years

See the pattern? Keep in mind that Sandoval is coming off Tommy John surgery, and he’ll need to ramp up slowly after missing the first half of the 2025 season. In other words, everybody here is either literally or effectively on a one-year deal.

The Red Sox also went into the season with young stars like Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Triston Casas on rookie contracts, and it would have made sense to engage in contract extension talks with them. They chose not to do so, buying out Duran’s 2025 and 2026 arbitration years only to avoid a hearing.

The Red Sox did add some players with more than one year left on their contracts – trading for catchers Blake Sabol and Carlos Narváez, reliever Jovani Moran, and ace Garrett Crochet – but only Crochet is an impact player. The Red Sox are already engaged in extension talks with Crochet, which isn’t nothing, but still, January is drawing to a close and the reinforcements don’t seem to be coming. I would argue that the bullpen is worse than it was in 2024, and there’s no one to take the place of Tyler O’Neill or to fill the hole at second base.

This isn’t how the other championship hopefuls are acting. The Mets went out and signed Juan Soto for 15 years, and the Yankees, Giants, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, and Dodgers have all handed out contracts of at least four years. The Royals, Astros, Rangers, Orioles, and Athletics also handed out three-year deals. You have to take risks to land great players. We’re way past the point when you can argue that the Red Sox just haven’t found the player they’re looking for. Despite being linked to seemingly every single free agent under the sun, they have failed to make a splash. It just seems like they won’t commit to long-term deals.

The Red Sox have a great farm system poised to make an impact in Boston this season, and they clearly believe in the pitching development machine they’re building. Maintaining financial flexibility is helpful. So is getting a discount for players on pillow deals, and so is avoiding albatross contracts. All the same, it’s important to keep in mind that a team with the resources of the Red Sox doesn’t have to conduct business this way. They’re choosing to build their team on a one-year-at-a-time basis, risking the entire season on recently injured pitchers finally staying healthy. All these one-year deals, all these trades for replacement-level players, all these stars who sign elsewhere even though the Red Sox were “interested,” or “engaged,” or “in the mix.” They’re choices.  

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[Bellhorn04]

Good stuff Davy.  You're kind of preaching to the choir when it comes to TalkSox.  I think we're all puzzled, disappointed, disgusted or some combination thereof about this team's approach.  

We've certainly learned not to rely on any of their assurances.  Last year it was Werner's 'full throttle', this year it's Kennedy's 'even if we have to pay tax we're going for 90-95 wins' speech.

Who knows, maybe they'll sign Grichuk and Robertson (2 more 1 year deals LOL) and deliver extensions for Crochet and Campbell or Anthony or both.  As fans we live in hope.

  

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Davy Andrews said:

The Red Sox have a great farm system poised to make an impact in Boston this season, and they clearly believe in the pitching development machine they’re building. Maintaining financial flexibility is helpful. So is getting a discount for players on pillow deals, and so is avoiding albatross contracts. All the same, it’s important to keep in mind that a team with the resources of the Red Sox doesn’t have to conduct business this way. They’re choosing to build their team on a one-year-at-a-time basis, risking the entire season on recently injured pitchers finally staying healthy. All these one-year deals, all these trades for replacement-level players, all these stars who sign elsewhere even though the Red Sox were “interested,” or “engaged,” or “in the mix.” They’re choices.  

 

Agree 100%. They are waiting on some young guys to make a jump and don't want to get stuck in a long term deal on a guy that is blocking a better player (see Masataka Yoshida). They are still stuck in the Boston Red Sox Market Value system of FA rather than what players are actually getting on the FA market. They've been behind for several years now because they are still trying to play Moneyball when they should be playing Dodgerball or something close to it. 

[Randy Red Sox]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Agree 100%. They are waiting on some young guys to make a jump and don't want to get stuck in a long term deal on a guy that is blocking a better player (see Masataka Yoshida). They are still stuck in the Boston Red Sox Market Value system of FA rather than what players are actually getting on the FA market. They've been behind for several years now because they are still trying to play Moneyball when they should be playing Dodgerball or something close to it. 

i totally agree

[Bellhorn04]

Shaughnessy actually said this about 3 years ago: "The Red Sox like one-year deals the way I like ice cream". 

[Randy Red Sox]

4 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Shaughnessy actually said this about 3 years ago: "The Red Sox like one-year deals the way I like ice cream". 

easier on JH's pocket book

[moonslav59]

We've gotten so many 4+ deals wrong, in a row, that I can see why JH is a scaredy cat.

BTW, when was our last 3 year deal or extension?

Bogey opted out after 3 and Barnes had a 3rd year option, but I can't think of the last one. Have we had one since Vic?

[mvp 78]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We've gotten so many 4+ deals wrong, in a row, that I can see why JH is a scaredy cat.

BTW, when was our last 3 year deal or extension?

Bogey opted out after 3 and Barnes had a 3rd year option, but I can't think of the last one. Have we had one since Vic?

If JH isn't the majority owner anymore, why should his opinion determine the direction of the franchise? 

[Duran Is The Man]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We've gotten so many 4+ deals wrong, in a row, that I can see why JH is a scaredy cat.

BTW, when was our last 3 year deal or extension?

Bogey opted out after 3 and Barnes had a 3rd year option, but I can't think of the last one. Have we had one since Vic?

they do every thing wrong. these morons don't have a clue on how to build a functioning baseball team. the fact that they have not added a RH bat is the latest in a long line of poor decisions. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

If JH isn't the majority owner anymore, why should his opinion determine the direction of the franchise? 

I doubt we run to a board with every lage contract. Parameters are set that may allow for an occasional big contract, and my guess is, and it's only a guess, JH is the guy to give the final thumbs up or down to Brez & Co.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Duran Is The Man said:

they do every thing wrong. these morons don't have a clue on how to build a functioning baseball team. the fact that they have not added a RH bat is the latest in a long line of poor decisions. 

They do seem to have gotten building up the farm right, and I like the new focus on building up young pitchers.

When was the last time we've seen a list of homegrown and acquired young or prospects pitchers like the one we have now?

Houck, Bello, Crawford, Wink, Weissert, Kelly, Guerrero

Slaten, Fitts, Priester, Crochet (trade)

While this list is not great, it is better than we have seen in a long time. Most of our best staffs, in the last decade have been stocked by FAs or blockbuster trades.

[Bellhorn04]

56 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I doubt we run to a board with every lage contract. Parameters are set that may allow for an occasional big contract, and my guess is, and it's only a guess, JH is the guy to give the final thumbs up or down to Brez & Co.

I really believe they are being run in a committee type fashion.  The latest evidence of this was the comments by Zack Scott.  Everything was we this and we that.  And hardly anyone even knows who the heck Zack Scott is or was. 

Plus of course we had the reports about Bregman, that Cora and Kennedy wanted him and Breslow wasn't as keen.

It would explain a lot about the way things have been going and all the mixed messages. 

 

[moonslav59]

19 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I really believe they are being run in a committee type fashion.  The latest evidence of this was the comments by Zack Scott.  Everything was we this and we that.  And hardly anyone even knows who the heck Zack Scott is or was. 

Plus of course we had the reports about Bregman, that Cora and Kennedy wanted him and Breslow wasn't as keen.

It would explain a lot about the way things have been going and all the mixed messages. 

 

It's hard to know what is going on, and with so many mixed messages, it sure seems like a lot of hands are in the dough.

I'm sure many teams consult multiple people before making big signings, so I'm not sure if we are all that unique, or maybe our routine is just plain dysfunctional.

We obviously are very tight on longer term deals. No 3 year deals since Vic. Bogey's extension had an opt out after 3. Nate's re-sign was 4 years. The Sale extension and JD signing was 5 years. Yoshida was 5. Story 6. Price 7 but was dumped, early. The 8 year Pedey extension was way back in 2014. Devers 10.

Since the Pedey extension, these are all the deals at 3 year or more that I can think of:

10 Devers, 7 Price, 6 Story, 5 Yoshida, Sale, JD, 4 Nate, 3 Bogey's opt out deal.

6 deals over 4 years in 10 years. 8 at 3 or more.

[notin]

19 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I really believe they are being run in a committee type fashion.  The latest evidence of this was the comments by Zack Scott.  Everything was we this and we that.  And hardly anyone even knows who the heck Zack Scott is or was. 

Plus of course we had the reports about Bregman, that Cora and Kennedy wanted him and Breslow wasn't as keen.

It would explain a lot about the way things have been going and all the mixed messages. 

 

Aren’t most teams run similarly?  I would suspect very few teams if any put these multimillion dollar investments in the hands of a single decision maker…

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Aren’t most teams run similarly?  I would suspect very few teams if any put these multimillion dollar investments in the hands of a single decision maker…

I don't think we have enough information to say and I would expect there's a lot of variation in how things are done.  

 

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't think we have enough information to say and I would expect there's a lot of variation in how things are done.  

 

There probably is. I think it's safe to say all major decisions are at least discussed, fully, with several people. I do think some teams have a more streamlined process than we do, and maybe less people who make the final call.

IMO, I think we have a framework set-up by many, but it comes down to JH to give the final thumbs up or down. If a signing would bring us way over the suggested budget, maybe the whole group has to meet to give the okay... like maybe the Soto deal had to go over JH's head.

[notin]

37 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't think we have enough information to say and I would expect there's a lot of variation in how things are done.  

 

I actually think it’s the opposite, primarily because a lot of personnel seem to get recycled from team to team.  Like any industry.  
 

The decisions clearly vary.  But I bet the process is the same…

 

[moonslav59]

14 minutes ago, notin said:

I actually think it’s the opposite, primarily because a lot of personnel seem to get recycled from team to team.  Like any industry.  
 

The decisions clearly vary.  But I bet the process is the same…

 

I would think some teams have one guy with way more decision-making power than other teams.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

21 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I would think some teams have one guy with way more decision-making power than other teams.

Wasn't it "leaked" that was the issue with Dombrowski, when he was replaced?

The company line may be he was costing them money, of course... right after he won them a championship.

I'm not into MLB marketing, but there's gotta be some analyst out there who can calculate how much winning a World Series is worth to the brand of a franchise with the fan following of Red Sox Nation. 

[notin]

Soxprospects still expects Boston to add a reliever.  If it’s only a one year deal, David Robertson feels like the most likely candidate.  At his age, he’s not getting multiple years and he is well aware of this…

[notin]

1 minute ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Wasn't it "leaked" that was the issue with Dombrowski, when he was replaced?

The company line may be he was costing them money, of course... right after he won them a championship.

I'm not into MLB marketing, but there's gotta be some analyst out there who can calculate how much winning a World Series is worth to the brand of a franchise with the fan following of Red Sox Nation. 

These stories emerge every now and then and are probably exaggerated and inconsequential.  It’s not like Henry didn’t know Dombrowski.  
 

Like when stories emerged about the rift between Dan Duquette and Jimy Williams, and supposedly reached the point where DD would trade or release prospects Williams liked (namely Adam Everett and David Eckstein). Did that really happen for that reason?  If so, why didn’t DD simply fire Williams?  He had the authority to do so…

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, notin said:

Soxprospects still expects Boston to add a reliever.  If it’s only a one year deal, David Robertson feels like the most likely candidate.  At his age, he’s not getting multiple years and he is well aware of this…

He's a very unexciting option, but there isn't much left at this point. 

[mvp 78]

13 minutes ago, notin said:

These stories emerge every now and then and are probably exaggerated and inconsequential.  It’s not like Henry didn’t know Dombrowski.  
 

Like when stories emerged about the rift between Dan Duquette and Jimy Williams, and supposedly reached the point where DD would trade or release prospects Williams liked (namely Adam Everett and David Eckstein). Did that really happen for that reason?  If so, why didn’t DD simply fire Williams?  He had the authority to do so…

Why didn't Billy Beane fire Art Howe in Moneyball when Art kept playing Carlos Pena instead of Hatteberg into mid May? 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Why didn't Billy Beane fire Art Howe in Moneyball when Art kept playing Carlos Pena instead of Hatteberg into mid May? 

Billy was afraid Carlos would go Plakata on him.

[moonslav59]

24 minutes ago, notin said:

Soxprospects still expects Boston to add a reliever.  If it’s only a one year deal, David Robertson feels like the most likely candidate.  At his age, he’s not getting multiple years and he is well aware of this…

They also project K Campbell to be the starting 2Bman, with DHam & Romy on the bench and Grissom at AAA.

They have us with 6 SP'ers and 9 RP'ers plus the "acquisition" for RP'er #5, so something will have to give, there. This is not counting Bernardino listed as "inactive." All totalled, that's 17 pitchers for 13 slots. They have 21 pitchers under the AAA umbrella.

[moonslav59]

14 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

He's a very unexciting option, but there isn't much left at this point. 

Agreed.

Jansen, Robertson or some converted starter barely move the needle.

[mvp 78]

34 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Billy was afraid Carlos would go Plakata on him.

Now that I'm in FL, I only know about Palatka.

[mvp 78]

30 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Agreed.

Jansen, Robertson or some converted starter barely move the needle.

Jansen would be fine, but I don't think Cora or the team wants him back.

[vjcsmoke]

On 1/29/2025 at 6:57 AM, Davy Andrews said:

The Red Sox have been very active this offseason, but it's hard to argue that they've been going for it.

For the second year in a row, this was the offseason when the Red Sox were going to turn it all around. They were going to put the pedal to the metal, sign all the big free agents, and get back to competing for a World Series trophy. However, it hasn’t exactly happened just yet, and that sounds familiar too. The Red Sox didn’t do much of anything before the 2024 season. This offseason, they have made several moves, but I don’t think you could argue that they represent an all-out effort to build a championship team. Although the Red Sox have been linked to a galaxy of star players, they've signed just two players from FanGraphs’ list of the top 50 free agents. Neither was in the top 20, and both signed one-year deals. In fact, I’d argue that fear of commitment has been the running theme of this offseason. Here are the free agent contracts the Red Sox have awarded so far:

Abraham Toro, one year
Walker Buehler, one year
Aroldis Chapman, one year
Justin Wilson, one year
Austin Adams, one year
Sean Newcomb, one year
Patrick Sandoval, two years

See the pattern? Keep in mind that Sandoval is coming off Tommy John surgery, and he’ll need to ramp up slowly after missing the first half of the 2025 season. In other words, everybody here is either literally or effectively on a one-year deal.

The Red Sox also went into the season with young stars like Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Triston Casas on rookie contracts, and it would have made sense to engage in contract extension talks with them. They chose not to do so, buying out Duran’s 2025 and 2026 arbitration years only to avoid a hearing.

The Red Sox did add some players with more than one year left on their contracts – trading for catchers Blake Sabol and Carlos Narváez, reliever Jovani Moran, and ace Garrett Crochet – but only Crochet is an impact player. The Red Sox are already engaged in extension talks with Crochet, which isn’t nothing, but still, January is drawing to a close and the reinforcements don’t seem to be coming. I would argue that the bullpen is worse than it was in 2024, and there’s no one to take the place of Tyler O’Neill or to fill the hole at second base.

This isn’t how the other championship hopefuls are acting. The Mets went out and signed Juan Soto for 15 years, and the Yankees, Giants, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, and Dodgers have all handed out contracts of at least four years. The Royals, Astros, Rangers, Orioles, and Athletics also handed out three-year deals. You have to take risks to land great players. We’re way past the point when you can argue that the Red Sox just haven’t found the player they’re looking for. Despite being linked to seemingly every single free agent under the sun, they have failed to make a splash. It just seems like they won’t commit to long-term deals.

The Red Sox have a great farm system poised to make an impact in Boston this season, and they clearly believe in the pitching development machine they’re building. Maintaining financial flexibility is helpful. So is getting a discount for players on pillow deals, and so is avoiding albatross contracts. All the same, it’s important to keep in mind that a team with the resources of the Red Sox doesn’t have to conduct business this way. They’re choosing to build their team on a one-year-at-a-time basis, risking the entire season on recently injured pitchers finally staying healthy. All these one-year deals, all these trades for replacement-level players, all these stars who sign elsewhere even though the Red Sox were “interested,” or “engaged,” or “in the mix.” They’re choices.  

 

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Correct. The Red Sox don't want to committ financial resources to make the team better. Instead they will buy one year band aids and hope it's enough to make the team competitive so they can sell season tickets. That's all they care about is the money.

There is no "pedal to metal" mindset. It's all about keep the salary low, do just enough to appease fans and maybe get over .500. There is no ambition for playoffs or postseason contention. The ownership has decided to go CHEAP and as long as that continues it almost doesn't matter what GM we have even though Chaim Bloom was pretty darn awful.

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Agreed.

Jansen, Robertson or some converted starter barely move the needle.

I disagree.  Jansen and Robertson would both move the needle.  I'll assume that Jansen is out of the picture.  But Robertson pitched 72 innings last year with a 1.9 fWAR and a 1.7 bWAR.  Works for me.