The Red Sox and Yankees Have Had Eerily Similar Offseasons Thus Far

Let’s get this out of the way up front: New York and Boston haven’t had identical offseasons. The Yankees actually lost Juan Soto, whereas the Red Sox merely failed to sign him. And the Bronx Bombers have also added to their offense, acquiring Cody Bellinger in a swap with the Chicago Cubs, whereas the Red Sox have only brought in backup catcher Carlos Narváez to replace the departing Kyle Teel…in a trade with the Yankees.

Besides that, though, these two longtime rivals have mirrored each other closely in how they’ve chosen to operate this winter. The Red Sox signed Aroldis Chapman (before Soto’s deal became official) and traded for Garrett Crochet, while the Yankees signed Max Fried and traded for Devin Williams. Both franchises have added an ace and a closer, though they’ve done it through different means. Are one side’s acquisitions clearly better than the other?

Let’s start with the acquisition costs. The Red Sox only surrendered money to sign Chapman, giving him a one-year, $10.75-million contract. As for Crochet, Boston dealt four top-15 prospects — Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth, and pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez — and they’ll have him under team control for his final two years of arbitration. The Yankees, on the other hand, gave Fried a whopper of a contract: $218 million over eight years. They paid a comparatively smaller price in their trade, losing out on just one season of Nestor Cortes Jr. and second base prospect Caleb Durbin in exchange for one year of Williams.

Starting with the relievers, Williams is obviously better than a 37-year-old version of Aroldis Chapman, but they’re not being brought in to fill the exact same roles. Williams will be the unquestioned closer in New York. Over the last three seasons, he’s run a 1.66 ERA and 2.29 FIP in 141 innings, with a 39.5% strikeout rate and 48.3% groundball rate. Just take a look at his Statcast page, and you’ll start getting sick of the number 99.

Chapman, meanwhile, has only racked up 20 saves over the past two seasons, with numbers that are more “great” than “best in the league. He's run a 3.45 ERA and 2.78 FIP, with a 39.1% strikeout rate but a sky-high 14.6% walk rate. With both relievers under contract for one year, the Yankees are going to get more juice for their squeeze, but does that offset the larger cost they paid? You could probably argue that it does, especially since their bullpen was in flux after losing Clay Holmes in free agency. Still, Chapman is no pushover, nor is he a stranger to the ultra-competitive AL East.

As for the starters, Crochet and Fried exist on a similar tier. Fried has a longer track record of success, but he’s never had the putaway stuff the 25-year-old Crochet possesses. The former Atlanta Braves starter is a master of inducing soft contact and groundballs. He throws seven different pitches, and can retire a batter with any of them. On the other hand, Crochet's sinker is one of the very best in baseball, and his 35.1% strikeout rate was the best among all starters in 2024. However, he’s susceptible to giving up hard contact, doesn’t have a deep repertoire of pitches, and has never exceeded 150 innings pitched in a season (something Fried has done four times).

Fried’s deal is fascinating because he’ll turn 31 before it even starts and he'll spent the rest of his career in New York. Crochet won’t even be 26 until the middle of next season, but the Red Sox will have to pay handsomely if they want to keep him beyond the 2026 season. Is one pitcher significantly better than the other? Despite pitching very differently, they get similar results, but would you rather be paying a 38-year-old Fried $27.25 million in 2030, or would you rather watch Crochet walk away before he’s even really in his prime?

Perhaps the more interesting takeaway from all of this is that both of these teams pivoted to pitching after losing out on Soto. The Red Sox were always going to have to reinforce a pitching staff that lacked impact talent, but the Yankees chose to pivot in this particular direction hard. If you believe what's been reported, they effectively stole Fried from Boston by offering him an eighth year. Their pitching staff will be among the league's best in 2024, but they may find it challenging to score runs with an offense that consists of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, and a whole bunch of question marks.

If nothing else, this offseason has breathed new life back into baseball’s oldest rivalry. Only time will tell which side made the better calls, but next season should offer a prominent look into which side is pulling ahead.