Boston Red Sox We will commit to actually competing in the AL East one of these years. Disappointing first post-Chaim Bloom season ends with Boston rising to first place New York YankeesIt’s led by arguably the two best players in the entire American League. Boston’s ambition, of course, goes beyond knocking off New York, but things are never fun in Boston when the Yankees are ahead.

It’s not hard to make holes in the Red Sox roster, but the quickest way to win baseball games in today’s MLB is through an elite pitching staff. Boston has a long way to go in this area, especially after Brayan Bello failed to make the breakthrough expected of him in 2024.

Boston should receive immediate reinforcements with the return of Lucas Giolito, who missed all of last season after elbow surgery. But more additions would push Boston to a different level. While the Red Sox haven’t always been as aggressive as fans would like in free agency, a strong infield market could benefit Boston. The options are many.

on AthleticFormer MLB GM Jim Bowden has a tempting prediction for Boston: three-year, $68 million contract For Jack Flaherty.

This is a huge steal for the Red Sox, but unfortunately Flaherty may hang up before Boston even puts such an offer on the table.

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Here’s the problem with predicting Jack Flaherty will leave the team: Los Angeles Dodgers – he’s a Los Angeles kid, born and raised, and he won it all with the team he grew up on. At the Dodgers’ parade in downtown Los Angeles, Flaherty made it clear where he wanted to spend rest of career.

“I love this city. I never want to leave.”

This is a bummer for the Red Sox hopefuls. The door isn’t completely closed — we’ve seen countless free agents leave happy marriages in exchange for a bigger salary — but Flaherty is on the Dodgers, a team that has historically not gone cheap on free-agent offers. It wasn’t a perfect postseason run for Flaherty, but he delivered when it mattered and led an injury-plagued rotation. He is an instant legend in that town.

It looks like Flaherty will be taking advantage of the hometown discount to ride in a Dodgers jersey for the next decade. Of course, he won’t get a ten-year contract, but Flaherty may balk at the idea of ​​returning to the northeast, where his last experience (in Baltimore) wasn’t all that hot. The AL East has not been kind to Flaherty in 2023, and while Boston is a different team, Flaherty has no obvious motivation to leave his current spot.

Free agent contracts are, of course, mutual. The Dodgers need request Things could get complicated with Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and potentially even Clayton Kershaw being healthy and in the mix next season. Moreover, big-ticket free agents like Blake Snell or Corbin Burnes stealing attention Away from Flaherty. That’s exactly what the Red Sox are hoping for: a distraught, impatient Flaherty who doesn’t want to wait for the Dodgers to pursue more ambitious free-agent pursuits.

The addition of Flaherty and Giolito to the roster next season will change the way people talk about the Red Sox. Giolito and Flaherty high school teammates once over. But until the ink dries on the dotted line, Boston fans shouldn’t get their hopes up.