The Winter Meetings have come and gone, and right now the Red Sox find themselves marginally improved but still largely in the same place they were on Monday.
Two of Boston’s division rivals, however, are on the verge of much bigger leaps forward.
The New York Yankees came into the offseason needing two starting outfielders. First they picked up Alex Verdugo and have now reeled in Juan Soto in a blockbuster trade, sending pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito, Randy Vasquez and catcher Kyle Higashioka to San Diego to land the three-time All-Star.
The Toronto Blue Jays needed a bat. Now they’re reportedly a finalist for Shohei Ohtani, who could make his long awaited decision by the end of this weekend.
The Red Sox, on the other hand, needed pitching. They’ve gotten some, but mostly in the form of prospects and depth pieces who could help a little now and maybe more down the road. Greg Weissert, part of the Verdugo return, and Justin Slaten, a Rule 5 pick acquired Wednesday from the Mets, could both factor into the bullpen picture. Richard Fitts, also acquired for Verdugo, immediately ranks as one of the best pitching prospects in the organization.
Helpful? Yes, but nowhere near enough to close the gap with the rest of the AL East, a fact Craig Breslow acknowledged on Wednesday evening.
“In a perfect world we’re walking out of here with starting pitching and we feel really good about that, we’ve tried to advance the ball as much as possible, we’re probably not alone in being a little bit disappointed on that front, but obviously we were able to make the trade yesterday and get back three arms that we can add to the organization,” Breslow said. “We remain active in all paths. My hope is things start to shake free shortly but we can only control what we can control.”
Underwhelming as this week has been, it’s important to remember none of the top pitchers on the free agent or trade market moved during the Winter Meetings, so it’s not like Boston’s missed out on anyone. Compared to last winter’s rapid fire offseason, things are playing out much more slowly this time around.
Why is that? It takes two to tango, and for a variety of reasons both teams and players have had reason to take their time.
“As we deal with other teams or free agents there is always another party involved in these conversations,” Breslow said. “There’s still some time but it feels like I’m not alone in thinking more than likely things are going to heat up over the next couple of days.”
Once Ohtani signs, the free agent market should kick into overdrive, and the Soto swap should have a similar impact on the trade landscape. Things will become chaotic, and Soto landing in the division is already a huge problem for Boston. Ohtani potentially choosing Toronto would make things even worse.
After all, Baltimore’s only going to get better and Tampa Bay isn’t going anywhere. Add an MVP-caliber talent in New York and potentially Toronto as well and the AL East could become a nightmare.
Breslow knows that, of course, and when asked about the possibility he emphasized that for the club to be successful, he’ll have to keep his head.
“I think it’s important that we remain disciplined in what we need to do and not get caught up in the emotions of what other clubs are doing,” Breslow said.
There’s no need to get on Breslow’s case just because things aren’t happening as quickly as we’d like. He says they’ve been aggressively pursuing their top targets and that they’re intentionally playing things close to the vest to maximize their chances. He reiterated that starting pitching is the priority, as is a right-handed hitter who can play some outfield.
For all we know we could look up in a couple of days and those efforts will have paid off in the form of a blockbuster deal with Yoshinobu Yamamoto or another big-time starter.
Asking patience of Red Sox fans is a tall order on a good day, but it’s worth reiterating that the Winter Meetings could still be a success if the groundwork laid behind the scenes this week bears fruit later.
That being said, the Soto deal also drives home that the competition isn’t sitting still either. All of Boston’s goals are still within reach, but now the stakes are much higher, and so are the consequences of failure.