The Boston Red Sox aren’t pursuing free agents Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery very aggressively, according to The Boston Globe and The Athletic.
“Every indication remains that the Sox won’t be pursuing long-term deals” for either possible ace, according to a Saturday article by Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. More was added by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic on Sunday morning, who went into great detail about how unlikely it is that Boston will pay money for Montgomery in particular.
Despite winning the World Series last fall, Montgomery may not be able to be signed by the cash-strapped Texas Rangers. That’s why other clubs were jumping all over Montgomery, according to Rosenthal, but he found it “inexplicable” that the Red Sox weren’t actively trying to seize the chance.
Montgomery relocated to Boston earlier in the off-season since his wife had just begun her dermatology residency at a local hospital.
During the team’s “Winter Weekend” celebration last week, Red Sox president Sam Kennedy stated that the team’s payroll in 2024 will probably be smaller than it was in 2023. That suggests that the team may not want to pay Montgomery—or Snell, for that matter—roughly $25 million annually for the next five or six seasons.
The largest deal the Red Sox have given out this offseason was to starting pitcher Lucas Giolito. Giolito has an opt-out clause in his two-year, $38.5 million contract, so if he can bounce back and have a successful season, he will probably test the open market once more the following winter.
Chris Sale, who Boston traded to the Atlanta Braves in December, was essentially replaced by Giolito.
Currently, Giolito, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, and Garrett Whitlock are the Red Sox’s six starting pitcher alternatives; however, in previous years, the majority of them have shown themselves to be better long relievers than starters.
The dynamics of Boston’s rotation would drastically alter with the addition of Montgomery or Snell, who earned the NL Cy Young award with the San Diego Padres in 2023. Furthermore, according to Spotrac, there is $61 million in estimated space that is not subject to the competitive balance tax, so signing one of them wouldn’t necessarily hurt the front office.
In any case, it appears that the ownership wants to keep payroll expenses modest in 2024.
During the last three seasons, Montgomery has started 94 games for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Rangers while posting ERAs under 4.00. Snell, on the other hand, spent the last three seasons in San Diego after emerging as an All-Star and Cy Young winner with the Tampa Bay Rays.
The ages of the two free agents are 31.
