The Purple Sox have made plain that their prime precedence this winter (besides, maybe, for his or her pursuit of free agent famous person Juan Soto) is bettering their beginning rotation. That’s led the membership to be linked to plenty of prime free agent and commerce candidates all through the winter to this point, starting from Corbin Burnes and Max Fried in free company to Garrett Crochet by way of the commerce market. Earlier this winter, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow indicated that the membership had no real interest in parting with younger first baseman Triston Casas in commerce this winter, praising him as a participant with “40-home run potential” who he described himself as “excited” to have on the staff.
Whereas that infatuation with Casas’s talent set could also be true, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported earlier as we speak that the Purple Sox have been “open” to together with Casas in a commerce that achieves their objective of including a pitcher to the entrance of their rotation. What’s extra, Speier goes on to report that one govt from a rival AL membership famous that he Purple Sox had provided Casas because the headliner in a package deal for one in every of his staff’s pitchers. That openness to dealing Casas comes as one thing of a shock given Breslow’s public feedback final month however Speier cautions that whereas the membership is “exploring all avenues” to enhance this winter, together with the potential for a Casas commerce, the Purple Sox truly dealing the teen stays unlikely provided that they’d possible be promoting low after a season the place he appeared in simply 63 video games resulting from torn cartilage in his ribcage.
When wholesome sufficient to take the sector, Casas hit fairly nicely for the Purple Sox this yr with a .241/.337/.462 slash line (119 wRC+) and 13 homers in 243 journeys to the plate. With that being stated, there have been some crimson flags in his profile this yr that will give golf equipment pause. Notably, he struck out at an elevated 31.7% clip this yr that helped maintain him again from reaching the unbelievable heights he flashed after the All-Star break in 2023, when he crushed the ball to the tune of a .317/.417/.617 slash line in a 211 plate look pattern that just about matches his shortened 2024 marketing campaign. On condition that tantalizing upside, it’s not essentially a shock that the Purple Sox can be hesitant to half with Casas following an injury-plagued season that raised questions on his strikeout fee.
To that finish, offers involving Casas are removed from the one sort of commerce the Purple Sox have explored this winter. Speier notes that Boston has appeared into trades with numerous golf equipment that are available a number of kinds, with Casas, rookie outfielder Wilyer Abreu, and a number of the membership’s prime prospects all being potential headliners for numerous offers the membership has mentioned this winter. Speier means that each prime outfield prospect Roman Anthony and prime second base prospect Kristian Campbell are thought-about “completely off-limits” in commerce talks, however that also leaves plenty of thrilling prospects within the Purple Sox farm accessible in the appropriate commerce, probably even together with catcher Kyle Teel and infielder Marcelo Mayer.
The membership has additionally, after all, explored free company as they search for rotation upgrades. The membership has been linked to prime pitchers like Burnes and Fried all through the winter, however they’ve additionally seemingly been concerned at decrease tiers of the pitching market as nicely of their seek for arms. Robert Murray of FanSided reported yesterday that the Purple Sox made a “severe push” for Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber earlier than he re-signed in Cleveland, and Bieber reportedly turned down extra money from different golf equipment to be able to return to the one group he’s often called an expert. Moreover, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported earlier as we speak that the Purple Sox had been among the many groups keen on Clay Holmes earlier than he signed with the Mets yesterday. Holmes landed in Queens as a beginning pitcher after spending nearly all of his huge league profession as a reliever, however Rosenthal and Sammon emphasised that it’s not clear whether or not Boston was among the many golf equipment keen on Holmes as a starter or in the event that they supposed to make use of him out of the bullpen had they in the end signed him.
That curiosity in Bieber (and Holmes, in the event that they deliberate to place him within the rotation) means that the Purple Sox may very well be keen to get artistic so as to add pitching expertise to their rotation, whilst they seem centered on including a surefire front-of-the-rotation arm. The Purple Sox rotation actually has room for a number of starters provided that Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford appear to be the one hurlers locked into rotation spots subsequent yr, and pairing an ace-level pitcher like Burnes, Fried, or Crochet with an intriguing bounce-back possibility can be a great way for the membership to boost the ceiling of their rotation considerably without having to land two top-of-the-market pitchers. Max Scherzer and Tomoyuki Sugano are among the many fascinating one-year veteran choices this winter who might have substantial upside, whereas Jeff Hoffman stands out as a reliever who has obtained curiosity as a starter this offseason.
