Red Sox Reportedly Have Heavily Scouted Japanese Ace Kodai Senga
As is tradition this time of year, rumors are starting to spread of Boston Red Sox's interest in the top international free agent on the market.
Right-handed ace Kodai Senga has been linked to the Red Sox a few times this offseason, and reports have not slowed down.
The Red Sox have heavily scouted the Japanese superstar according to WEEI's Rob Bradford.
The report comes just days after Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom poured on praise for Senga, saying: "Super-talented, athletic, power stuff. Just a really impressive arm.”
The flamethrower would like to play in a big market and for a team ready to contend right now according to his agent Joel Wolfe.
The Red Sox certainly fit the first description, but will have to make a series of moves to fit the "contender" category.
Senga posted an 11-6 record in the Nippon Professional Baseball League this season with a 1.94 ERA, 156-to-49 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .200 batting average against in 144 innings across 22 games.
The 29-year-old's fastball touched 101.9 mph earlier this year, and his splitter has such a devastating dropoff that people are calling it a "ghost fork" pitch. He also features a curveball and slider.
Senga has the upside of a high-end frontline starter, and will come much cheaper than starters of the same caliber due to his lack of experience at the major league level.
FanGraphs projects that Senga will receive a four-year, $60 million contract (average annual value of $15 million).
That should intrigue the Red Sox, who have a slew of holes to fill on the roster, including ongoing negotiations with free-agent shortstop Xander Bogaerts and impending free-agent third baseman Rafael Devers.
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The Red Sox are in line to have much-improved depth in the rotation next season, but lack star power. Senga has the ability to become an overpowering force that Boston has not had since Chris Sale's series of injuries began.
The Red Sox should go all-in on Senga, as well as at least one other frontline-caliber arm to genuinely consider themselves as potential contenders for 2023 and beyond.
It's time for the Bloom-led front office to flex its finances and spend freely this winter.
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