Red Sox Free Agency Report Seemingly Confirms Boston Fans' Worst Fears

Is there no free agent Boston will splurge for?

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox are developing a reputation, and it's not a positive one.

After reportedly offering significantly less to first baseman Pete Alonso than his new team, the Boston Orioles, the Red Sox have been under fire this week. Much of the fan base has concluded that after months of talk about adding impact hitters to the roster, the Red Sox are unwilling to make the necessary expenditures to land any of those big bats in free agency.

There's certainly a pattern developing. The Red Sox were willing to give long-term extensions to 25-year-old Garrett Crochet in April and 21-year-old Roman Anthony in August. But they only gave three years to Alex Bregman before his age-31 season, and before he signed, Boston's last nine-figure free-agent deal was $110 million for J.D. Martinez under Dave Dombrowski in 2018.

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Agent believes Red Sox reluctant to spent on long-term free-agent deals

A recent report confirmed that the Red Sox's track record of not inking long-term free agent deals is not seen as mere happenstance in the industry.

On Friday, Sean McAdam of MassLive reported that a "prominent" agent believes that the Red Sox are reluctant to commit money to the majority pof layers who reach free agency, speaking not specifically of Alonso, but of the team's general free agency exploits.

“They don’t believe in long-term deals," the agent told McAdam.

When the Red Sox have splurged, it's been on players in their 20s. And the most prominent example, of course, was the $331 million extension for Rafael Devers that Boston unloaded to the San Francisco Giants with over $254 million still yet to be paid.

Yes, free agency is full of risk, as players who sign in their early 30s could fall off hard by the end of those deals. The Red Sox used to take those risks, most recently with their seven-year, $210 million contract for David Price before his age-30 season in 2016.

Until they prove they're willing to take such a plunge again, the reputation will persist -- both among fans and agents of top prospective targets -- that Boston has entered its penny-pinching era.

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