Red Sox's Most Inexcusable Offseason Statistic Needs To Change, Pronto

Zero is not a good number...

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

There are times in Major League Baseball, such as when a team is playing defense, that the number zero is the desired outcome. Free agency is not one of them.

While the Boston Red Sox's American League East rivals have been among the biggest movers and shakers of the offseason so far, Boston has yet to sign a free agent. Yes, they've traded for three starting pitchers (Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, Jake Bennett), but their inaction when it comes to handing out new contracts is telling.

According to Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe, the Red Sox and Colorado Rockies are the only two teams in MLB who have yet to sign a single major league free-agent contract. Not only is that inexcusable, but it could point to problems the Red Sox are having on multiple fronts.

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Red Sox need to prove they're willing to spend, ASAP

While the Red Sox talk a big game publicly about having all the resources they need to compete with the big dogs, they still seem to be operating with a shoestring budget behind the scenes.

Getting outbid by the Baltimore Orioles for Pete Alonso by a reportedly wide margin was the clearest warning shot, but all other evidence behind the scenes lines up with the notion that Boston just isn't opening up the pocketbook the way a historic big-market franchise should be.

The Alex Bregman saga this week, in which the Arizona Diamondbacks and Toronto Blue Jays have seemingly emerged as real threats to the Red Sox in the race to re-sign the three-time All-Star, is just the latest example of Boston putting itself at a disadvantage by not putting together a big-money offer right from the jump.

The Red Sox's reported agreement with Walker Buehler, which obviously didn't work out as intended, came on Dec. 23 last year. Perhaps there's hope, then, that something can get drilled down before Christmas and the holiday weekend.

However, the longer the number zero remains on the Red Sox's ledger, the more uneasy the fan base will grow. Some are already showing their discontent, but that fury will be nothing compared to the wrath the Red Sox face if they show up to Florida empty-handed in February.

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