The Red Sox still plan to add to their 2024 team this offseason, team president Sam Kennedy and manager Alex Cora both said Friday.
But do they want to trade one of their high-priced players and slash payroll before signing another free agent?
MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported Dec. 31 that the Red Sox have told at least one free agent target that they need to shed more payroll before pursuing him as aggressively as they want to. The Athletic also reported Jan. 5 that the Boston is likely to reduce payroll before adding another free agent.
Kennedy was asked directly about the Red Sox’s potential desire to shed payroll before signing another free agent.
“We’re not done this offseason obviously by definition, where we are,” Kennedy said here at Red Sox Winter Weekend. “We do have a set budget that we don’t talk about publicly, as to not tip our hand to our competitors. And I’ll leave it at that.”
Kennedy would not say whether the the payroll has already reached that set budget and if it is necessary to subtract players/money via trade to add more in free agency. The payroll right now is around $200 million, well below the $237 million first competitive balance tax threshold.
“Again, I don’t want to get into specifics around absolute dollar numbers or payroll,” Kennedy said. “This ownership has demonstrated a willingness to invest when the timing is right and on deals that we feel are within the framework that works for us. Again, when you have three out of four seasons where you haven’t delivered, we just need to do the right things. And we need to play better. And we need to be accountable and recognize that we have failed as an organization with respect to competitiveness in the American League East and that’s on us.”
MassLive reported last month that the front office went into last winter with a mandated budget of $225 million, significantly under the first CBT threshold (then $233 million).
“It probably will be lower than it was in 2023,” Kennedy admitted about the 2024 payroll. “I don’t know that for sure. We don’t talk about specific payroll numbers. But I want to be clear, the build we’re engaged in and have been engaged in will dictate the spend.”
The Red Sox have signed just two free agents — Lucas Giolito (one-year, $19 million, player option for 2025) and Cooper Criswell (one-year, $1 million) — this offseason. They have added and subtracted through trade. They have acquired outfielder Tyler O’Neill and second baseman Vaughn Grissom and subtracted Chris Sale and Alex Verdugo.
“At a high level, there’s certain players that would make sense to aggressively pursue in the offseason and others that wouldn’t for a variety of reasons: age, stage of career, sort of the cycle of where we are, the progression of our young players,” Kennedy said. “So it’s a delicate balance balancing the near-term and the long-term. We’ve said that for years. And again, words are really hollow when you haven’t performed and haven’t delivered. And we hear our fans.”
Cora reiterated the Red Sox’s hope to add more to the roster.
“Obviously the job is not finished,” Cora said. “I think the offseason is not done yet. We’ll see what happens in the upcoming weeks. But I think we’re very talent.”
