As soon as the Boston Red Sox were eliminated from the playoffs by their rivals, the New York Yankees, their main offseason goals were clear. It is universally thought that the two biggest needs for the Sox this winter are more power for the middle of the order and a starter that can be slotted behind ace Garrett Crochet in the starting rotation.
The Red Sox have lacked some real thump in the lineup since trading Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants. There are plenty of interesting names on the free agent market that could fit the bill. Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso, and Kuzma Okamoto are chief among them.
Tucker, while a fantastic player, would make the Sox outfield even more crowded. The other three names pose the same question: how do they fill a 1B/DH role with a returning Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida on the roster?
The pitching need is the one that is really intriguing thanks to the situation the Red Sox find themselves in with their starter depth. Behind Crochet and Brayan Bello, there are as many as 12 internal options that could fill out the rotation, and that is without Lucas Giolito’s mutual option being resolved.
However, the sentiment seems to be that they will go outside of the organization to fill the spot behind Crochet. There have been plenty of names thrown out already, including Joe Ryan, Sandy Alcantara (or any number of Marlins’ arms), Hunter Greene, and even Tarik Skubal on the trade front. On the free agency side of things, there are Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, Michael King, and a name that has people talking of late, Shane Bieber.
The Red Sox Need to Look at Higher Upside Names Than Shane Bieber in Upgrading the Rotation
Recently, podcaster and Sox reporter Rob Bradford reminded us how close Bieber was to coming to Boston and expects the team to renew those pursuits this winter. While Bieber is a fantastic pitcher and a former Cy Young Award winner and someone the Sox should definitely look at, in my opinion, he isn’t a guy who should be considered a No. 2 behind Crochet. Given their unique position, the Sox find themselves in, they have the opportunity to aim higher than the likes of Bieber as their big pitching acquisition, and they absolutely should.
The first major order of business this offseason is to come to a resolution on the opt-outs of Alex Bregman and Trevor Story. The Sox's position when it comes to starting pitching is a strong one due to their depth, as mentioned earlier, they’ve compiled, and the money they can spend in free agency (if they wish). Names like young starters Payton Tolle and Connelly Early have been bandied about as trade candidates, especially after their strong showings in Boston this season. The team could also decide to trade from its surplus of outfielders in its pursuit of starting pitching. Another aspect of their position strength is a draft that brought in 14 arms that could potentially add even more starter depth.
I don’t dislike Bieber as an addition, but every starting pitcher linked to the Red Sox on the trade front is both younger than Bieber, who will turn 32 in May, and is under team control longer. Bieber has a $16 million player option for 2026 that he is likely to decline after the season he has had with the Toronto Blue Jays. I think it makes sense that the Sox would be looking for someone they can pair with Crochet for the long haul, and that would mean signing Bieber into his late 30s, something the Red Sox have been very reluctant to do.
Given all of these factors and the assets available to them this winter, now is the time to strike and build on the excitement and momentum of a playoff appearance. If the Red Sox want to take the next step towards World Series contention, they need to be aiming higher than Shane Bieber as their big-ticket starting pitcher acquisition.