Red Sox Snubbed by Coveted Pitcher in Free Agency

The Boston Red Sox have been one of the most active teams in the offseason, with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow not leaving any stone unturned to upgrade the roster. They already made significant upgrades to the roster, adding Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler to the starting rotation and bringing in Justin Wilson and Aroldis Chapman to the bullpen.

The Red Sox, however, aren't done. While the attention has been on finding bats, including Alex Bregman, Teoscar Hernandez, and Nolan Arenado, the recent report suggests that Boston isn't done looking for pitching upgrades.

According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox are still trying to meet with Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki. So far, however, Boston has been snubbed as they failed to schedule a meeting with the coveted free agent.

"Right now, we do not [have a meeting scheduled]. But, I don’t know that there’s any finality to that. We’ve obviously been engaged and would welcome the opportunity to participate in the process, and hope that we’ll have the chance to do that."

- Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow

Sasaki has been the most sought-after international prospect this season. The 23-year-old right-handed pitcher has a lot of suitors around the league. So far, he has reportedly met with the Mets, Yankees, Cubs, and the Rangers. The Giants and the White Sox are also interested and held preliminary talks. The Phillies have also expressed interest but failed to secure a meeting with Sasaki so far.

The Red Sox are in the same boat as the Phillies right now. Breslow sounds optimistic about his chances still but the fact that there are so many suitors doesn't bode well for Boston's chances.

Sasaki is under the age of 25, so he can't command as much money as Yoshinobu Yamamoto did last year. He can only make as much as the team has in their international amateur bonus pool. Therefore, the most he can make is $12 million.

This gives the Red Sox, among other teams, an opportunity to convince the young prospect with a non-financial pitch. In order to do that, however, they will need to secure a meeting first.

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