The Purple Sox have made plain that their prime precedence this winter (besides, maybe, for his or her pursuit of free agent famous person Juan Soto) is enhancing their beginning rotation. That’s led the membership to be linked to a variety of prime free agent and commerce candidates all through the winter thus far, starting from Corbin Burnes and Max Fried in free company to Garrett Crochet by way of the commerce market. Earlier this winter, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow indicated that the membership had little interest in parting with younger first baseman Triston Casas in commerce this winter, praising him as a participant with “40-home run potential” who he described himself as “excited” to have on the workforce.
Whereas that infatuation with Casas’s talent set could also be true, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported earlier at the moment that the Purple Sox have been “open” to together with Casas in a commerce that achieves their aim of including a pitcher to the entrance of their rotation. What’s extra, Speier goes on to report that one government from a rival AL membership famous that he Purple Sox had provided Casas because the headliner in a package deal for certainly one of his workforce’s pitchers. That openness to dealing Casas comes as one thing of a shock given Breslow’s public feedback final month however Speier cautions that whereas the membership is “exploring all avenues” to enhance this winter, together with the potential for a Casas commerce, the Purple Sox truly dealing the teenager stays unlikely provided that they’d seemingly be promoting low after a season the place he appeared in simply 63 video games as a result of torn cartilage in his ribcage.
When wholesome sufficient to take the sphere, Casas hit fairly properly for the Purple Sox this 12 months with a .241/.337/.462 slash line (119 wRC+) and 13 homers in 243 journeys to the plate. With that being stated, there have been some purple flags in his profile this 12 months which will give golf equipment pause. Notably, he struck out at an elevated 31.7% clip this 12 months that helped maintain him again from reaching the unbelievable heights he flashed after the All-Star break in 2023, when he crushed the ball to the tune of a .317/.417/.617 slash line in a 211 plate look pattern that almost matches his shortened 2024 marketing campaign. Provided that tantalizing upside, it’s not essentially a shock that the Purple Sox could be hesitant to half with Casas following an injury-plagued season that raised questions on his strikeout fee.
To that finish, offers involving Casas are removed from the one kind of commerce the Purple Sox have explored this winter. Speier notes that Boston has regarded into trades with numerous golf equipment that are available a number of types, with Casas, rookie outfielder Wilyer Abreu, and among the membership’s prime prospects all being potential headliners for numerous offers the membership has mentioned this winter. Speier means that each prime outfield prospect Roman Anthony and prime second base prospect Kristian Campbell are thought-about “solely off-limits” in commerce talks, however that also leaves a variety of thrilling prospects within the Purple Sox farm obtainable in the precise commerce, probably even together with catcher Kyle Teel and infielder Marcelo Mayer.
The membership has additionally, after all, explored free company as they search for rotation upgrades. The membership has been linked to prime pitchers like Burnes and Fried all through the winter, however they’ve additionally seemingly been concerned at decrease tiers of the pitching market as properly of their seek for arms. Robert Murray of FanSided reported yesterday that the Purple Sox made a “critical push” for Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber earlier than he re-signed in Cleveland, and Bieber reportedly turned down more cash from different golf equipment so as to return to the one group he’s often called an expert. Moreover, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported earlier at the moment that the Purple Sox had been among the many groups considering Clay Holmes earlier than he signed with the Mets yesterday. Holmes landed in Queens as a beginning pitcher after spending the vast majority of his large league profession as a reliever, however Rosenthal and Sammon emphasised that it’s not clear whether or not Boston was among the many golf equipment considering Holmes as a starter or in the event that they meant to make use of him out of the bullpen had they in the end signed him.
That curiosity in Bieber (and Holmes, in the event that they deliberate to place him within the rotation) means that the Purple Sox might be keen to get inventive so as to add pitching expertise to their rotation, at the same time as they seem centered on including a surefire front-of-the-rotation arm. The Purple Sox rotation actually has room for a number of starters provided that Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford appear to be the one hurlers locked into rotation spots subsequent 12 months, and pairing an ace-level pitcher like Burnes, Fried, or Crochet with an intriguing bounce-back choice could be a great way for the membership to lift the ceiling of their rotation considerably while not having to land two top-of-the-market pitchers. Max Scherzer and Tomoyuki Sugano are among the many attention-grabbing one-year veteran choices this winter who may have substantial upside, whereas Jeff Hoffman stands out as a reliever who has obtained curiosity as a starter this offseason.
